As Australia's Parliament debates the war in Afghanistan and maintaining Australian troops there - and, unusually, all members are not bound to vote with their respective parties - it is clear that the war-torn country is nothing short than a disaster.
"In nearly every Congressional and Senate race, these are the issues that explode into attack ads, score points in debates and light up cable talk shows. In poll after poll, these are the issues that voters say are most important to them this year.
Notice anything missing on the campaign landscape?
How about war? The United States is now in its ninth year of fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq, the longest wars in American history. Almost 5,000 men and women have been killed. More than 30,000 have been wounded, some so gravely they’re returning home to become, effectively, wards of their families and communities.
In those nine years, the United States has spent more than $1 trillion on combat operations and other parts of the war effort, including foreign aid, reconstruction projects, embassy costs and veterans’ health care. And the end is not in sight.
So why aren’t the wars and their human and economic consequences front and center in this campaign, right up there with jobs and taxes?".
So writes Tom Brokaw in "The Wars That America Forgot About" an op-ed piece in The New York Times.
And then there is this - as reported by Associated Press:
"Ballots from about 10 percent of voting centers in last month's parliamentary election have been disqualified by fraud, Afghan election officials said Monday in a move likely to affect results in a number of volatile provinces.
The Sept. 18 poll is being watched for signs that the government of President Hamid Karzai is committed to reform after a fraud-marred presidential election last year prompted many of Karzai's Western allies to threaten to pull troops and aid. However, the pursuit of a clean result also risks inflaming ethnic tensions in tumultuous provinces if ballots are voided that leave certain tribes feeling that their votes didn't count."
Finally, and no less importantly for that, those in power would do well read Nicholas D Kristof, on this occasion writing the subject of his blog "Tea in Kabul" on The New York Times web site:
"A few vignettes [3 in all] to explain why I believe America’s strategy in Afghanistan isn’t working".
"In nearly every Congressional and Senate race, these are the issues that explode into attack ads, score points in debates and light up cable talk shows. In poll after poll, these are the issues that voters say are most important to them this year.
Notice anything missing on the campaign landscape?
How about war? The United States is now in its ninth year of fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq, the longest wars in American history. Almost 5,000 men and women have been killed. More than 30,000 have been wounded, some so gravely they’re returning home to become, effectively, wards of their families and communities.
In those nine years, the United States has spent more than $1 trillion on combat operations and other parts of the war effort, including foreign aid, reconstruction projects, embassy costs and veterans’ health care. And the end is not in sight.
So why aren’t the wars and their human and economic consequences front and center in this campaign, right up there with jobs and taxes?".
So writes Tom Brokaw in "The Wars That America Forgot About" an op-ed piece in The New York Times.
And then there is this - as reported by Associated Press:
"Ballots from about 10 percent of voting centers in last month's parliamentary election have been disqualified by fraud, Afghan election officials said Monday in a move likely to affect results in a number of volatile provinces.
The Sept. 18 poll is being watched for signs that the government of President Hamid Karzai is committed to reform after a fraud-marred presidential election last year prompted many of Karzai's Western allies to threaten to pull troops and aid. However, the pursuit of a clean result also risks inflaming ethnic tensions in tumultuous provinces if ballots are voided that leave certain tribes feeling that their votes didn't count."
Finally, and no less importantly for that, those in power would do well read Nicholas D Kristof, on this occasion writing the subject of his blog "Tea in Kabul" on The New York Times web site:
"A few vignettes [3 in all] to explain why I believe America’s strategy in Afghanistan isn’t working".
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