Positions on U.S. & NATO role in Afghanistan

Position 1: Trudy Rubin- Writes the Worldview column for the Philidelphia Inquirer. Has visited the Middle East and surrounding areas various times, and she won the Edward Weintal prize for her international reporting.

David Kilcullen- Formerly in the Australian Army. Now, he is an advisor for the U.S., NATO, and other countries on counterinsurgency and counterterrorism.

Send more U.S./NATO troops into Afghanistan to fight insurgency

• Secure Afghanistan and tribal areas of Pakistan- Secure population centers, cities, and villages, and destroy the havens that the Taliban and Al Qaeda have established. The Taliban are able to thrive in the tribal regions and pose a threat to Afghanistan and the Pakistani government.
• Improve the lives of the Afghan people- Improve living standards by working within Afghan communities, and influence the government to help curb corruption. Target Taliban control at the local level.
• Build Afghanistan into a "self-defending" nation- Training of and working with Afghan army and police.

Position 2: Michael A. Cohen- Member of the New America Foundation, where he examines the "...impact of non-state actors in U.S. foreign policy." Formerly part of the U.S. Department of State, he is continuously involved with international affairs.

Parag Khanna- Member of the American Strategy Program, and Director of the Global Governance Initiative. He has travelled around the world and speaks various languages, and was awarded the OECD Future Leaders Prize.

Shift military efforts to Pakistan

• Taliban unpopular in Afghanistan- Taliban do not have any chance of taking back control of Afghanistan.
• Pakistan more promising than Afghanistan- We are supporting a corrupt government in Afghanistan, where success is uncertain. We have seen results in Pakistan, have better intelligence, and would therefore be able to improve accuracy of airstrikes.
• Support Pakistan government- Asist Pakistan to "clear, hold, and build" the tribal areas, which would decrease Taliban and Al Qaeda movement across the border.

Position 3: Tariq Ali- A British-Pakistani historian, filmmaker, political campaigner, and novelist. He is a frequent commentator on current events and has writen articles for The Guardian.

Pull troops out of Afghanistan and focus on rebuilding

• Taliban has grown- A "second-generation Taliban" is growing, partly due to upset regarding the actions of the occupying U.S. and NATO. Many Afghan civilians have been killed during airstrikes. Taliban have become symbol for "national liberation."
• Other problems in Afghanistan that should be adressed- Afghanistan suffers from poverty, corruption in the government, and high mortality rates- Rebuild socially and economically.
• Create support from surrounding countries- Get surrounding countries (Pakistan, Iran, India, Russia, and others) to sign pact to support Afghanistan.

Position 4: George Will- Author and journalist who won the Pulitzer Prize. Has written about his political philosophy and has written columns for The Washington Post and Newsweek.

Withdraw U.S./NATO troops from Afghanistan

• Continue attacks from offshore- Use intelligence to continue airstrikes from offshore, targeting the Pakistani border.
• Too many troops needed for too much time- Would need hundreds of thousands of troops for maybe decades. Taliban are able to slip across border and escape. Has become a "nation-building" war- where do the invasions stop?
• Ineffective Afghan central government- Afghan government is corrupt and many of its officials are involved in opium trade.

U.S. Plan in Afghanistan
In his speech Tuesday night (Dec. 1, 2009), President Obama outlined his plan for the U.S. in Afghanistan. His plan consists of sending an additional 30,000 American troops into Afghanistan, but also sets the timetable of beginning to pull out troops by mid 2011. We will be focusing our efforts on attacking Al Qaeda, and will also be attempting to regain security that has been destroyed by the Taliban. President Obama said that this first year would require $30 billion to pay for the war. Our goal is to regain security, especially in highly populated cities, and to disengage our troops as quickly as we can. Additional troops from NATO are also expected. Obama has pressured Hamid Karzai, president of Afghanistan, with demands to combat corruption and trafficking, which fuels the Taliban, and we will have increased airstrikes and greater pressure on insurgents in Afghanistan.
I believe that it is essential that we attempt to create security in Afganistan, and this would hopefully help with security in surrounding countries, which would affect global security. I think the "short-term, high-intensity effort" is the most effective plan to accomplish our goals. If we will be fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan, we will need to establish security in the regions we are fighting, specifically for the sake of civilians. We will need contributions from the Afghanistan government, which needs to be strengthened for the future, and also from the Pakistan government. I also believe that it is important to set goals, such as with the timetable. Some people criticized setting a timetable, but if we don't have a goal for the amount of time we want to be in Afghanistan, there's no telling how long we'll be there. The lives of the Afghanis is another aspect of the war that we need to consider. If we will be using airstrikes, we must be sure that they are precise, so that there are not civilian deaths (even though it may be difficult to tell the Taliban from the civilians). We, along with out allies, can also contribute resources towards education and other resources needed by the residents of Afghanistan.

