Code Pink rethinking it's position on Afghanistan ...
... or Hypocrite, Heal Thyself, if you will. From the Christian Science Monitor:
When Medea Benjamin stood up in a Kabul meeting hall this weekend to ask Masooda Jalal if she would prefer more international troops or more development funds, the cofounder of US antiwar group Code Pink was hoping her fellow activist would support her call for US troop withdrawal.
She was disappointed.
Ms. Jalhal, the former Afghan minister of women, bluntly told her both were needed. "It is good for Afghanistan to have more troops – more troops committed with the aim of building peace and against war, terrorism, and security – along with other resources," she answered. "Coming together they will help with better reconstruction." ...
When Medea Benjamin stood up in a Kabul meeting hall this weekend to ask Masooda Jalal if she would prefer more international troops or more development funds, the cofounder of US antiwar group Code Pink was hoping her fellow activist would support her call for US troop withdrawal.
She was disappointed.
Ms. Jalhal, the former Afghan minister of women, bluntly told her both were needed. "It is good for Afghanistan to have more troops – more troops committed with the aim of building peace and against war, terrorism, and security – along with other resources," she answered. "Coming together they will help with better reconstruction.
Though Afghans have their grievances against the international troops' presence, chief among them civilian casualties, many fear an abrupt departure would create a dangerous security vacuum to be filled by predatory and rapacious militias. Many women, primary victims of such groups in the past, are adamant that international troops stay until a sufficient number of local forces are trained and the rule of law established.
During their weeklong visit here, in which they met with government officials, politicians, ministers, women activists, and civil society groups, the small team of Code Pink members had hoped to gather evidence to bolster their call for US troop withdrawal within two years, and capitalize on growing anxiety back home about the war.
While the group hasn't dropped its call for a pullout, the visit convinced them that setting a deadline isn't in Afghanistan's interests, say Ms. Benjamin and fellow cofounder Jodie Evans.
"We would leave with the same parameters of an exit strategy but we might perhaps be more flexible about a timeline," says Benjamin. "That's where we have opened ourselves, being here, to some other possibilities. We have been feeling a sense of fear of the people of the return of the Taliban. So many people are saying that, 'If the US troops left the country, would collapse. We'd go into civil war.' A palpable sense of fear that is making us start to reconsider that."
Code Pink says it will continue to oppose sending more troops to Afghanistan – a move facing heated debate in Washington – and advocate for more funding for aid and humanitarian projects instead.
Ms. Benjamin, the same arguments were presented to Code Pink and other antiwar activists in Iraq, and even after the surge showed exceptional success, your people still screamed for us to get out Iraq.
"Hypocrite, heal thyself."
Don't get me wrong, it's nice to see that common sense has finally crept into this woman's feeble little brain, and we even support her on the humanitarian aid, but the simple fact of the matter remains, and she's put the blinders on to it.
The security situation in Afghanistan, whole not perilous, is of significant concern to people. The necessity for more troops in Afghanistan is plainly clear. Our allies have balked at sending more troops to Afghanistan. A recent disagreement between Gen. Sir Richard Dannatt and Gordon Brown cost the general his job when he complained that he personally requested an extra 2000 soldiers and was vetoed by Brown. Our allies don't want to send any more soldiers there, and if our ultimate goal is to win then we need more troops there.
General Stan McChrystal has requested 40,000 more troops. A few days ago I said we should send 50,000, but after reading some recent reports (not classified, of course) of the situation in Afghanistan, we need about 100,000 more soldiers there. The RoEs also need to change, and we need more air support for those soldiers.
The hypocrisy in Ms. Benjamin's change of heart comes in the fact that she sees that we need to have the presence there in Afghanistan to keep it from collapsing, but it was her group -- Code Pink -- that lead full-throated dudgeon against the surge in Iraq, and it was evident we needed a bigger presence there to take on the insurgents and terrorists there.
We don't trust Code Pink as far as we can throw them, but at least they finally got a clue about what's going on in Afghanistan.
