The Power of Praxis

Thursday night, I showed my freshly made documentary to my housemates and about halfway through the film; my roommate turns to me and says, “This looks like a lot of fun!”

And I thought to myself, “yeah, it really was.” The work that our Haiti class did in Les Cayes this semester really was fun.

Then I wondered, where did this idea come from that praxis wasn’t supposed to be fun? If anything, fun-ness is one of the key elements of praxis.

When we do praxis, we are exploring the roots of our humanity.

While hugging an orphaned child outside the city of Les Cayes, I am also getting in touch with “whatever it is” that ties us all into the human race. Sharing ones humanity with another is the same as exploring the core elements of one’s own existence.

Being a human; sharing my humanity with others is one of the simplest things I can do. And it makes little difference to whom I share my humanity with, that is beside the point.

When I think about the person who says “That looks like fun!”, I know that the only true response is to give them some food, a hug, or a back rub because you don’t need to go to Haiti to share something as simple as yourself. People are everywhere, there are all these opportunities to make deep connections with those around us except we seem to ignore them the majority of the time.

So, why does that idea of “that looks like fun!” even come up? Shouldn’t the fact that we are all people be more present in our day to day lives? It’s almost as if the individual is not appreciated to their fullest in a society.

We live in such a competitive world that we often forget that the man handing you his resume has much more depth than a couple of letters on a sheet of paper, or that the woman on the street corner is a lot more than a lump of flesh.

Having a culture that does not esteem human beings as valuable members of society corrupts it at its roots. If we aren’t fully aware of our collective humanities, then how are we to act justly?

This aspect of our existences, if it really is true, cannot be removed from ourselves. We can tear ourselves far from the truth and focus on the resume or the hooker but can always go back to the fact that each person shares this common thread in themselves. We can't separate this aspect of ourselves from ourselves no matter what.

Having that week in Haiti was very great, not only because we were able to do something substantial in the lives of many, but it helped cultivate the praxis spirit within all of us. Once we begin to act, it must continue. When a seed first sprouts out of the ground, it doesn’t wither and die; it grows into a bigger tree! We don’t leave this tree growing in Haiti either, because it is within ourselves. Likewise, solidarity does not exist outside people, but within them!

I learned that there really isn’t anything I can do except act generously. There isn’t anything substantial about a person except for their humanity. Now that I know this, I find it difficult to see people as anything but beings who can give and receive love. This world can be a wonderful place, and the ability to bring that world about lies within us. It is our blood. The power of praxis is truly amazing.

I feel as if it is very important that we all become aware of this. But explaining it only goes so far, I can talk about humanity until I am blue in the face, because it doesn’t truly exist in words. To “be human” with another I must share a meal, or give a hug, connect with another person in the most substantial way I possibly can. It is so strange, it becomes clearer and clearer to me that the best way to share this truth is to actually share.

Praxis is such a weird thing. It integrates critical analysis with public action. These two things amplify and perpetuate each other. Domtila said in class "You can first reflect and then act, or you can act and then reflect." The point of my documentary was to reveal that praxis cultivates deep understanding because it contains the depth of personal involvement that other academic programs lack.

I have found that ever since I got back from Haiti, I have become more and more involved with the praxis project. I don't know if this is an aspect of praxis, or of myself but the more I do praxis, the more I do it. "Once you pop, you just can't stop."

~matt

A Quagmire in Afghanistan

By Mike Napolitano

For more than nine years now, the United States Military, in coordination with NATO forces, has been engaging in combat operations in Afghanistan. While supporters of the war state that controlling and stabilizing Afghanistan is vital to the security of the United States and its allies, opponents of the war state that the persistent presence of US military forces is actually causing a destabilization of the country. Additionally, US intervention is being scrutinized for the negative effects it is having on the social constructs in Afghanistan. This, on top of an unstable Afghani government, poses a great logistical and tactical predicament to military and political operations in the country.

Afghanistan is an interesting political anomaly. As a modern state, Afghanistan is not defined as a nation state because there is not a single dominating ethnic group that defines the country. Unlike other Central Asian countries such as Tajikistan and Uzbekistan where the prominent ethnic groups are Tajiks and Uzbeks respectively, Afghanistan is compromised of various different groups including Pashtuns, Tajiks, Uzbeks, and Hazaras (Maley). Because of these diverse groups who carry varied customs and dialects, finding a common cultural thread amongst Afghanis is nearly impossible. This assessment helps shed light on the tumultuous political atmosphere in Afghanistan.