Afghanistan Issues: Frontline "War Briefing" Summary
Part 1-
The complicated relations and the struggle for power in Asia pose many difficulties for U.S. and NATO forces fighting in Afghanistan. Many of these problems are rooted from the Taliban and their work to create chaos for the Afghanistan government and the foreign forces involved in their country. First, the number of troops we have stationed in Afghanistan is far too few to be as effective as needed. Military officials in Afghanistan have asked for more troops than we can even provide. Second, the Taliban are able to move across the Afghanistan-Pakistan border (Pakistan has supported the Taliban, because of the Afghani government's support of India), however our forces are not allowed to cross the border. Thus, U.S. forces have truned to air strikes with unmanned aerial vehicles. And even if we do succeed in killing the target, the dead leader is often seen as a hero and there is always someone else to take their place. Third, U.S./NATO forces try to win over villages, however the villagers are often unwilling to give information to U.S./NATO forces becuase of threats from the Taliban. We provide aid and goods, however the fear the Taliban instills is greaters incentive to not cooperate than our propositions for cooperation. Finally, the insurgents that U.S./NATO forces are fighting are among the civilians nad villagers of the region. They go about regular business by day and then shoot off rockets and retaliate against troops sometimes by night. The Taliban is growing stronger. They have funding from the opium economy and are acquiring a payroll through smuggling. The fact that the Afghanistan government is considered by many to be "weak, corrupt, and ineffective," only supports the Taliban's cause. The problems that U.S./NATO forces face fighting in Afghanistan can only be described as countless.

Part 2-
Children throughout Pakistan are affected by the war. The Taliban do not believe that women should be educated and have blown up many government schools. Families are constantly reminded of the war, with attacks from the Taliban, and many families have fled their homes. Children have been particularly affected because of the Taliban's ban girls being educated, and the madrassas they have set up for the religious education for boys. In these Madrassas, the Taliban teach through reading the Koran, but also teach their ideals regarding women, suicide attacks, and executions. Boys are often recruited to these Madrassas at a very young age and are are enticed by the shelter and food provided at the schools. The recruitment of boys at a young age is one of the reasons they often grow up to join the Taliban, as children are much more impresionable. However, many children are determined to join the Taliban out of resentment, for example because of the destruction of their villages by American forces or the Pakistani government. In this way, the military offensive of the government has been unsuccessful. When they destroyed an entire Pakistani village near the Afghanistan border, they succeeded in killing some 1,500 militants, however the previous 7,000 residents were either killed as well or displaced. The Taliban use such events to hold recruiting rallies, and they continue to grow in numbers. The Taliban create fear in the people of Pakistan, through their suicide attacks and their harsh rule, and in this way gain power. They continue to recruit the "next generation of Taliban fighters" and raise funds to pay for their goal of destroying the Pakistani government.

Blog-o-signment #2

What's Your Spirituality Type:

On the "What's Your Spirituality Type" Quiz, I scored a 42, which is on the level of an Active Spiritual Seeker (40-49)- Spiritual but turned off by organized religion.

Belief-o-matic:

1. Secular Humanism (100%)
2.Unitarian Universalism (90%)
3. Liberal Quakers (74%)
4. Nontheist (74%)
5. Theravada Buddhism (72%)

