The Honorable President Barack Obama:
Dear Mr. President,
On Afghanistan again, I think it is time for you to declare a moratorium on drones dropping bombs on targets in Afghanistan and Pakistan, whether or not your intelligence people believe there is a high level Al Queda operative being harbored therein. A moratorium is needed so that your military advisors have the time necessary to assess the actualities on the ground in Afghanistan. Here are some of the actualities that I see:
1. There are 40 million Pashtun residents in Afghanistan and surrounding areas.
2. Historically Pashtuns have not been constrained by political borders or boundaries. They have moved throughout the larger area at will and probably still do.
3. The culture which governs the Pashtun population traditionally is based on respect and honor. When either of these traits are/were dissed, there must be retribution, and depending on the severity of the offense, the retribution may require blood letting. In the last eight years, the offenses are such that, I believe, the retribution required is blood, witness the drone bombers!.
4. Secretary of Defense Gates and his military advisors, I believe, should be instructed to take into consideration what the Pashtun culture requires so that we Americans can be respected by the Pashtuns and what is necessary for America to do to restore our honor among the Pashtuns. We need their respect if we hope to accomplish anything in Afghanistan. Russia tried to conquer them with much larger forces than we can afford, and yet they had to pull out. Needless to say, Russia never gave much respect nor honored their heritage.
5. Their culture is such that it can’t be conquered! It can only be accommodated. The same goes for almost all Muslim cultures, even as it goes for Christian, Jewish, Hindu and many other cultures. Live with it, don’t fight against it.
6. It is impossible to bomb a people into submission. It didn’t work in Vietnam, Germany, France, Iraq, Korea and any other place where bombing has occurred. The closest exception is Nagasaki and Hiroshima during WW II and even then it was a closing shot at the end of an obviously losing situation for Japan.
7. The West defeated the USSR by acting better than the Warsaw Pact nations. America won the hearts of Western Europe with lend lease and the Marshall Plan. After WW II we helped Japan rebuild and they became our best friends. And after the Vietnam fiasco, we became friends of Vietnam by keeping our hands off. The same goes for China. It will work also in Afghanistan and neighboring nations.
8. The American public will back up similar actions in both Iraq and Afghanistan if it is explained to them in effective communiques. I don’t have the words to persuade the public, but you and your people do. What is primary in my mind is that we are all weary of war. It is time to wrap up the ‘war’ in Iraq and to change the emphasis in Afghanistan from one of ‘war’ to honoring and respecting the local population. That has always gained America its place in the hearts of the citizens of other countries. Lets us try this position in the Near East.
Peace and God bless and God bless America,
Don Cleven, just another American who is weary of war
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