Although Afghanis are more likely to associate themselves with individuals who share similar ethnic, tribal, and sectarian characteristics, an overwhelming majority of Afghanis are Muslim (Maley). Many Afghanis who become disgruntled with the political situation in the country are much more prone to associate themselves with an Islamist organization such as the Taliban or the Mujahedeen. This trend is seen, “even among disaffected Afghans most likely to support the Taliban,” that, “there was no evidence that ethnicity was a major worry” (Jones 12). It is clear that the Taliban, as a regional organization in Afghanistan and Pakistan, is more concerned with expelling those that they see as intruders on their territory, seen in their fighting against the Soviets in the 1980s and the Americans for the past eight years.

As the Taliban is such a rooted enemy, especially near the Pakistani border, the US military is having difficulty dealing with the insurgents. Mao Zedong once said that, “guerrillas are like fish which swim in the sea,” and that, “the sea is the civilian population, which provides the guerrillas with the support they need to survive” (Robinson 4). The difficulty then for those fighting militants is that, “counterinsurgency theory demands that the state catch the fish from the sea… to separate the insurgents from the population,” which is usually done, unfortunately, in brutal ways (Robinson 4).

Undoubtedly, the tactics used to pin-point and extricate suspected insurgents needs to be reconsidered. Currently, it seems that the course of action being taken by the US military is causing Pashtun villagers in Afghanistan to begin to, “lose faith in the American project” (Gopal 12). The trend in many villages in Afghanistan is that the villagers become victims of target bombings – where the US Military is attempting to ‘fish out’ suspected insurgents by bombing specific locations – and become supporters of the Taliban, their most convenient alternative to turn to. Instead of the use of violent means to try and ‘fish out’ suspected insurgents, many are saying that the, “best way to keep Americans safe from terrorism is through effective intelligence, expert police work and judicious homeland defense,” and that, “these practical measures cost far less than war and occupation in Muslim lands, which arouse hatred of the United States—and give strength to Islamist extremists” (vanden Heuvel 3).

The difficulty of winning the ‘hearts and minds’ of Afghanis is an interesting problem for the US government. On the one hand, “the paradox of military engagement in such a conflict is that the more you fight the more you lose” (Schell 18), where as, “the paradox of political engagement is that the more you rule the weaker the native component of the government becomes, and the more likely it is to collapse when you leave” (Schell 18). With this analogy, the costs of the war on the US efforts are clearer. While prolonged military engagement may result in relative stability and security, it also causes more casualties, more collateral damage to infrastructure, and more discontent among the citizens of both in the United States and Afghanistan. Furthermore, the longer the US remains in Afghanistan, the weaker the Afghani government will become as it will begin to rely more heavily on US support and intervention that, eventually, it will cease to function and collapse.

It is imperative for the United States government to reconsider their course of action in Afghanistan. Because President Obama has recently recommitted to US military operations, alternative theories must be present to, at the very least, combat the persistent use of violent military force. Some scholars believe that the best course of action is to involve Afghanistan’s neighbors by investing in a security initiative in the region. This can take the form of, “a major United Nations diplomatic initiative designed to get Afghanistan’s regional neighbors to join in setting a disengagement timetable and to share responsibility for preventing a Taliban return to power in Kabul” (Harrison 6). This type of solution cannot be attempted unless the US government seeks a major diplomatic initiative in Central Asia.

Afghanistan, however, cannot partake in multilateral talks with its neighbors if its own government is unstable. According to some scholars, “the collapse of governance in Afghanistan was a precondition for the onset of the insurgency” (Jones 19). This collapse of governance is rooted in the poor political management of Hamid Karzai, the Afghani president. The key to regain governance in Afghanistan is to reestablish the legitimacy of the government amongst the citizenry. It is difficult, however, for the US and Afghani governments to build relationships with Afghanis when the government isn’t functioning properly and botched military strikes are harming the civilian population. Admiral Michael Mullen, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, wrote in Joint Forces Quarterly that, “For all the time we spend thinking about how we communicate our actions, we are failing to actually build relationships and convince the majority Afghans not to hate us. The Taliban, on the other hand, are doing pretty well” (Xinhua News Agency). This highlights the issue quite clearly: the Taliban is taking advantage of situations created by the US and allied forces which is hurting the political and military stability of the country.

