That’s why I say I don’t favor either option, to favor either option is to favor a lost cause or the triumph of injustice. I see tragedy either way.
But what about this? Remember the International Brigades of volunteers, mostly leftists, yes, who sought to rescue the Spanish Republic from a fascist coup in the 30s? What about an in-international Brigade (or Brigades) of women volunteering to protect and rescue the women of Afghanistan? Forget the men. Let them fend for themselves and make excuses for their cowardice in the face of the Taliban. I bet women from armies around the world would want to join.
Might this not offer a glimmer of hope? What if women from all over the world, preferably those already trained in the use of RPGs, formed a volunteer army, like the International Brigades in Spain (only better at fighting and less free of ideological commissars)? What if the UN or NATO served to authorize and supply with arms an all-woman volunteer force that would protect girls’ schools, fight for women’s rights, and drive the woman-hating Taliban back to their caves with modern weapons and old fashioned shame.
Yes, i know it’s men’s responsibility for the horror of theocratic fascism, but the symbolic value of an all-woman, heavily armed force kicking Taliban butt would be electrifying.
Maybe it would shame the rest of the world into realizing that standing up for women’s rights shouldn’t be the sole decision–dithered over or not–of the U.S.
Wouldn’t it be inspiring to women everywhere who are being oppressed and put fear into the hearts of cowards who are doing it?
Men could be involved. As support troops under the command of a woman general. As cooks and bottle washers for the women’s brigade. But let the women take out the Taliban and you’ll change history forever.
It could happen. Well I can dream can’t I? Hey, maybe this is the role Sarah Palin was made for.
How about a brigade of female Israeli soldiers marching into the White House to bring the appeaser Obama to his senses about Hasan, Khalil Sheik Mohammed and Islamofascism?
I like it. Inspired.
Bring out the Amazons!
Ummm…will Liz Cheney be a part of this? Or will she, like her father during Vietnam, discover she has “other priorities”?
You are not the only country losing troops in Afghanistan, and considering that the ousting of the Taliban from power in Afghan originated as a US idea, fully supported in a large portion of the world community in the aftermath of 9/11, I think that your country has an obligation to lead, don’t you?
No shame required.
“But what about this? Remember the International Brigades of volunteers, mostly leftists, yes, who sought to rescue the Spanish Republic from a fascist coup in the 30s? What about an in-international Brigade (or Brigades) of women volunteering to protect and rescue the women of Afghanistan? Forget the men. Let them fend for themselves and make excuses for their cowardice in the face of the Taliban. I bet women from armies around the world would want to join.”
We’ll let’s think this through.
How large of a force do you envision? How many real brigades would it be?
How are they to be funded? Even a non-governmental pure volunteer force needs considerable funds for arms, munitions, food, radios, clothing, housing, vehicles, fuel, and other equipment.
Would they have helicopters? Heavy weapons? Those are all extremely expensive systems. However, even a terrestrial force with just small arms would be quite expensive and need a steady inflow of currency to run.
Where does this equipment come from? Who would sell to a non-governmental force that is taking upon itself to police Afghanistan to protect women?
How does this equipment get in? Look at the problems the gigantic US military has in supplying landlocked Afghanistan. What methods would your Women’s Brigade use for supply? I suppose that depends on who its patron is, the UN? The US gov? The EU?
Then there’s tactics, let’s assume the problems of funding, recruiting, training, equipping, and transporting are surmounted. What will they do exactly?
What happens if they loose? What happens if they have to retreat? You don’t seem to inclined to see the current military force succeeding in Afghanistan, what makes this force different?
Also, what about the current forces there? Would the US military provide support? Supply? Would they be gone?
Will it be better than the current methods being used, or the methods being proposed?
Or do you see the results are purely symbolic?
“Maybe it would shame the rest of the world into realizing that standing up for women’s rights shouldn’t be the sole decision–dithered over or not–of the U.S.
Wouldn’t it be inspiring to women everywhere who are being oppressed and put fear into the hearts of cowards who are doing it?”
These are laudable goals, but… to what effect? Is the purpose of this brigade to help Afghanistan or cause guilt in the global community?
