To attack the Afghani as they are right now would be like attacking a nation of homeless, living in cardboard boxes. The Romans used to do this. They would catapult bread and cheese into a sector of a starving city, and the denizens would open the gates to them. When the allies came into Japan at the end of WWII, the government warned the populace that they were about to be mass murdered, tortured, raped. Hundreds of Japanese citizens killed themselves to escape this fate. Instead, the allies handed out tootsie rolls, cigarrettes, penicillin, bottles of milk. It changed the way the Japanese dealt with their government, forever.
Kill the Afghani with kindness!
Bomb Them with Butter. A military response, particularly an attack on Afghanistan, is exactly what the terrorists want. It will strengthen and swell their small but fanatical ranks. Instead, bomb Afghanistan with butter, with rice, bread, clothing and medicine. It will cost less than conventional arms, poses no threat of US casualties and just might get the populace thinking that maybe the Taliban doesn't have the answers. After three years of drought and with starvation looming, let's offer the Afghani people the vision of a new future. One that includes full stomachs.
Bomb them with information. Video players and cassettes of world leaders, particularly Islamic leaders, condemning terrorism. Carpet the country with magazines and newspapers showing the horror of terrorism committed by their "guest". Blitz them with laptop computers and DVD players filled with a perspective that is denied them by their government. Saturation bombing with hope will mean that some of it gets through. Send so much that the Taliban can't collect and hide it all.
The Taliban are telling their people to prepare for Jihad. Instead, let's give the Afghani people their first good meal in years. Seeing your family fully fed and the prospect of stability in terms of food and a future is a powerful deterrent to martyrdom. All we ask in return is that they, as a people, agree to enter the civilized world. That includes handing over terrorists in their midst.
In responding to terrorism we need to do something different... something unexpected... something that addresses the root of the problem. We need to take away the well of despair, ignorance and brutality from which the Osama bin Laden's of the world water their gardens of terror.
Click HERE to make a donation at www.libertyunites.org
Click HERE to make a donation to the The ASPCA Animal Disaster Relief Fund.
Click HERE to read our feelings about this disaster.
Click HERE if you are an animal lover and want to read "Welcome at Rainbow Bridge".
Return to Jeff and Diane's Cat House