There have been efforts by the US government to set up programs and initiatives to provide social and economic support to Afghanistan. These programs, however, have been mostly unsuccessful because of mismanagement by the Afghani government. Often, projects are planned by the US government and then given to the Afghani government to appropriate funds or find a local firm to handle the project (Roston 13). The issue, however, is that President Karzai often gives projects to unqualified or corrupt individuals (ibid). In one instance, Karzai gave a $360 million security and transportation contract to his cousins who have, “no known trucking experience, and little security experience to speak of,” and who have been charged with smuggling heroin into the US during the 1990s (Roston 16). It is unfortunate that the US government does not look further into the ethical and legal shortcomings of the Karzai administration but, until they do, US funded programs are not going to function properly and the Afghani people are going to continue to suffer.

The Afghani government has so many issues to solve that it is difficult to determine where to begin. As Afghanistan is in a state of war, resolution of certain issues will take significant political, diplomatic, and social will. Additionally, the Afghani government is at a crucial juncture as it is nearing the point where it will be unable to govern because it has become too heavily reliant on US support. Beyond that, the United States has to reevaluate their commitment to Afghanistan to try and decide how long is too long to invest resources, money, and human life in the country. The US government must realize, “that the American public will not support war without end, which means [the US military will have] to leave one day” (Schell 18). The reality is that the current strategy in Afghanistan is not working and it is failing at a massive human cost. The tactics the military is using either needs to be completely reconsidered or the US needs to withdraw from Afghanistan and let Afghanis resolve their own political differences.


Works Cited
-Chouvy, Pierre-Arnaud, and Laurent R. Laniel. "Agricultural Drug Economies: Cause or Alternative to Intra-state Conflicts?" Criminal Law and Social Change 48 (2007): 133-50. ProQuest. Web. 2 Apr. 2010.
-Filkins, Dexter. "Despite Doubt, Karzai Brother Retains Power." The New York Times 31 Mar. 2010, Late Edition ed., Main Section sec.: A1+. Print.
-Gopal, Anand. "America's Secret Afghan Prisons." The Nation 15 Feb. 2010: 12-16. Print.
-Harrison, Selig S. "How to Exit Afghanistan." The Nation 11/18 Jan. 2010: 6-7. Print.
-Jones, Seth G. "The Rise of Afghanistan's Insurgency State Failure and Jihad." Internaitonal Security 32.4 (Spring 2008): 6-39. Project Muse. Web. 2 Apr. 2010.
-Maley, William. "Afghanistan." Oxford Companion to the Politics of the World. 2nd ed. OUP, 2001. Web. 2 Apr. 2010.
-"Military chief: U.S. public diplomacy in Afghanistan flawed." Xinhua News Agency 28 Aug. 2009. Custom Newspapers. Web. 19 Apr. 2010.
-Robinson, Paul. "Soviet Hearts-and-Minds Operations in Afghanistan." The Historian (March 1, 2010). EBSCO. Web. 2 Apr. 2010.
-Roston, Aram. "How the US Funds the Taliban." The Nation 30 Nov. 2009: 12-16. Print.
-Schell, Jonathan. "The Fifty-Year War." The Nation 30 Nov. 2009: 18-22. Print.
-Van Ham, Peter, and Jorrit Kamminga. "Poppies for Peace: Reforming Afghanistan's Opium Industry." The Washington Quarterly 30.1 (2006): 69-81. Project Muse. Web. 2 Apr. 2010.
-Vanden Heuvel, Katrina. "Obama's War." Editorial. The Nation 21/28 Dec. 2009: 4-5. Print.

Haiti Solidarity Day!

Short Story: Winter Walking

By: Mike Napolitano

“Can you imagine what it’s like under the ice right now?” I asked Anthony.

“It must be an entirely different world...suspended like that under ice.” Anthony seemed too lost in his own thoughts to continue his discourse on the pond. Although it wasn’t entirely frozen over, the pond had a thick layer of ice over the most of it. Anthony was kneeling at the edge of the pond and continued to stare directly into the center of it. He has a capability of appreciating nature that I could never match, and for that, I admire him. I could only imagine what he was thinking of. “You ready man?”

