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Re: [OM] [OT] Afghanistan thinking

Subject: Re: [OM] [OT] Afghanistan thinking
From: Tris Schuler <tristanjohn@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sun, 16 Sep 2001 14:23:45 -0700
Just heard that VP Cheney said it might take years, rather than months. That's a good sign of deliberate, as opposed to precipitate, action.

Tom

It will take all of our lifetimes, probably the lifetime of my daughter, perhaps the lifetime of her children into the bargain.

I noted earlier (Tuesday or Wednesday) that with Afghanistan alone, just for example, any long-term solution lies in physical occupation of that land until a more sane and clear-thinking government might be installed and ensured against disruptive interests, which itself implies (clearly speaks to) better education. My guess (at the time and off the top of my head, but considered nevertheless) is that a working figure might be a couple of generations, call it 50 years give or take.

Think about that.

This is what you're looking at, that is what it will take. And you know, I doubt if many Americans or for that matter other peoples around the world, are thinking along these lines. They're thinking about a fly-by, a missile attack, maybe some kind of Kosovo UN-inspired "mission" to one country or the other. We'ave all seen the routine. But none of that's gonna make a difference in the long run, and our government leaders know all this, of course.

They've known it all along, by the way. This talk from the president about "surprise" at these attacks is for public assumption. Which is precisely what some of (if not most of) the American public wants. Hardly anyone at this junctures wishes to admit that we've simply chosen to ignore the realities of world politics up until Tuesday. But we have. And the silly safeguards I also noted on Tuesday or Wednesday with regard to airport security (everywhere I've flown, and I travel around) have not been allowed to be set in place in some vacuum.

This is all about denial on a societal scale. We've been insulated and have chosen to believe that our society was somehow "different" or "immune" from these concerns. It was never was, the government knew, yet allowed itself to go down another path for the sake of political immediacy. Thank you very much government, thank you very much that part of the electorate which doesn't bother to vote, thank you very much that part of the electorate which would rather see money handed over by the gross to "causes" other than our nation's security.

Go ask the Israelis (if you dare) about the nature of the problem before us. The thing with governments is that they are composed of political creatures who pretty much pander to (and prey off from) the ignorant voting (in America less than half bother, and from what I've read it isn't much better, and getting worse each year, in other countries) electorate, and so "truth" is often variably-shaped and -presented commodity. Already there are marchers calling for peace and compassion in New York! And they're serious as a heart attack. They don't care to hear truth, they don't care to embrace the hard facts of life, they will, willingly, stand by and wait for some fanatic to walk up to them and blow their brains out--and some of these fools will even then go down singing!

And this coming from a former hippie and long-hair per se. It is high time for America to wake up. But I don't know. The signs are not all good out there.

Tris
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