Good afternoon

Posted on January 30, 2010 by | 15 Comments

Well, lookee here, we seem to have ourselves the 113th day of the ninth year of the  War in Afghanistan.

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15 responses to “Good afternoon”

  1. talkandpolitics | January 30, 2010 at 2:28 pm | Reply

    Just a point on Afghanistan – after watching the PBS special on Hillary. “Epicenter of terrorism” bla bla bla.
    Since no-one can explain what “winning” is supposed to mean, then it must have been just a permanent security foothold in the middle of Eurasia after all? A deterrent to Iran, China and Russia?
    Old news, but it just ran through my mind afresh here..

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    • Moe | January 31, 2010 at 9:41 pm | Reply

      I saw that show and it was good. (And I think Clinton is turning into a fine Secy State).

      See my comment below re Iran. That should have been the permanent ally/foothold – maybe for democracy which would have produced security. Or as much as we could hope for!

      I think Bush 41, Clinton, and Bush 43 all considered Iran the most threatening. And by occupying Iraq (on their west) and Afghanistan (on their east), we boxed them in. That has to have some meaning.

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  2. Typical Texan | January 30, 2010 at 5:19 pm | Reply

    It becomes very clear to me that the american people are clueless as to why we are over there. Surely it would not have take this long to stomp out a few thugs and kill bin laden. I have heard everyone’s theory, and I have no clue either. What do you think Moe? Is this war really about Terror? Islam? Oil?

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    • Moe | January 31, 2010 at 9:36 pm | Reply

      You have that right Texan. Wars are never about stomping out a few guys – you can do that without going to war.

      And Afghanistan/Iraq – all about oil. It’s ALWAYS about oil in the mid East. If we didn’t have to protect the flow of oil to fuel our very very wasteful way of life, we wouldn’t give a damn what happened or didn’t happen over there. And if we hadn’t been meddling over there since WWII, they wouldn’t be bothering us here.

      In 1953, Iran democratically elected a left-leaning President. They were, at the time, a publicly secular society and a very educated people. On their way to being the glowing example of democracy in the middle east. But we were so scared to death of communism, that we (the CIA actually) overthrew their new president and installed the Shah.

      We blew the best opportunity there ever was for a stable middle east and now it’s back biting us in the bottom big time.

      Wars are about one or more of these three things: real estate, religion, resources.

      Afghanistan is starting to look like Vietnam which is why I’ve started to obsess on it.

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      • talkandpolitics | February 1, 2010 at 6:54 am | Reply

        This is very important stuff. Iran is a complex issue. I think a lot started with Churchill and the Anglo-Persian Oil Company in the early 20th century – the first oil company in the Middle East and the tiny beginnings of British Petroleum.. And that Shah-“coup” is often proclaimed the turning point for relations with the west and its neighbors. Leading to the revolution of ’79 and so forth. And after the humiliating hostage crises with Carter, no wonder 41-43 felt threatened.

        I briefly know some persian folks, and I have to admin they are the warmest, kindest and most intelligent and cultivated people I’ve ever met. An hour with a persian is like social magic. They are so completely different from arabs, turks, kurds, afghans, russians, indians and chinese. I really like all kinds of people – but persians are exceptional people.

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  3. Typical Texan | February 1, 2010 at 12:11 am | Reply

    Wow, I had no idea, although I am not surprised… All the more reason to invest all the resources that we squander on war, into developing an alternative fuel. It is a good thing that you guys have us (Texas), or The U.S would really be hard up for crude! 🙂

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    • Moe | February 1, 2010 at 12:47 am | Reply

      And we are grateful! Now bring on those wind and solar farms! Build that smart grid!

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    • talkandpolitics | February 1, 2010 at 7:08 am | Reply

      Exactly. I miss some strategic speculations on the world on green energy. If in thirty years oil is out of the picture in terms of energy, could the whole world live in less conflict and more happy friendships?

      I know you are with me on this one Moe – but why aren’t Obama lifting the common outlook towards let’s say 2040 – and make America to frontrunner for green safe energy – making peace and prosperity for all? That would shrink all the current Washington petiness and give some perspective and inspiration to things.

      My hope here is China as a wake-up call. Just listen here “China intends for wind, solar and biomass energy to represent 8 percent of its electricity generation capacity by 2020.” Now that is clear and tangible. And they’re really running for it, check this out..

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      • Moe | February 1, 2010 at 12:04 pm | Reply

        Talk:

        You’re right about China – they aren’t blind. We unfortunately are.

        The future is green – that’s where the money is and the first nations with the newest in equipment, manufacturing and technology are going ot make that money.

        Jimmy Carter warned us almost 35 years ago that we had to get off oil. And he was savaged and consigned to history’s dust bin. We should have created a NASA type project. It could have been all ours and we could have been heroes again.

        One of the reasons to fear this newest Supreme Court decision – the extraction industries will fight anything that gets in the way of their profits.

        I find Iran fascinating too. When you think of their history – they are the oldest continuous ‘country’ in the world. A history of now thousands of year. And they seem to be heading back to a Western, tho not secular, way of government. Those protesters aren’t finished yet.

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