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April 28, 2007

Christoph Suess, Hanauer Anzeiger, Gold Contributor (77)

The same question has been raised in Canada: why are we there? The problem is that what Canada, Germany and the international community are doing in Afghanistan, and what they are actually pledging to their constituency are two very different things. There is a lot of talk about creating better lives for the Afghans, but the reality at the end of the day is that this is only the second priority, sort of a nice side-effect of what we are in fact doing there (preventing terrorists to take over the country again). This is a far more modest approach however as the one announced officially by the respective goverments. A consequence of that is that Germany, for example, is putting far less ressouces into reconstruction and development efforts in Afghanistan than in its military mission. The truth is that Germans, Canadians, and Americans are willing to accept dead boddies for their own safety perhaps, but I doubt whether they also do so if it is "just" for the sake of Afghanistan's well-being. My personal bet is that as soon as Afghanistan is relatively secure, those countries mentioned above will eventually withdraw and their development efforts will suffer stagnation. As we say in Germany: Erst kommt das fressen und dann kommt die Moral!

May 5, 2007

Martin van Berensen, Retired, Bronze Contributor (22)

"Karsten Voigt says that the priority of the Afghanistan mission is to prevent terrorists and their supporters from taking over the country."

This man is a genius.