December 2, 2009

Quagistan

Hatched by Dafydd

Another ultra-short post, the purpose of which is clearly (and crassly) to make readers come back several times a day, checking to see if any new pearls have been cast before them...

(Wait -- I just thought that silently, right? I didn't really say it out loud, did I? Didn't think so. Whew!)

This from an unsigned editorial in today's Daily Telegraph (which newspaper actually leans to the right), anent the war in Afghanistan:

Eight years after the West went into Afghanistan, the country remains a quagmire.

Well... technically true, I suppose, in that we're not moving forward at the moment. But let's look at the big picture here: Isn't Afghanistan tremendously better off now from our perspective, and even from the Afghans' perspective (especially Afghan women), than it was in, say, mid-2001, just before the war began?

(Not to give the wrong impression, the Telegraph wasn't a fan of the speech or (it appears) the policy.)

So even if it is a "quagmire," the quicksand is a lot closer to shore, where we can see the beginnings of democracy, security, non-belligerence, and basic civilization. Afghanistan is much better off than before we invaded, it's like comparing eastern Germany before and after 1990.

I can live with that.

Hatched by Dafydd on this day, December 2, 2009, at the time of 7:20 PM

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Comments

The following hissed in response by: Dick E

With apologies to George M. Cohan:

Have some pie, in the sky,
Send the word, send the word to bad guys,
That the Yanks are coming, the Yanks are coming,
The drums rum tumming me oh my.
So we’ll hie, but we won’t die,
Send the word, send the word to our allies -
We’ll be over, we’re coming over,
And we won’t come back till a year from next July.

The above hissed in response by: Dick E [TypeKey Profile Page] at December 6, 2009 11:35 PM

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