Rebuilding Afghanistan, One Bridge At a Time

Time ^ | 11/30/2002 | ROB SCHULTHEIS

[ArcLight]

Chiclets (the name comes from CHLCs, or "Coalition Humanitarian Liason Cells") are the hot item in America's anti-terrorism campaign in Afghanistan today. Self-described as the "Peace Corps with guns," they carry out high-impact aid missions the locals want and the U.N. and NGOs have somehow missed. Thirteen teams operate across the country right now, with more than 300 projects in the works ranging from building roads and bridges to supplying schools. Chiclet-5 is a typical team: five of its members are civilians, reservists out of the Knoxville-based 489th Civil Affairs Battalion, while the sixth is a regular Army communications specialist. The team's leader is Lt. Col. Roger Walker, a wry and thoughtful-looking food company executive from Valdosta, Georgia with a permanent case of sunburn.

snip

"Every one of us in Chiclet-5 has a price on his head," the Colonel says. "There are still al-Qaeda and Taliban out there. We see them shadowing us, looking for any weakness they might be able to exploit. We know they're going to come after us: it's not a matter of if, but when." He smiles. "But I'll tell you something, when they come they'd better be loaded for bear. Because we're good. Real good."

[ArcLight]

So we're neglecting Afghanistan, are we? Tell it to these brave folks...

[RonF]

Bush needs to bust all the countries who said they'd donate money to help rebuild Afghanistan but have so far held off actually fufilling any of their pledges.

[marron]

What we cannot do is leave a vacuum. The work these guys are doing is absolutely necessary. This isn't a matter of rebuilding a country for the sake of empire-building, but rather because people with nothing to lose are very dangerous.

This was our mistake after the Soviet war. We left the country in chaos and the Taliban emerged as the lesser of evils. We were smart enough not to walk away from post-war Germany leaving it in rubble and at the mercy of the most violent. We rebuilt Germany, and Japan and remained engaged for a half century, and however much these countries may annoy us from time to time, it is clear that this was the right thing to do.

To walk away from Afghanistan, and Iraq after we pummel them, without first making sure they are viable and stable, will be a disastrous error.

We can defeat a country in a few years, or weeks, or even days. But the committment is for 20 years, or 30, or longer.

[Monty22]

Watch the great Peter Sellers movie The Mouse That Roared, which lampoons the 'nation building' princinple.

I think it's a waste overall.. Very few countries are going to 'come around' like Japan/Germany did. Especially when the same damn idealogy (in this case islam) is still in charge.

We didn't try to rebuild Nazi Germany or Shinto Japan. That's what we are doing in this case however. It won't work, they'll hate us anyway with their mindset.

[marron]

Watch the great Peter Sellers movie The Mouse That Roared

I love that movie... Its very funny...