We turned and continued to move through the forest. I glanced over at the Hudson. All the trees were bare, allowing for a clear view of the river. I suppose the beauty of winter is that everything is in suspense and seems to move slowly. As we walked on, I continued to glance at the river watching the ice drift along with the current. The snow in front of us was completely untouched. With every step we took, we were creating a new mark upon the earth. I was so tranquil; it was almost as if every step I took away from Marist was a step away from all the homework, problems, and drama of student life.

I always looked forward to the next opportunity I had to walk through the woods with Anthony as my guide. He was the one who first showed me the splendor of a simple hike, to be able to walk through the plants until you felt a relaxing solidarity with nature. Anthony always told me about his idea of ‘oneness,’ which he said to be the feeling of being part of the whole, to feel compassion for everything around you. To me, it seemed like Anthony drew his entire spiritual being from his experiences in nature and I wanted to understand that.

As we meandered through the woods, we approached a ridge that I thought was going to lead to a severe drop but when we reached the edge of the hill, I realized that it wasn’t at all steep. Amazingly enough, the hill led down to a gully where a small creek appeared to have formed. I had never seen anything like it. The water was flowing between trees, through roots, around trunks, past piles of sticks, mounds of dirt. It was as if nature intended to connect all the water together by using the landscape as a path; the bare, vertical trees provided a labyrinth-like grid for the water to flow through.

Anthony and I approached the creek. It must have stretched about a quarter mile. The creek was odd, though, as it was only a few feet wide in spots while in others, it opened up to around ten feet. Naturally, Anthony and I went straight for the edge of the creek at the most narrow section as our acute sense of curiosity subliminally told us to. Approaching the creek, I glanced at Anthony and noticed a whimsical expression of glee on his face; he was evidently overjoyed at our discovery.

We walked between the trees, climbed over the roots, and hopped between the banks. After a few minutes, we both had our share of exploring the new terrain. I looked at Anthony and met his eyes behind his thick, unkempt beard. I could tell he knew what he wanted to do because, after all, nature is his forte. He smiled at me and sat, knees at the chest, on a downed branch. Following his lead, I kneeled next to a tree and used it as a back. Anthony had told me about his experiences meditating in the woods and I could tell that was what was on his mind.

Following his lead, I just sat. I closed my eyes and listened to the water capriciously flow through the roots of the trees. I was rapidly releasing all the stress that I had built up from earlier in the week. A part of me felt the flow of the water moving through my body, almost as if it was purifying me. I was meditating. I felt my mind becoming lighter than my body as if my troubled thoughts were escaping the confines of my skull. A surge of my spirit rushed through me, I felt revitalized.

I opened my eyes. The world was so very vibrant. Sounds were clearer, the water looked crisper, and the cool breeze felt so embracing around my bare cheeks. I reached down to touch the water. Letting it flow through my fingers, it felt as though the water was at its most basic form. Just touching the water was so incredibly refreshing. I took a deep breath allowing for the cold winter air to fill up my lungs. Never before had I felt so energized by a lungful of air. Through my sunglasses the snow was lustrous, the water was glistening. The world seemed to gleam before my eyes.

As I rose up from my crouching position, I noticed Anthony was also rousing from his rumination. There seemed to be an unsaid mutual agreement between us and we simultaneously turned back. It was the return trip back to the ‘real world.’ It was a very odd experience walking back. It seemed to take four times the amount of time to get to the creek as it took us to walk back. Uncharacteristic for Anthony and me, we didn’t talk much as we walked.

Much to our style we took a different route back. As we were crossing through a small field, we suddenly noticed something interesting above us. On the first branch of a nearby tree, we spotted a hawk. We found ourselves taken back by the new scenario that nature had given us. “What should we do?” I asked Anthony.

“I don’t know man…I’ve never been this close to a hawk. Let’s just wait for a few minutes.” So we stood in the field and watched this hawk watch us. The hawk was like no other creature I had ever seen in person. It had a large roundish torso that was mostly decorated with opal white feathers and a few other grey feathers mixed around the sides. Its eyes were particularly striking. They were brilliantly astute and it was evident that it could scan every inch of the ground even when flying above the trees.

