I was
watching CNN this morning and saw a video of what seemed to be a very familiar
sight. A couple of Chinook helicopters flying low over Kabul, Afghanistan while
in the process of evacuating members of our embassy there in advance of the
entry of the Taliban into the city.
It
takes me back to half a century when I served in the military, and a very
similar scene played out in Saigon, South Vietnam. The same model of helicopter
was used to evacuate members of our embassy staff in advance of the entry of
North Vietnamese troops into the city.
In
both cases the United States and the president in particular failed to live up
to its/his promises to protect those brave native men and women who assisted us
with translation and other services. Too many were left behind in Vietnam. Too
many are being left behind in Afghanistan; only to suffer the indignities of
whatever the invading hordes find it convenient to do to them.
I saw
an interview a couple days ago between one of our female reporters and a
regional Taliban chieftain. She asked him if the rights of women would be
safeguarded as his minions took control of one city after another. Of course,
he responded that the women of Afghanistan have certain rights.
And
while he didn't say it, it occurs to me that they are guaranteed "the
right" to be required to cover themselves from head to toe in a stifling
burka which not only allows them to "heat to death" but conceals
their God-given identities. They also will be given "the right" to be
forcibly taken from their current husbands, (who will summarily be shot in
their heads) and made the sexual slaves to whichever Taliban fighter breaks
down their door first.
Little
girls will be prevented from attending school, their dreams of a fate different
from their grandmothers will be dashed, and many 10 and 12 year olds will be
subjugated into sexual slavery like their mothers. There are reports of fathers carrying out suicide pacts to keep their daughters from falling into the hands of pedophilic Taliban troops.
A
Muslim caliphate will be the order of the day in Afghanistan, and absolute
domination and terror will rule and reign in this country again. The penalty
for theft, the loss of a hand. The discovery a family photograph, (a graven
image), the loss of one's head, The accusation of adultery, stoning at the
hands of one's accusers.
The
Taliban is on the verge of assuring "the rights" of the nation for which
our American forces sweat, bled and died to the order of 2,500 dead and 20,000 wounded over the past twenty years, the expenditure
of billions of dollars creating a defense force there which will not defend
itself, and without so much as an attempt to "tie up loose strings"
before we "leave the building." History is repeating itself.
Why
should the future Vietnams and Afghanistans trust our empty assurances that we
will live up to our promises?
by
William McDonald, PhD
No comments:
Post a Comment