It is important for us to keep ourselves aware of what others in the world think about our nation’s policies, in general as well as in relation to Islam. For this reason I often turn to Spiegel Online International, the English-language online version of the German newspaper Der Spiegel.
Yesterday Spiegel Online International published a commentary by Jürgen Todenhöfer, who, we are told, “served … in the Bundestag, Germany’s federal parliament as a member of the center-right Christian Democratic Union from 1972 to 1990” and who, it would seem, carries at least a modicum of authority on Afghanistan, having, we are also told, “made regular visits to Afghanistan since 1980 and [written] about them in his 2010 book ‘Teile Dein Glück’ (‘Share Your Good Fortune’).”
Well worth the reading and bearing the title, “A War Built on Four Lies: Why Germany Must End its Deployment in Afghanistan,” the commentary can be found at:
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,744866,00.html#ref=nlint
The commentary spells out the four “lies” (I’d be more comfortable with the use of “assertions” rather than “lies.”) referenced in it title, that:
1. “we’re there to fight international terrorism.”
2. “we’re there to defend our civilization’s values.”
3. “we prioritize civilian reconstruction over military activities.”
4. “we’re in the Hindu Kush to prevent the return of the Taliban for good.”
I was particularly struck by Todenhöfer’s assertion, in relation to the first “lie,” that:
In Afghanistan, what we’re really fighting is not international terrorists, but a national resistance movement — and, in doing so, we’re creating exactly the thing we claim to be combating.
I was also struck by two things which Todenhöfer said in relation to the second “lie.” First:
By night, nameless American death squads move in to liquidate resistance leaders — and often civilians as well — violating the most basic rules of international law. Young Afghans have sat in the Bagram torture prison for years with no hope of being granted a trial and in conditions worse than at Guantanamo.
Second:
Our “defenders of civilization” never considered this worthy of a parliamentary debate. Indeed, since the dawn of colonialism, our involvement in the Muslim world has never been about defending our civilization’s values; it’s about defending our interests — and Iraq and Afghanistan are merely the latest episodes in a long history.
I invite readers to offer their observations, comments, and questions on these and any other related points.
Regarding why some countries like Germany haven’t pulled out yet, I think this line sums it up best, “Is it just that we’re nervous about upsetting our NATO partner?”. Maybe if enough US allies were to pull out of Afghanistan, it could give the US some kind of a wake up call that further military action in Afghanistan is not worth the questionable goals (goals like the “four lies” the commentators mentioned).
I completely agree that it’s important to be aware of how others view American policy. I visit Europe often, and America’s involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq usually come up as topics of discussion. Overall, I’d say it’s quite clear that our involvement over there has severely hurt our image to the rest of the world. I even heard someone say to me one time (jokingly thankfully), “Well, you’re American, so naturally you think you can stubbornly dictate to everyone else what you think is best for them.” While I definitely don’t believe views such as this are fair to Americans in general, our military actions over there certainly aren’t helping.
The United States’ image has definately changed in a negative way among many countries and people of the world. I believe that originally our intentions were good, but now we are afraid of pulling troops out and what some people will think of that. But, at the same time we are also criticized for still having troops in Afghanistan. It seems that we are in a lose lose situation, and for the time being just have to trust our government.