It’s do or die time for the peace movement, as the Obama administration heads for granting all or part of an additional troop request in Afghanistan. We’ve seen it happen before. Lots of calls for timelines in Congress, lots of calls for exit strategies, then the Pentagon gets everything it wants anyway, as a result of spineless congressmen unwilling to challenge the military-industrial complex. Many Americans, disapproving of the war but not directly affected by deployments in their own families, will go along, as they struggle with their own problems with the economy. Many do not see the direct relationship between this and the enormous cost of war.
Although the peace movement has slowed the momentum for a troop escalation drastically, a critical tipping point in awareness among the general public is needed. What is missing is an understanding of what drives the insurgency, and how it can be addressed. The amazing fact is, despite repeat acknowledgments by the Obama administration that there is no military solution, the administration pursues - what? - a military solution:
“In Afghanistan, as in Iraq, there is no purely military solution, to state the obvious. The guts of our policy, in my view, must be to win the allegiance of the Afghan people to a better future and to help their government connect with the people and deliver on that future.” - Vice President Joe Biden on Feb. 25, 2008
The new 26 minute documentary “Afghan Marshall Plan: Winning With Jobs, Not Guns” was created to provide an understanding of the insurgency among the general public which will cause all remaining polled support to collapse. Only this will force the politicians into a new posture.
You can watch it online here: http://ralphlopezworld.com/pbs.mp4
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