Theravada Buddhism-
•Belief in DeityThe concept of a supreme Creator God is rejected or at least considered irrelevant to Theravada Buddhism. Buddha, "the Awakened One," is revered above all--not as "God" but as supreme sage, model of a fully enlightened person.
•IncarnationsBuddha was a human, a fully enlightened spiritual teacher and inspiration. As there is no belief in or relevant God, there are no incarnations of God worshipped.
•Origin of Universe and LifeBuddhists consider it the job of scientists to explain origins of the universe and life. There is no contradiction with scientific discovery, however many maintain that the world creates and recreates itself millions of times every fraction of a second.
•After DeathThere is no transmigration of individual souls, but through the law of karma, one's wholesome or unwholesome intentions become imprinted in the mind. Negative mental states persist through continual rebirth until one's intentions become wholesome. Once fully enlightened, one is liberated from rebirths, reaching a state of absolute selflessness resulting in ultimate bliss called Nirvana--the "Deathless State." One becomes Buddha (or one with Buddha). Some Buddhists, especially modern Western, don't emphasize or believe in literal rebirth.
•Why Evil?People have free will to commit wrongs or rights. Evil doings may result when egoism, cravings, attachments, and ignorance are expressed as greed, hatred, and violence, which, if unmitigated, is perpetuated through rebirth.
•SalvationEnlightenment is an individual journey to Nirvana (complete bliss)--liberation from suffering and cycles of rebirth--acheived by following the Four Noble Truths and Eightfold Path. To eliminate karma, which causes rebirth, one must extinguish the belief in a separate self that give rise to cravings, desires, and attachments. The path to enlightenment includes loving-kindness and compassion, moral conduct, charity, wisdom, and meditation.
•Undeserved SufferingUnenlightened life is suffering, and the cessation of this suffering is the primary goal of Buddhism--to reach Nirvana, to end cycles of rebirth. Suffering is a result of past-life greed, hatred, and ignorance, which return as suffering (karma), while compassion toward others who suffer reduces the effects of karma.
•Contemporary IssuesAbortion is considered murder, and all violent acts cause horrific karmic consequence. Homosexuality in itself is not specifically condemned by scripture, but opinions vary, especially among various Buddhist cultures--e.g., Buddhists in the United States are generally very accepting, while some Asian Buddhists are generally strongly opposed to homosexuality. It is believed that divorce wouldn't occur if one follows Buddhist precepts, but a couple is not condemned if they separate due to vast personal differences. In Theravada countries, gender roles are generally traditional (e.g. woman as child caretakers and men as providers), but less rigid as contemporary demands are made on women (e.g. working women).

Personal Responses:

I think these surveys do an adequate job of categorizing my "spirituality." Before I took the first survey, I hadn't really thought about how many levels of spirituality there are, and I had no idea what to expect from the second survey. I was surprised by all of the religions it came up with- I hadn't even heard of half of them! I do agree that I have a lot of beliefs in common with those of Secular Humanism, which was the top religion from the second survey, and also particular parts from the other religions.
The surveys themselves were somewhat difficult, and they really made me think about myself and my beliefs before I answered them. For the most part, I felt I was pretty impartial to some of the questions it asked me, yet in the end, even not giving a definite answer contributed to the outcome of the survey. It was fun to read about the different religions that before now I had no idea even existed.

Theravada Buddhism:

Theravada, translated as the "Doctrine of the Elders," is the school of Buddhism which has the earliest teachings of the Buddha, a great and fully enlightened person. Historically, Theravada Buddhism was practiced in areas of Southeast Asia, including Thailand, Cambodia, and Loas. Today however, these practices have grown and spread across the world. Theravada Buddhism is greatly based upon the Buddha's Four Noble Truths, dukkha (suffering and discontent), the cause of dukkha (craving), the cessation of dukkha (relinquishing the craving), and the path leading to the cessation of dukkha (the Eightfold Path).
Theravada Buddhists also believe in the cycle of rebirths, due to our ignorance of the Four Noble Truths. They believe that through karma, the law of causes and effects of actions, they may eventually gain enlightenment. However, there are four stages to enlightenment, or Awakening. After reaching each stage, they shed a bit of the ignorance that holds them to the cycle of rebirths. But there are countless more steps that must be taken in order to reach full enlightenment and selflessness, which is known as Nirvana. They believe the path to Nirvana, and to end the suffering of the cycle of rebirths, includes achieving many things, among them kindness, compassion, charity, and wisdom.

Before taking the survey, I had not heard of this religion. I do not necessarily believe that my beliefs are closest to those of Thervada Buddhism, however there are pieces and parts that do pertain to me. For example, I do not believe in one God and I believe the creation of the universe can be explained scientifically, as do most Thervada Buddhists. On the other hand, I don't believe that life should be described as suffering and I don't believe in a cycle of rebirths due to karma either. The survey was accurate in placing this religion as 5th, opposed to higher on the list, as I share some beliefs but not a majority.

Blog-o-signment

Step one:
I took the Asian Geography Quiz, and I got a 62%. A 62 isn't good, but it's better than I thought I would do on my first try. It's a really cool website, and drawing the map of Asia has helped too.

Cultural bias/Pre-conceived notions and putting it in perspective:
It is important to study Asian history, and the history of places around the world, because all aspects of our life are increasingly being affected by global events and international relations. In order to live cohesively, do business with, and relate to people in other regions, we must study their history, culture, language, and learn more about them in general. This is particularly important for Americans, because I believe we are greatly known for our ignorance of other cultures, including biases and stereotypes. I know that I don't know nearly as much as I probably should.
However, when studying different cultures, we must keep in mind that their way of life and customs may be different from ours. When learning about new cultures, we have to go about it with an open mind and remember that our traditions or customs may be just as strange to other people as theirs may be to us. We just have to be willing to think outside our "comfort zones" and absorb as much information as we can.