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John Howard promised to 'stay the course' in Afghanistan. So too did Tony Abbott, Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard. So complete was the political consensus that parliament didn't even debate the Afghan intervention until nine years after it began. Now that there's no longer a course on which to stay, we're due some accountability.
The United States, a country of cricket illiteracy, spent more than $1 million constructing the Kabul Cricket Stadium, recognising the major impact cricket is having in the country. Australia, one of cricket's 'first nations', has done nothing. It is tragic that, for ordinary Afghans, the vast majority of whom have never considered seeking asylum, Australia's most visible contribution to their country is the message to 'keep away'.
Our words are shaped by our thoughts and attitudes, and go on to shape the thoughts and attitudes of those who hear them. Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai's description of Australian aid as 'kind and generous' is, itself, kind and generous. They are words of the heart rather than the strategic mind.
The publication of photographs of American soldiers posing with the body parts of dead Afghani insurgents has provoked a lively exchange of opinion in the media. Just as in Afghanistan, American and Australian soldiers fighting the Japanese saw themselves pitted against an opponent who acted by a different — inhuman — set of rules.
Today is the tenth anniversary of the war on Afghan jihadists. We civilised Westerners decided we’d had enough of barbarians flying planes into our skyscrapers, killing thousands of our civilians. And hence we sent our own planes to drop huge bombs on their villages and towns.
President Obama appears to have given in to domestic pressure for prompt withdrawal from Afghanistan. But a complete withdrawal could have major ramifications for the region and ultimately for US interests.
The situation in Afghanistan is far more complex than the Australian parliamentary debate seems to credit. The international community and the Afghan government should be starting a bigger conversation about how a more transparent and accountable political culture can be encouraged.
The situation in Afghanistan isn't getting better. It is getting much, much worse. If we are thinking about sending more troops to counter the Taliban, we must also think about accepting more Afghani asylum seekers fleeing the regime.
I am struck by lurid online comment on whether Aussie troops should go or stay in Afghanistan, a miasma of old-left vs new-right trench exchanges, armchair military strategists and conspiracy theorists. As in the national game of Buzkashi, Afghanistan is a goat carcass fought over by a gaggle of teams.
On Monday night on ABC1's Q&A, Tony Abbott was asked about the recent wave of boat people including Hazaras fleeing the Taliban in Afghanistan. At the end of one recent meeting in Indonesia, a 15-year-old Hazara named Ali came and told me his heart wrenching story.
The current strategy is underpinned by a consensus on counter-insurgency that has gained ground since 2007. Marine Brigadier General Nicholson advocates drinking tea and eating goat with the locals, over and above firing bullets.
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