We must have all seen the news this week about the US military withdrawal from Afganistan. It is fair to say that after spending 20 years in the country and training the Afgan security forces, this long war in which many soldiers lost their lives has not ended well, except maybe for the Taliban.
I admire the soldiers for their bravery and sacrifice, many have given their lives doing their duty in service to their country.
After 20 years fighting the so called 'war on terror' is Afganistan a better place today?
The Taliban took control of the country in a matter of days, security forces offered little resistance, the President fled the country, there were chaotic scences at Kabul airport as people fled and tried to board planes in order to leave the country.
I have to ask the question, is it ever justified to go to war on a Sovereign nation state?
I think back to the Invasion of Iraq. The pretext for this invasion was that Sadam Hussain had 'Weapons of mass destruction which could be used to launch an attack on the west in 45 minutes.' These weapons were never found. Sadam Hussain was removed from power and put on trial and later excecuted.
The new Iraqi government has been weak and ISIS have taken control of much of the country.
The stated reason for going to war in the first place was not to remove Sadam Hussain, but to stop him being able to launch attacks against the west. Is Iraq a better place today than it was under Sadam Hussain?
Every person in my view should be able to live in a safe, peaceful and orderly society and have liberty to live as they see fit, however they should not do anything which infringes upon the liberty of another person to do the same.
I would argue that on that basis the only justification for war would be if we were invaded and were forced to defend ourselves.
War is a terrible thing and should be a very last resort. The US is a sovereign nation and so is Iraq, Syria and Afganistan. However much we may be horrified by what is happening in these countries is it for us to try to change their way of life.
There are also many other places in the world where there is civil war and huge suffering but for some reason the US does not intervene there.
May it be anything to do with the fact that the middle east has an abundant supply of oil?
People should be have freedom of thought, freedom of religion, the right to peaceful assembly and freedom of speech.
Freedom of religion meaning not just the freedom to practice your own faith, but the freedom of other faiths to practice theirs, whether that be Christian, Islam, Hindu, Buddhist, Jew or any other religion that they may wish to follow. So long as their practice of that religion does not infringe anothers right to practice theirs.
Freedom of speech meaning that we should have freedom to speak our minds without fear of reprisals however we should not use that freedom to incite hatred or violence towards one another.
Is fighting the answer, can it solve anything, will we ever learn after all the lives lost I wonder?
This song is very profound and makes you think.
Written by Pete Seeger and called 'Where have all the flowers gone' this version is performed by 'The Kingston Trio'
Article is my own
Pictures courtesy of Pixabay
US won't likely to help a country (in war) if they are not 'friends' or if they consider them not likeable and if it is not worth it. Also they won't just go and help some random countries plus if that country don't have to do to US because it will take them millions of dollars, thousands of lives to bet, and if it goes out of hand US might become the new target of the enemy.
I think the departure of the US military is good for now cause at least no more civilians and soldier will die and be hurt. I mean, now that the Taliban have taken over the country and the citizens starts to flee, at least they have promise Peace and they are not stopping (or killing) people from escaping the country.