I am a loyal supporter of your presidency. I worked hard in the campaign and have never been as proud of my country as I was when we elected you. I'm writing to ask you to find another way ahead in Afghanistan. I wrote a similar letter to President Bush when he was preparing for war in Iraq.
I believe now, as you and I both did then, that war is not the answer. Violence breeds violence, and as Dr. King said, you can murder a murderer, but you can't murder murder. As the apostle Paul said, evil must be overcome with good, which means that violence and hate must be overcome with justice and love, not more of the same.
Obviously, you know things the rest of us don't know. And you have pressures and responsibilities the rest of us don't have. But we have based our lives on the moral principles that guided leaders like Dr. King, Desmond Tutu, and Nelson Mandela. We share a profound faith in a loving, non-violent God. We share a commitment to live in the way of Jesus the peacemaker. That's why escalation is not a change we can believe in.
I don't argue for leaving Afghanistan high and dry as we've done too often in the past. Evil can't be overcome by passivity or abdication, but only by positive good and creative action. In that spirit, I offer this humble proposal:
1. Take the 65 billion we would have spent there in the coming year and turn it into an aid and development fund. If you want to go farther, you could put a value on the cost of American lives that would be lost there (I have no idea how this inestimable cost could be calculated), and add that sum to the fund. 65 billion could build a lot of peace-oriented schools and hospitals in Afghanistan. It could serve as start-up capital for a lot of new businesses and it could pave a lot of roads. It could train a lot of police officers and it could enhance a lot of social infrastructure. It could give hope to a lot of women and girls who currently don't have much hope, and it could provide a lot of constructive outlets for men and boys who right now don't have many options besides picking up a machine gun and joining a warlord.
2. Other nations might contribute to this fund as well, and the fund could be extended into the future based on the number of years our military would have been engaged in Afghanistan. The fund could be administered by the US, or better (in the spirit of international cooperation), an IAEC-like agency could be created, subsidiary to the United Nations, to monitor progress in Afghanistan.
3. Then a set of benchmarks could be set, and the money could be released for development in Afghanistan as the nation reached appropriate benchmarks. This fund would be an enticement to mobilize public opinion in the direction of peace and justice, as people would know that their lives could be substantially improved if their factionalized leaders would start collaborating nonviolently for the common good.
4. With this kind of approach, the people of Afghanistan (and Pakistan) would have two clear choices. Al Queda and other extremists offer violence and unrest. But the international community would be offering support for order, rebuilding, collaboration, justice, and peace. This choice is a much clearer and better one than the choice between two groups of leaders who both depend on violence to achieve their aims.
5. Conservatives could support this kind of approach because it emphasizes personal choice and responsibility among the Afghan people. It would come alongside them in their own nation-building efforts at their own best pace, rather than trying to impose our own nation-building on them at a pace we determine. Progressives could support this approach because it changes the role of the US in the global neighborhood - from reactive bully or intentional dominator to responsible neighbor and partner for the common good.
Mr. President, you have my respect and my prayers at this important time. I believe you have the intelligence and insight to find a creative way to use a new kind of force in the world ... something far more powerful than bombs, guns, and bullets: the generative force of creativity, of justice, of collaboration, and yes, of hope. Can we find a new and better way to help Afghanistan rise out of chaos and complicity with Al Queda? You know the answer many of us will shout and chant: yes, we can.
With respect and hope,
A citizen
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America should understand that Taliban are NOT the enemy! They are an organization that, along with other warlords, are each seeking power to control Afghanistan. Taliban's only mistake was that they did harbour bin Laden & they paid the price for that. Taliban do not seek to invade other countries or to export their revolution. Obama must talk to them; tell them, the US leaves if you make sure you kick out Al Qaeda. Taliban do not need Al Qaeda; they will agree to such demands and that in turn will allow the US to leave Afghanistan and let the winner win in that game's power-struggle. Meanwhile, Al Qaeda can and will flit off to some other failed state. Remember: Afghanistan is NOT a nation & therefore there can be no peace or reconstruction there. They simply do not have any infrastructure for any modern nation. Afghans will for our near future live within a tribal based government. Ayad Gharbawi
I hate to tell you, but we will be involved in some type of war, until you know who comes back. Jesus said in the last days there will be wars and rumors of wars. There is fighting all over the world and the truth is most of the wars have something to do with people claiming to be Islamic. Think about it...take America out of world conflict and imagine what kind of world we would have. I hate war, but throughout world history man's fallen nature usually wins out when it comes to conflict. I believe that we are getting closer and closer to Armedgedon. Look at the world picture and connect the dots. President Obama or nobody else will be able to keep America from wars.
Thanks Kingskid,
I was aware there's violence in the world. We've had criminal organizations fighting for radical political agendas in Ireland, Spain, Colombia, India, etc. And criminal organizations are better dealt with by police and courts than by unleashing the army and air force. We would not fight crime that way in our own country, because we generally believe that law enforcement should not endanger the surrounding community, and a rule of law means that criminal suspects are considered innocent until proven guilty. I think we should stick to our principles in tracking down the gang members of al Qaeda, the Mafia, etc. It sure beats trying to catch criminals by invading the countries we think they're hiding in.
I don't really understand why people are killing each other???! Why when someone, who obviously has mental problems, start killing people, we are not trying to find him, to put him on trial and actually do something about it; but rather than that we start a war, we start killing other people, innocent people, people with families, with their own life, their own worries, people like us. What if an American guy go somewhere in a foreign country and start exterminating people, without any reason and after that just disappear. What if that country do the same thing that USA did, start a war, what if they start a war against the country that this guy came from; and they are killing millions of innocent people, what is that going to be - a revenge?! To whom? That's not the way, it never has been! I know that the war as a whole is a really profitable business, but is this more important than human life? Is it more important than your life, or mine, or that of a stray dog if you want?! I would say NO, because no one has the right to decide who diserves to live and who does not. There many different ways to protect your country and war is not one of them. As stated in the article "evil must be overcome with good", and we can do something about it even if you start from one little thing it will grow into something bigger. Stop the war. Save lives.
There is no reason that the war in Afghanistan should go on! the money that we are spending on this war would help this economic crisis we are now in. and with the money we could start to rebuild the economy.
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