That the war would transfer from over there to right in your front yard.
This myth has been repeated over and over again and by now many European and American people are brainwashed in believing this is the truth.
This explains why there is little disagreement in the European and American societies with what the politicians and the military are precisely doing in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Occasionally there is a public outcry, when again own troops were killed.
Or a debate in Parliament about how much longer all that money needs to be spend on the costly war.
But each time the opposition fades into impotence and the war goes on costing more lives, more destruction, more hate and more money.
And an acceptable solution is less and less likely.
Fervent and loyal blog readers based in the USA and Europe should realize that this war currently going on in Iraq and Afghanistan is OUR war.
WE started it and WE are continuing it.
That makes us implicitly responsible.
Unless you publicly speak out against the war.
Especially the war in Afghanistan is something seriously to consider to agree or disagree with.
Last week, the Head of the British Army in Afghanistan, General Sir David Richards, declared that the Afghanistan conflict could last 40 more years.
How doubtful does that make war as the way to solve a problem?
Very likely a sensible person will conclude now and here that other ways should be found to deal with the Afghan situation.
Ask the Russians!
Another very good reason to stop the daily activities in life for a moment and to think about the war in Afghanistan and how justified our involvement is, comes from learning HOW we are actually fighting that war.
Because remember, everything that happens caused by the American and NATA-troops, happens on our behalf.
We are personally responsible!
So, how do we fight this war in Afghanistan?
With drones.
Drones are unmanned airplanes loaded with missiles.
They are controlled by men in trailers in the USA.
Such a drone is the MQ-9 Predator.
The thing can stay in the air for 14 hours non-stop.
It can fly a 5.926 km (3,682 miles) at about 300 km per hour (190 miles).
The Predator has a lot of armament:
• 6 Hardpoints
◦ 1,500 lb (680 kg) on the two inboard weapons stations
◦ 500–600 lb (230–270 kg) on the two middle stations
◦ 150–200 lb (68–91 kg) on the outboard stations
• Up to 14x AGM-114 Hellfire air to ground missiles can be carried or four Hellfire missiles and two 500 lb (230 kg) GBU-12 Paveway II laser-guided bombs. The 500 lb (230 kg) GBU-38 Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) can also be carried. Testing is underway to support the operation of the AIM-92 Stinger air-to-air missile.
This Predator is used by the CIA and the US Special Operations Command against people.
They obtain intelligence about the possible whereabouts of Taliban or Al-Qaeda persons.
Next, they send a Predator there to bomb the location to dust.
Often, it is a gathering.
Like a wedding.
Where possibly a Taliban or Al-Qaeda person might be.
Or not.
In any case, the operator, safely inside a building in the USA, doesn't know who exactly is inside the Afghan house.
But fires a Hellfire air to ground missile at the building anyway.
Killing every single person inside.
That includes, on our behalf, women and children.
In many cases it has been established later that no Taliban or Al-Qaeda person was present at all.
That the intelligence of the CIA and the US Special Operations Command was not correct.
Apologies are then offered and the next day another house gets a Hellfire missile on its roof killing everybody inside.
According to the Marine Corps Times of August 5, 2009, the number of civilian deaths in Afghanistan in the first half of 2009 soared by 24 percent.
There is a Convention of Geneva that regulates what is allowed in a war.
There are International Laws to protect civilians when a war rages.
To shoot indiscriminately missiles at villages and civilian houses might very well be a crime of war.
What is our position in this matter?
Is that OK for us that women and children are killed in Afghanistan on a daily basis to stop a possible intrusion of Taliban and Al-Qaeda persons who may act on our soil?
If you feel uncomfortable about this situation, and you should very much do so, check out the organization Justice with Peace.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The link to learn more about "Justice with Peace":
http://www.justicewithpeace.org/
To learn more about the weapon killing civilians:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MQ-9_Reaper
Current military situation in Afghanistan as the Marine Corps Times sees it:
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2009/08/ap_nato_afghanistan_080509w/
.
