Ah, I wax nostalgic.
Dorothy, remember that we used to dance to this piece, in our little stone house in Austin in the 60s:
War...huh...What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing
Uh ha haa ha
War...huh...yeah
What is it good for?
Absolutley nothing...say it again y'all
War..huh...look out...
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing...listen to me ohhhhh
WAR! It ain't nothing but a heartbreaker,
War. Friend only to the undertaker.
Meanwhile, Richard Holbrooke, President Obama's Special Envoy to the "Region", with accent stern and visage grim, in an interview with Fareed Zakaria, describes "success" in Afghanistan as whether Pakistani soldiers will kill our enemies as well as their own in North Waziristan and in some place I never heard of:
http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/fareed.zakaria.gps/
Zakaria is veery bright and so is Holbrooke. The interview is enlightening. I like Holbrooke and agree that he describes a reasonable and reasonably achievable "metric", as thy say, for the success of the surge.
and, meanwhile,
Labels: "success in Afghanistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Pashtun, Tajikistan, war
Ut is interesting to compare the Wall Street Journal's report of the devastating fight between the Pakistani army and Taliban fighters in once-beautiful Midora with the reporting of the same events by Al Jazeera's reporters.
The slant is different, and what is agreed is that some 20,000 of Midora's unlucky residents are trapped in a city with no food, caught between the opposing forces, facing death.
Remember that Swat, the district that includes Midora, was "the Switzerland of the East,"with beautiful lodgings, and all the e comforts of the tourist life.
No more. No more.
Here are some pics of ordinary life in Midora, before War came calling.
[Please click on this window: it blows up and is really beautiful]
The photographer who took this portrait commented: "Looking into the eyes of these people, i find sadness more than anything els"
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Al Jazeera's reporters also describe fierce fighting and heavy bombardment in the neighboring village of Orakzai, a Taliban stronghold.
Here are some pics from there [captions are the photographer's]:
Orakzai
Traditional Launch with a local School at Orakzai
Pakistani Taliban militants offer prayers in Mamouzai area of Orakzai Agency in November
12 killed in Orakzai drone attack
A; Jazeera also notes teat the people of Islamabad have solidly supported the killing and dislocation ofd the Pashtun in Swat until recently, when the slaughter has been connected with the interests of the U. I gather that the protests are so far insignificant.
Protesters criticised the offensive as part of Washington's so-called 'war on terror'
[Please note: it is no longer Bush's war on terror]
Labels: Chitral, Pashtun, Swat, tribal aeal, war
