Why Are We In Vietnam?
The trenchant agitprop Al Jazeera contributes a video from a fresh subset of the Taliban in Kunar province that is said to show an attack on an ISAF convoy. The vehicles and the lone fixed-wing aircraft are consistent with US operations. The AJ correspondent makes note that the flora are consistent with late summer, not with fall or winter conditions in Kunar. Watching the locals scavenge the destroyed vehicle that has been pushed into the churning river, it is all a flash back to the Vietnam war, when the locals also scavenged wrecked convoy equipment. The video clips of the training of the boys with Ak-47s is sad and timeless. Boys do push-ups and shoot junky weapons; it is a goofy thrill. Boys listen to the stories from the old men who tell them that we are fighting for our homeland and our way of life -- Sharia law in Free Afghanistan. There is no military or ideological fix here. The International Front for Combating the Crusaders and the Jews is using ISAF as a foil in order to create governance in failed states where the kleptocrats rule with IMF and World Bank cash. Fifty years from now, is AfPakia a cut-off agrarian wilderness or a tourist attraction? Hard to imagine high-tech start-ups. Michael Herr's famous close to his book Dispatches on Vietnam comes to mind: "Vietnam, Vietnam, Vietnam, we've all been there."
In the bush there are always several classes of animals that come in after a kill. The big cats get first dibs as they should. They do all the work, after all. The vultures, ants and maggots get there last. The hot sun cleans up the balance, bleaching the bones.
So it is everywhere, excepting churches and mountain monasteries. A kill is a celebration of brutality. When done in a natural setting, it can be regarded as a sober sacrament. When concocted by men, it’s a disquieting display of egomaniacal intolerance and bottomless blood lust. It doesn’t just happen; it is carefully planned and orchestrated outside the realm of conscience.
Brutality determines the hierarchy. The strongest prevail; the weakest make due with the scraps. Everyone is happy. Everyone is hopeful that with the next turn of the wheel they too will advance. That’s the sum total of the spiritual element in the equation. It all can be accomplished in the blink of an eye, we are told. “Just strap on this belt and take a stroll in the market. We will do the rest with a phone call. Your parents will be proud.”
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