A Small, Depressing Detail About the Kabul Inter-Continental Hotel Attack
By now you've heard, I'm sure, that the Taliban killed at least ten people, mostly Westerners (not that this matters, except politically, but politically that matters very much) at the Kabul Inter-Continental Hotel. That hotel, as an acquaintance of mine who sometimes works in Kabul put it, "was supposed to be the safe one."
In this piece, Mary Stoneaker for Al Arabiya asks, "Will US withdrawal open a door for the resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan?"
Gee, dunno Mary. I wouldn't read too much into this. Probably just a coincidence. These things just happen sometimes days after you announce the withdrawal of US troops. If your investment portfolio is heavily weighted toward kites for the Afghan market, it's probably prudent to diversify, but otherwise, I wouldn't make too much of it.
Here's the part that depresses me in a special way. It's the sidebar to CNN's coverage of this:
WHO ARE THE TALIBAN?
- Operates primarily in Afghanistan, Pakistan since 1994
- Imposed strict Islamic laws, particularly on women, in Afghanistan
- Controlled Afghan government from 1996-2001 until overthrow by U.S. forces
- Led by Mullah Mohammed Omar
- Mullah Omar and senior Taliban leaders believed to be living in Quetta
CNN's editors included this, one imagines, because they believe that it's necessary. They think their readers don't know this.
To review: The US has been at war against the Taliban in Afghanistan since 2001. It went to war there as a response to the most devastating terrorist attack in the history of the world. Some of CNN's readers may even remember that day. We've spent about 440 billion dollars to fight the war. At least 1,534 US troops have died. Some 12,000 have been wounded.
But I assume CNN knows its readership and is correct in assuming that most Americans could not say who the Taliban are, where they operate, who their leaders are, what they have done to women, or what they are apt to do to women anywhere they're in power.
So how can CNN's readers even begin to assess this story?
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May '11
Re: A Small, Depressing Detail About the Kabul Inter-Continental Hotel Attack
It is maddening. We have wasted hundreds of billions of dollars and more importantly, thousands of US lives while pussy-footing around Iraq and Afghanistan over the last ten years. For, according to my son and daughter who have each been over there with the Army and Air Force, little to nothing. As a country, we have lost the will to prosecute a war properly. If we are not willing to bring the fight to the enemy on their terms, we shouldn't be fighting at all.(And by that I mean fighting dirtier than the enemy is willing to, media coverage be damned.)
World War 2 was the last conflict that we won. The current war against global jihad is equally important. We need to seriously reconsider our chosen tactics, or bring our children home.
May '10
Re: A Small, Depressing Detail About the Kabul Inter-Continental Hotel Attack
I think the public is also confused, because certain actors draw a distinction between the Taliban and Al Qaeda. So which is it? Are we fighting Al Qaeda, the Taliban or both? The UN draws a distinction between the two with regards to sanctions. Why? To move Afghan gov't reconciliation efforts along? I think this attack signals the Taliban's lack of interest in compromise.
And yes, I think the American public is very disengaged from the US presence in the Middle East. So few people are really impacted by it. However, some folks, particularly those most deeply effected, choose ignorance. When my husband was deployed, I went on a self-imposed media blackout - I was so freaked out by the experience. I wasn't the only military spouse that did this. Even now, I have friends whose husbands are civilians who work for the DoD and other intelligence agencies who get deployed to the Middle East regularly. The less they know the better they can cope. It's terrifying. So many actions are covert operations based on secrets and intelligence gathering. It appears more like the Cold War than WW2.