Publius II
When Medea Benjamin stood up in a Kabul meeting hall this weekend to ask Masooda Jalal if she would prefer more international troops or more development funds, the cofounder of US antiwar group Code Pink was hoping her fellow activist would support her call for US troop withdrawal.
She was disappointed.
Ms. Jalhal, the former Afghan minister of women, bluntly told her both were needed. "It is good for Afghanistan to have more troops – more troops committed with the aim of building peace and against war, terrorism, and security – along with other resources," she answered. "Coming together they will help with better reconstruction." ...
When Medea Benjamin stood up in a Kabul meeting hall this weekend to ask Masooda Jalal if she would prefer more international troops or more development funds, the cofounder of US antiwar group Code Pink was hoping her fellow activist would support her call for US troop withdrawal.
She was disappointed.
Ms. Jalhal, the former Afghan minister of women, bluntly told her both were needed. "It is good for Afghanistan to have more troops – more troops committed with the aim of building peace and against war, terrorism, and security – along with other resources," she answered. "Coming together they will help with better reconstruction.
Though Afghans have their grievances against the international troops' presence, chief among them civilian casualties, many fear an abrupt departure would create a dangerous security vacuum to be filled by predatory and rapacious militias. Many women, primary victims of such groups in the past, are adamant that international troops stay until a sufficient number of local forces are trained and the rule of law established.
During their weeklong visit here, in which they met with government officials, politicians, ministers, women activists, and civil society groups, the small team of Code Pink members had hoped to gather evidence to bolster their call for US troop withdrawal within two years, and capitalize on growing anxiety back home about the war.
While the group hasn't dropped its call for a pullout, the visit convinced them that setting a deadline isn't in Afghanistan's interests, say Ms. Benjamin and fellow cofounder Jodie Evans.
"We would leave with the same parameters of an exit strategy but we might perhaps be more flexible about a timeline," says Benjamin. "That's where we have opened ourselves, being here, to some other possibilities. We have been feeling a sense of fear of the people of the return of the Taliban. So many people are saying that, 'If the US troops left the country, would collapse. We'd go into civil war.' A palpable sense of fear that is making us start to reconsider that."
Code Pink says it will continue to oppose sending more troops to Afghanistan – a move facing heated debate in Washington – and advocate for more funding for aid and humanitarian projects instead.
Ms. Benjamin, the same arguments were presented to Code Pink and other antiwar activists in Iraq, and even after the surge showed exceptional success, your people still screamed for us to get out Iraq.
"Hypocrite, heal thyself."
Don't get me wrong, it's nice to see that common sense has finally crept into this woman's feeble little brain, and we even support her on the humanitarian aid, but the simple fact of the matter remains, and she's put the blinders on to it.
The security situation in Afghanistan, whole not perilous, is of significant concern to people. The necessity for more troops in Afghanistan is plainly clear. Our allies have balked at sending more troops to Afghanistan. A recent disagreement between Gen. Sir Richard Dannatt and Gordon Brown cost the general his job when he complained that he personally requested an extra 2000 soldiers and was vetoed by Brown. Our allies don't want to send any more soldiers there, and if our ultimate goal is to win then we need more troops there.
General Stan McChrystal has requested 40,000 more troops. A few days ago I said we should send 50,000, but after reading some recent reports (not classified, of course) of the situation in Afghanistan, we need about 100,000 more soldiers there. The RoEs also need to change, and we need more air support for those soldiers.
The hypocrisy in Ms. Benjamin's change of heart comes in the fact that she sees that we need to have the presence there in Afghanistan to keep it from collapsing, but it was her group -- Code Pink -- that lead full-throated dudgeon against the surge in Iraq, and it was evident we needed a bigger presence there to take on the insurgents and terrorists there.
We don't trust Code Pink as far as we can throw them, but at least they finally got a clue about what's going on in Afghanistan.
Publius II
posted by Syd And Vaughn | 4:26 PM
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