Surely, the hour has come for the U.S. to reverse the failed Bush military approach and negotiate an equitable solution to stop the killing and bring bin Laden to justice. If you think the U.S. cannot negotiate with the Taliban, recall during the 1980s it was the CIA that funneled literally billions of dollars directly into Taliban pockets to overthrow Afghanistan’s Soviet-backed government, increasing the prospect of an invasion by the Red Army, which is exactly what happened.
“In the end, the United States and the Taliban ‘won’, and…the rest of Afghanistan, lost,” writes William Blum in “Rogue State”(Common Courage Press). More than a million dead, three million disabled, five million refugees; in total about half the population.”
Hasn’t Afghanistan suffered enough? The U.S. would be far better off if instead of pouring tens of thousands of troops into Afghanistan it sent in a like number of unarmed Peace Corps volunteers. Time to give non-violence a chance. #
(Sherwood Ross, director of Anti-War News Service(AWNS), formerly worked for the Chicago Daily News and contributed regular columns to wire services. To reach him and support the work of AWNS email sherwoodr1@yahoo.com)