It turned and spotted us. Anthony and I stared at this hawk staring back at us. The bird did not seem threatened by its human intruders; it was as if it was studying us as we were studying it. It seemed, in that one instance, a bird and two mammals shared a field, and nothing more happened. After the hawk was content, it turned and flew off in another direction. Watching the hawk fly away was a sight to behold. It happened so quickly but I won’t soon forget the astounding wing span it had. I couldn’t get past the fact that I was within twenty feet of a hawk.

Without a hawk to maintain our attention, we moved on towards Marist. Once we came within a few hundred feet of the end of the arboretum, we were greeted by a paved drive meant to allow access to St. Ann’s Hermitage. As the warm scent of brush left me, I was greeted by the dry, pungent scent of wet asphalt. We were still in the cover of the trees, but we were now on pavement. A minute later, the cover of the trees left us and I stared southward upon Fontaine, Dyson, Gartland, and the rest of the Marist campus.

The sight of the black pavement and its abrasive road paint assaulted my eyes almost as if it was a foreign design I had never seen before. The lack of tree cover forced all the unnatural colors of the campus back into my retinas. The noise of people and cars met my ears once again and the hustle and bustle of daily life was back to command my attention. My eyes begrudgingly adjusted, I returned home and started my homework.

Perspectives: Haiti

A great clipping from Dr. Mar on Haiti:

Haiti Solidarity Project Connection

This post and future posts here will serve as a forum for students and faculty to connect on projects for Haiti Solidarity Day. Below, I will list the different things that we will need student/faculty driven groups on. If you are interested in a project, leave your name, what you'd like to do for the project, and the best way to contact you. Please comment with what you are interested in and hopefully we can get people to cover all the bases.

1) We need a group of people who are interested in creating posters/fliers and running the advertising for the event. This would include getting the word out on campus in every way possible.

2) I know there are several students already working on a trafficking project or are interested in doing a project on trafficking. Can all of you please get in touch so that you can get on the same page.

3) We need a group of students to create a project on the refugee/displaced persons crisis after the earthquake. If you are interested but don't know where to look/what to look into I will work with you.

4) I will be working on a project on the prospect of debt relief to Haiti. Anyone who would like to join me, I would love to have some help on it.

5) There is going to be a project on clean water run by a group already on campus. John Boss is the person to contact if you are interested in this.

6) Depending on how many people are interested in this topic will depend on how many projects will come out of it. Mar and I would like a group to outline the humanitarian response to the earthquake including Partners in Health, the Red Cross, and the comfort ship. If there are a good amount of people interested in this, we could break the groups into specific organizations.

7) We need a group to create a project on the vital aspects of Haitian culture and to connect the tragedy with the rich culture Haiti has.


This is all we have right now, but we really need people to start giving us an idea of what you want to do. Use this thread as a way to share ideas and connect with others who are interested in the same things.

The Difficulty of Debt Relief

Aside from the many humanitarian issues that have been ravaging Haiti in the last month, there are many other issues that have been plaguing the small Caribbean nation. Perhaps the most important economic disparity that Haiti suffers is the massive amount of debt they owe to the IMF, World Bank, and other western creditors.

Although debt relief to Haiti was already discussed and passed by the IMF last July, there are many other lingering issues that have yet to be resolved. Before the earthquake, there was no deal brokered between the World Bank and Haiti about the prospect of Haitian debt relief; approximately 27% of Haiti’s external debt is owed to the World Bank.

On February 7 the G7 – the world’s seven richest countries – agreed on a tentative plan that would relieve Haiti of its debt to these nations. This is a gesture that will be of great help to Haiti. On the other hand, it is a short term solution that industrialized nations are using as an excuse to “fix” poorer nations without creating a long term development plan.

In 2005 the IMF went through a process they called the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative where they cancelled the debt of heavily indebted countries. One of these countries was Nicaragua. Ben Beachy, an independent educator working for Witness for Peace, was working in Nicaragua when these programs were enacted. He noted that, “Just after pledging $201 million of debt relief for Nicaragua, the IMF has also promised to reactivate its stalled economic program with the country, meaning a new IMF loan package of about $100 million.”

This is common neoliberal double speak. They first allow for the cancellation of a debt that was clearly never going to be diminished any time soon, and replaced it with another loan that the country cannot afford. Not only that, but they riddle the loan with stipulations that dictate the social and economic policies of the debtor. These tighter regulations cause impoverished nations to cancel the only social programs they have protecting their people from abject poverty.

