Ok, so I have an interest in this one (my band practices in the next room) but I can assure that Folkadelic have to be seen – and heard – to be believed. Their recent live set on Radio Fritz is well worth a listen: ‘Symphonic Punk Country Disco’ at its best!
Category: Germany
Afganistan and the nature of responsibility
Germany will have 4,400 troops serving in Afganistan this summer. This is why. Although they were markedly smaller this year, last Easter a reported 7,000 people took place in protests in Berlin against the Bundeswehr’s activities in the country, and the logistical support Germany gives the USA in Iraq. Spiegel, a German news magazine, reports that NGOs have claimed their work is more easily carried out in times of peace. It’s an intriguing argument, but falls slightly flat when one considers that last year aid agencies united to request that the UN provide them protection after three female workers were murdered by the Taleban.
I find it difficult to accept the view that there is NEVER a role for military intervention in the world, although this is a view the is often expressed where I live. Similarly, I think that those people who want troops out of Afghanistan ought to explain how they plan to prevent the Taleban regaining control over the country. And if they don’t have a plausible plan, then they should be prepared to take responsibility for the consequences such a development would entail.
Peace isn’t the default state of the world. In fact, humankind has only managed to achieve it for any length of time in the last 60 years or so. So the idea that if we do nothing, countries like Afganistan will revert automatically to a state of peace is nonsense. Somalia has been a living hell since the US and UN pulled out in the 90’s. The unnecessary loss of human life in DR Congo over the last two decades may well eclipse the worst atrocities of the Shoah. And it’s not getting any better.
Aggressive, unilateral military action is one thing. A unified, long-term strategic operation under the auspices of NATO is something quite different. To criticise what the German armed forces are doing in Afghanistan is to advocate a relativistic world view based on the idea that the Western world bears no responsibility for the well-being of the rest. It’s not right, and more people round these parts ought to speak out and say so.
www.stephen-mortimer.com 