Let them fly kites!

I support the war in Afghanistan. There, I said it. No doubt there are those who's faces would turn a pretty shade of pinky red just from hearing those words - then they'd go off onto a tangent about the corruption that got us there, the tragedy of the loss of lives (both civilian and CAF) and then begin stating the various reasons why we should effect an immediate withdrawal of all our armed forces from the Middle East.

To be honest, I find that kind of petty. Who are we fighting in Afghanstan? The Taliban, right? All agreed so far? (yes I know there's a myriad of other militant groups, including Al-Qaeda, Abdullah and many others) but the main group we're fighting - the ones who ran the country until we got there - is the Taliban.

Now, there's lots of reasons to fight the Taliban (they made it illegal to fly kites, not to mention that little Shiite massacre) but personally, there's only one I need - education. Under the Taliban rule, it was (and remains in places they control - ie: parts of Pakistan) illegal for girls over the age of eight to be educated. That means that after grade 2 0r 3, it's back to the farm and into the workforce. Did anyone learn any business skills in 3rd grade? Anyone? Didn't think so. I personally don't remember a damn thing about being eight - okay, not true, I remember Power Rangers (of course with the Taliban, watching TV could get you thrown in jail or shot, so that's out too).

A lot of people will use the way we got to Afghanistan (the war in Iraq) as one of the main reasons we should not be there, personally - I don't care. I think we should be there. I think that if someone is being denied the basic human right to education, it is our duty as over privileged first nationers to do something about it. We don't have armies to grab land any more - we have them to keep ourselves safe, and so that when someone decides to enforce cruelty upon others, we can defend those who cannot do so themselves.

Another main point for the anti-war crowd is that the war is just a way for corrupt politicians and corporations to make money, and that might be true. In fact, I guess we can be sure that there are some evil assholes making money from the war - and you know what? Again - I don't care. If a byproduct of Cheney making a few extra million dollars is that 9 year old girls can learn how to read and write without having acid thrown in their faces - fine by me. Let'm have it - hell, I'll even give him a donation.

I should note that another reason I support the war is a very basic one - it has nothing to do with the reasons we're there, the outcome, or the conflict itself. I support Canadian soldiers, because they're brave enough to risk EVERYTHING for someone else. For the most part, the troops believe in this war - they think they're doing some good, and I think the very least I can do is not badmouth them in public, and when they come home I'll treat them like the heroes they are.

Now I'm sure there are some clever folks with all sorts of fancy statistics and powerpoint presentations that could give a detailed report on why we should pack up and leave the Middle East and never go back, but even they'd have to agree that if we do that, the Taliban will take over the country again, probably within a couple of years (they'd have to go through the process of eliminating all the warlords again - but they know how to do that) and the country would be right back where it started.

So maybe those who are so against the war should see how it feels to explain to a young girl that not only can she never show her face in public, never watch cartoons or the news or listen to the radio; but she's not allowed to go to school anymore, not allowed to ever have a chance to grow and achieve anything beyond what is offered in her family life - all because some people said Canada didn't have the right to go to war.

Note: I'm not saying that being a stay at home mom (or dad) isn't an important, fulfilling role for those who choose it - I'm saying that they should get to choose.