In the case of Nicaragua, it lead to an across the board decrease in healthcare. What resulted was a mass humanitarian setback where thousands of sick Nicaraguans could not access public hospitals that they had previously relied on for simple treatments such as infections and broken bones.

With the things that western nations and organizations have pledged to Haiti, upwards of 70% of its debt will be absolved. Although this will allow the Haitian government to focus more on rebuilding its nation, 80% of the Haitian population still lives under the poverty line, 27% live in abject poverty, and the country is posting a negative GDP growth.

After all the cameras leave Haiti, and everyone in the western world feels great for contributing money to such an impoverished nation, they will still be suffering, and they will still be in need. Haiti needs debt relief that does not have predatory stipulations and they need help rebuilding their nation.

-mike

The Me me-generation?

Teenagers and Twenty-somethings are being described as members of the “me- generation”. A generation overpowered by narcissism and generally lacking humility. Raina Kelley, from Newsweek, describes in my contemporaries as “ego-addled, spoiled brats” and “hot house flowers puffed with disproportionate senses of self worth” . This past semester, class discussions often touched on our current, disconnected generation. Students and professors commonly agreed that individuals are becoming more self-centered and less concerned about their community. People remain confined within the bubbles of their individual lives, constantly working to get a raise or receive the best possible grade, yet not caring about the well-being of others. Everyone seemed to accept this theory of the “me-generation”, without much question or critique. Yet, I found myself in sharp disagreement, especially after helping to organize a fundraiser to support children in Calcutta.


I was able to organize a benefit open-mic night at a local coffeehouse this past semester, only because of the enormous support and help from other students. At first, I doubted many students would attend. After all, aren’t we the “me-generation”? I thought most students would be too busy, too lazy, or simply not care enough to attend the event. But, I was wrong.


The coffeehouse was packed with students. There was not an inch of free space to stand, let alone to sit and enjoy a latte. A vast array of students performed: Kevin Manning showed us his magic tricks, student-comedian Vinny Pagano filled the spare space with laughter, Alexa Warshany left people breathless as she sang and played guitar, and both the female and male a cappella groups sang some tunes. The coffeehouse was filled with music, laughter, and conversation from nine until midnight. This could not have been done without students like Courtney Meek, who tracked down talented students who would be willing to perform, or Lauren Goodman, who designed a beautiful flyer to publicize the event. It was the collective and collaborative action of students, who took a break from their personal lives and to-do lists, that made this event such a huge success.


By the end of the night, we were able to raise two hundred and sixty dollars in donations for the newly formed Calcutta Children’s Project. This project supports the educational, medical, and nutritional needs of about fifty children living and working in a small, contained dump in Calcutta. The money we raised was enough to send all the children to school for one year.


As I sat on the arm of a sofa in the dimly lit coffeehouse and observed students empty their wallets above the donation basket, or cheer for a nervous friend who was about to perform, I realized that this event was more than just a successful fundraiser. It was proof that our generation does not consist of self-centered and hyper-competitive individuals. It consists of people who are willing to humbly give to others, connect with others, and support each other. It was proof of how the “me-generation” is a big, fat lie.

-Sam

A Nobel Critique of Afghanistan

You guys know how it works. This should be in the October 22 issue of The Circle. Enjoy:


On October 7, the War in Afghanistan entered its ninth year. Like the Vietnam War, there seems to be no clear mission other than the elimination of the, “bad guys,” that are ideologically opposed to the United States. Considering that Obama is to receive the Nobel Peace Prize and that there is a potential troop increase on the table in Washington, the political climate is ripe for true change.

But will there be any change in the strategy on Afghanistan. Just as General Westmoreland told President Johnson in 1968 that a troop surge in Vietnam would stabilize South Vietnam, General McCrystal is telling President Obama that a troop surge in Afghanistan in 2009 will stabilize the country. We all know what happened
in Vietnam, and I’m afraid of a repeat in Afghanistan.

There are some negative signs that only seem to dictate a negative outcome in Afghanistan. Like fighting the Viet Cong forty years ago, the Taliban are a decentralized military entity that is fighting on territory they are familiar with against troops on their lands. Trying to take out the Taliban hiding in the mountains is nothing short of a logistical nightmare.

