Random Stuff Post via random stuff found by strothi, diese Beiträge erscheinen nicht auf der Startseite.
Ok guys, this one is simply hilarious!
Random Stuff Post via random stuff found by strothi, diese Beiträge erscheinen nicht auf der Startseite.
Dear all,
this week our media is probably going to go crazy all across the plant. Why? Well, wikileaks, the famous whistleblower plattform released a few hours ago more than 90.000 secret documents of the US army. Three big newspapers, namely the New York Times, the Guardian and the German Der Spiegel got the information weeks ago and compiled a complex set of articles that try to reflect the most interesting informations within this huge amount of leaked documents. It’s a MUST-read for everybody (and I highly recommend using the Guardian), cause this is probably the most detailed, most unspinned and correct information you will ever get about the war in Afghanistan. Funny though, while I write „war in Afghanistan“ I’ve to think of our politicians in Germany refusing to call it a „war“. Well, welcome to reality! I’ve just skimmed through the articles but from what I get so far is that a) the Germans went in without a real idea/plan of what they were getting into b) the US has a „killing-list“, c) Pakistan’s ISI (secret service) is supporting the Taliban quite heavily and d) that the media has failed to report what actually is going on down there! Yes, no real new insights, though before, most of it was guesswork, now we got proof. It’ll be interesting to see the political fallout – especially here in Germany.
Just to make it clear, unlike many others, I don’t agree with the reasoning that we should get out there as fast as possible. We went in there – like it or not – and we cannot leave these people alone in the dust who are struggling to get their country back running. No, I don’t like us fighting there, I would love to see our guys back home and neither do I approve the current strategy nor do I have „the solution“ how to „win the war“ – I even doubt there will be a „win“ in the end. Still my point is that if we leave it to the Taliban, our men and women fought for nothing and we would have another cruel „failed state“. Is there progress in the society that’s worth fighting for? Sure. Is the security situation rather getting worse? Unfortunately yes. Will we win? Who knows. My point is that at least for some people in some regions the life is better than before and we can only hope that it will get better for more and more people in more and more regions. Remember, the Afghans suffer under war and continuous fighting since more than 40 years now, so let’s give them some time to try getting their country back on track. Moreover I really believe that if we would spend as much money on infrastructure, rebuilding and capacity building as we do on military, the place would look a whole lot better – you know why (not all, but many) people fight for the Taliban? Because they pay better! As a police officer you get 100$ a month, the Taliban pay you 200$ – Job’s the same, only the side you’re fighting on is different. It’s as simple as that: Money – tragically – has, does and will rule the world – even in Afghanistan!
Der Spiegel — Die Afghanistan-Protokolle
The Guardian – Afghanistan The War Logs
New York Times – The War Logs
Wikileaks — Afghan War Diary, 2004–2010
Take your time and read it.
Strothi
Update 27.07.10:
I would like to point all my german readers to a post by Chris who describes very well, why the journalistic work of the Guardian rules and the Spiegel sucked big time: