The Enemy is Ignorance

"Today in Kabul, clean-shaven men rubbed their faces. An old man with a newly-trimmed grey beard danced in the street holding a small tape recorder blaring music to his ear. The Taliban- who had banned music and ordered mean to wear beards- were gone." - Kathy Gannon, Nov. 13, 2001

Eight long years of death, poverty, and brain washing later, the Taliban are stronger than ever in Afghanistan and are spreading their power deep into Pakistan. What happened to the joy that the Afghans experienced on November 13th? The answer is simple- foreign forces pulled out of the country after a month of bombing, fighting the Taliban, and giving empty promises of aid. The US government decided that Iraq and Saddam were more important to fight.

After reading an amazing book about Afghanistan and Pakistan, listening closely to different journalists from all points of view, and speaking with (educated) French citizens about their viewpoints on Iraq and the current war, I find my opinion changing slightly. I completely supported the war in Iraq and always stood behind our troops. I still think that a world without Saddam is a better world, but was it the right decision for that time? Most everyone knew that Osama was hiding somewhere in the caves of Afghanistan and not in Iraq, feeding off the money the Taliban started to receive by the millions in support of their terrorism. We originally started the war in order to avenge the death of thousands of Americans in New York and Western Pennsylvania. What exactly were the motives of the ‘war’ in Iraq? Oil? Democracy? Human rights?

So, the US spent billions of dollars ousting Saddam for the past 8 years and practically ignored the rise of power, once again, by the Taliban. The rise of the Taliban is to be expected in such poor uneducated countries. Afghans and Pakistanis have been lured into ‘education’ in the form of madrassas -a breeding ground for future Taliban terrorists- they brainwash young boys, filling their minds with hatred toward ‘infidels’ and particularly the US. The courses are taught by jihadists who teach the boys extreme Islam, Arabic, weaponry etc. They graduate from these schools having no knowledge about geography, history, math, and science. The Taliban give money to the students, which is normally sent back to their poor villages like the one pictured at the beginning of the post. The only taste these now Taliban students have of the US and of Democracy is what they are taught in their madrassa. Madrassas are now everywhere in Afghanistan and currently taking over Pakistan.

Greg Mortenson, the co-author of his biography ‘Three Cups of Tea,’ is currently fighting against these Islamic fundamentalists who recruit through the madrassas. Mortenson’s philosophy is this: if he builds secular schools and promotes true, free education, for girls as well, in one of the most dangerous areas of the world, support for the Taliban will eventually die out. He has built over 81 schools in both Afghanistan and Pakistan, and is constantly building more.

The scariest part is that the time to act in Afghanistan and against the Taliban is either now or never. A shockingly large majority of the money that the Taliban receives is from foreign donors, and the amount is constantly increasing. It’s impossible to track where all the money comes from. If we don’t act now, the Taliban will become so powerful that it could end up being one of the deadliest and bloodiest wars in history. So the next question is this: What is our government doing? Why is Obama ignoring General McChrystal’s request for more troops? Why has Obama only spoken to him ONE time during his presidency? The longer we wait the more ‘martyrs’ there will be in the name of jihad.

Check out the website www.threecupsoftea.com for more information about Greg Mortenson and his awesome work in the Middle East. Also be sure to listen to the news- both the left and the right.

Okay, well this post doesn’t really have anything to do with my actual experiences in France, but it is something that I have come to learn more and more about while being here. Next time, which will be very soon, I will tell you about teaching and my little French students.

Here are some pictures of Pakistan and Greg Mortenson. The last picture is of a Taliban Madrassa.