Friday, October 30, 2009

War Notes: October 30, 2009



New York Times columnist Nicolas Kristof makes the classic books not bombs argument, introducing evidence that new schools have managed to largely stay open despite the ongoing war:
Greg Mortenson, author of “Three Cups of Tea,” has now built 39 schools in Afghanistan and 92 in Pakistan — and not one has been burned down or closed. The aid organization CARE has 295 schools educating 50,000 girls in Afghanistan, and not a single one has been closed or burned by the Taliban. The Afghan Institute of Learning, another aid group, has 32 schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan, with none closed by the Taliban (although local communities have temporarily suspended three for security reasons).
Kristof couples these success stories with analysis comparing money spent on education in Bangladesh, where there are now more girls in school than boys, with military spending in Pakistan, which is still is still highly unstable and uneducated. It is unsurprising that Kristof does not favor a massive military escalation, but this article is an optimistic reminder of how we can help the Afghan people even if we begin to withdraw troops.

The photo is of Greg Mortenson with a group of schoolkids, from the website Hearts and Minds.
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Earlier this week, Taliban insurgents raided a U.N compound in the heart of Kabul, killing eight people, including six foreign workers. A DailyKos writers pays a touching tribute to two of his friends and co-workers who died in that attack, Jossie Esto and Lydia Wonyene. These two women, working for the U.N as volunteers, were there to help run the presidential elections, and between them, they leave seven children behind. The attack has reminded people on the ground that even Kabul is unstable at the moment, and foreign workers have been told not to leave their homes.
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President Obama recently visited Dover Airforce Base to pay respects to 18 slain soldiers returning from Afghanistan, and met with their families. You can see moving video clips and photos here.
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Ahmed Wali Karzai amusingly denies having any connections to the CIA or drug cartels. Seems like a guy we can take at his word.

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