Also, the fact remains that the Taliban is not Al Qaida. The US originally sought to take out Al Qaida and its networks but has been preoccupied with the Taliban in Afghanistan for years. Nearly everyone knows now that Al Qaida is predominantly in Pakistan, which is nearing anarchy itself. So, while Al Qaida is operating in Pakistan, the United States continues to keep its attention on nation building in Afghanistan.

The fact also remains that many Afghanis are still quite hostile towards westerners. In some incidents – such as an incident involving a Canadian Air Force Captain – Afghani civilians have attacked military personnel attempting friendly contact. Additionally, if 2009 could tell us anything about the situation in Afghanistan, it would say that violence is at higher levels now than it has been since the war began.

On top of all this, the Afghani government is a joke. The Afghani judiciary is so weak that it is laughable. The Afghani government as a whole is so corrupt that it holds nearly no legitimacy with the Afghani people. This is all very reminiscent of the incredibly fragile, puppet South Vietnamese government. This is not to mention that Afghani President Hamid Karzai has been accused of election fraud from the August presidential election.

With the situation the way it is, and the prospects of a positive change fading with every senselessly violent day in Afghanistan, I as a pacifist call upon President Obama to earn his Nobel Peace Prize. End combat operations in Afghanistan and put an end to the Bush Wars.

Regardless of Obama’s previous actions that caused him to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, he will not earn it until the conflict in Afghanistan is over. It is time to put an end to this war before it truly becomes the modern Vietnam.

-mike

Defending President Obama

I wrote this article for The Circle, but (as I always do) I am publishing it here first. I wrote this article from the perspective of an internationalist with special consideration for diplomacy, enjoy:


To the surprise of nearly everyone in the world, President Obama was selected by the Nobel Committee to receive the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize. Naturally, his selection has raised many questions. His selection was made, however, on sound rhetoric based in the principles of international diplomacy and politics.

The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded to the individual who has done the most for world peace in the previous year. Most notably for Obama, is that he reversed the jingoistic – and at times borderline xenophobic – foreign policy of the previous administration; in doing so, he single handedly changed the attitude of most of the world toward America.

It also must be noted that individuals who promote world peace do not necessarily partake in specific actions. International diplomacy is incredibly formal, most of the attitudes and actions of individual nations are played out through speeches and gestures. In this way Obama’s contribution to peace is seen.

Some of Obama’s first actions as president set the tone for what the Nobel Committee dubbed as, “his extraordinary efforts to strengthen diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.” During his inaugural address he stated, “to all those other peoples and governments who are watching today…know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and we are ready to lead once more.”

These are strong words for an individual who just took office, that he is ready to help lead the world towards peace. His actions continued over the next few months. First, Obama signed an executive order closing the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, put an end to torture, and began withdrawing troops from Iraq.

In his first formal interview as president, he spoke with an Arab satellite network reaching out to the Islamic world. He later gave a speech in Cairo reaching out further to nations and peoples who had been so greatly dejected by the previous administration. Additionally, Obama has put pressure on Israel to desist their movement onto Palestinian settlements, refused to support radical right-wing coup leaders in Honduras, and has continued voicing his support for a nuclear free world.

To Obama’s credit, many world leaders have congratulated and shown their support for his award. Simply the list of individuals congratulating him, shows the span of his actions. Obama has been supported by public figures in France, Germany, Russia, Israel, Palestine, Iraq, Indonesia, Japan, South Africa, Zimbabwe, and by IGO’s such as the United Nations, NATO, and the International Atomic Energy Agency. Former recipients of the prize such as Wangari Maathai, Desmond Tutu, Mikhail Gorbachev, Mohamed Elbaradel, Shimon Peres, Jimmy Carter, Al Gore, and last year’s recipient Martti Ahtisaari have also expressed their support.

Meanwhile, on the domestic side, opponents of President Obama have been quick to criticize him. Most notably of the dissidents is the RNC chairman Michael Steele who attempted to portray Obama as, “unworthy.” So, while most of the world celebrates Mr. Obama and his strides towards peace, the minority political party in America has to resort to derisive politics. As one Floridian congressman put it, “If Obama somehow ended world hunger, they would try to blame him for overpopulation.”

It is time to put politics aside, because peace is more important that politics. America, your president just won the Nobel Peace Prize, let’s be proud of it.

-mike