Afghanistan

I watched part of a Frontline piece on the war in Afhganistan. It's got me thinking again.
I'm glad to know that there are people in the military and government that truly understand the situation there. And they truly do. They've accounted for the economic and infrastructure and other life reasons why the Taliban is likely to beat back the US the same way the beat back the Russians. I'm glad that someone understands this. It makes me feel better knowing that at least some people are not blind eyes open.

It makes me terribly sad that Afghanistan is suffering continued conflict. They have suffered on and off again conflict for the last forty or so years. Their infrastructure, such as roads, buildings, etc. has been decimated to the point of non-existence mostly. And everyone has known war, from the youngest to the oldest. The only stable government they have had in recent memory, the Taliban, have been removed from power, but no stable government has replaced them. It is very easy to understand why the insurgency has gained strength. We do not have a presence in the country capable of winning the war and the longer time goes on, the more frustration will mount and the more the people will side with anyone who can make good on a promise for stability.

So once again, I am wondering why it is that I am again searching for a good paying job to settle my debts and provide me with things. It seems... imbalanced. Completely negligent. Ostentatious.

I suppose I have an obligation to pay off my debts. That is certainly true. That still seems to pale in comparison to the needs of a country besieged. It is the continuation of this American myth that disturbs me. Certainly we all get lost wherever we find ourselves. No one can be globally objective. But even the most basic elements of humility and compassion seem to indicate the necessity for not merely a change, but a completely revamped focus.

Perhaps I am being too...tangential. Perhaps I am looking off the edge of a curve into a darkness that doesn't quite exist. Still, one can't help but feel the weight of the disparity. I live in a country that has not known invasion in 200 years. We have two reminders of conflict with a foreign entity on our soil: Pearl Harbor and 911. These are but paper cuts by comparison to the world at large. We take them quite seriously, but they are not serious in any sort of global context. Our farms have not been mortared, our buildings have not been bombed, we do not carry the lasting limp of war. We have moved freely in the world as imperialists. Setting our tents in other places for periods of time, removing them at our will. But always retreating to the physical and economic island we call home. No one has had, nor now has, the economic might to send troops across the expanse of the oceans bordering our nation and onto our soil. The only nation that has the access and ability to mount such a campaign is Russia, and it is doubtful that they are unified enough to even attempt a full scale assault on America.

It is not a hopeful case for humanity that the richest, most powerful and freest nation the world has yet seen has so many internal problems. The list of internal violence, corruption, and discord within the wall of our house is rather substantial and I've yet to meet anyone not pricked by it. But we are a garden paradise in comparison on many, many levels.

Of course, I'll forget about all this tomorrow. I'll probably bemoan my state of affairs yet again. The stresses of living in a modern cosmopolitan society. Geez. Count your blessings.

-mike