As an aside I love the irony of you decrying US centrism you overlook the contributions of the other nations that are weighing the Afghanistan issue and their own support (Canada, France, UK, Poland, Australia, Japan to name a few).
I find it so very interesting that the self-declared pessimist expounds on a self-admitted dream solution. I guess when the real world choices are ugly and uglier, retreat to fantastical options provides a nice salve.
I guess that’s the moral of “this liberal democrat” when you can’t face the hideous reality, it’s better to make a poetic fantasy and pat yourself on the back.
Also I enjoyed the scare quotes around dithering. Perhaps Obama is being extremely careful and not making a hasty decision. Perhaps this much time is required to set a direction. Perhaps the moral and strategic problems of an apparent lack of leadership in the short term will be offset by the long-term results of the plan he picks.
However if you believe that… you sir are no pessimist.
Then again you promote the President for not being a materialist but an idealist(Oct 30 post), and what pessimist worth his salt would take solace in that quality.
Obama is, as the NY Times reports, dithering in China by genuflecting to Premier Hu, and avoiding encounters with activists and even “ordinary people”. He is on his way to becoming one of the biggest quislings in history. He behaves as if he has no political capital whatsoever and his charisma is a smile and a suit, leading a 71 car motorcade. Someone with even an ounce of courage, which Obama lacks, would veer away from his Chinese masters and engage in a little spontaneity. God, even NIXON did that! Obama is proving himself to be the product of the worst kind of left wing academic environment: someone who sees people as abstractions in service to his grandiosity. He bows to the bankers, the insurance industry, the Saudis, the Chicoms, the emperor of Japan, anyone whom he should be using his mandate to battle. I cannot decide if he is a teleprompter reading automaton, the puppet of the Chicago machine, a minor dictator to his own supporters or the black Chauncey Gardiner. A few Democrats have stood up to him, such as Congressman Anthony Weiner who chastized Obama for his inaction on health care only to be told by the President (icily) that “this is your last time on Air Force One: and by Governor Paterson on Holder’s sadomasochistic terrorist trial plans. Obama could end up as the worst President in our history.
It sounds like you want a modern and female version of the Teutonic Knights the origin of which is discussed in the Vanished Kingdom (Prussia) by J. Roy. Suffice it to say that these originally ‘Knights of St. Mary’s Hospital’ grew out of caring for the Christian soldiers injured in the, er uh, Crusades. This time however the ‘no discrimination’ sign is out.
I like this as a vision. Vision does arise from the interstices of tragedy. One big problem is obvious, though… the International Brigades in Spain were approved by the Republican government. I doubt that Karzai or his fellows see freedom fighting as a suitable role for many women in their domains. The U.S. never has had any intention of promoting such things, either.
But, it is 3:30 a.m. here in Chicago and yeah, I like this vision very much indeed. The Monique Wittig Brigade…?
Hillary Clinton is over there assembling the femme brigade right now, but Karzai forced them into his secret harem at gunpoint. Obama said we wouldn’t interfere, while Holder indicted Hillary in Federal Court. We are all citizens of Freedonia, now, where Ron is the press secretary. Hooray for Captain Spaulding!
There’s something happening here…an alliance between the left and the libertarian right. Passing the Ron Paul amendment to strangle the Fed” AMAZING…calling for Geithner to resign in House hearings…challenging the effete Holder for continuing New York’s suffering. More and more it seems that Obama (golfing with Tom Friedman, dissing human rights protestors in 5 continents, bowing to emperors) is the problem, not the people who elected him, who will now have to throw him out of office to fulfill HIS mandate.
Well, Ron, it looks like you don’t know jack about what it would take to realize your fantasy but Jack does.
Maureen Dowd nails Obama perfectly in the Times today. Perhaps she can lead Ron’s Fembot Brigade
I’m a sort-of female soldier myself (the Danish Home Guard) but I just don’t believe it is a good idea. Those afghani, oppressed women are tending and raising their own oppressors in their own homes. They may think that the Taleban went a bit too far, their husbands probably do, too, but they do not want a free society. How do you ‘fight’ that?
I would go there if I thought it would do any good in a reasonable time frame, but I am pretty sure it won’t.