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# 1 Tell Us What You Think
 US
troops have no business in foreign countries unless
they are keeping the peace. Deploy (I hate that verb)
them at home to rebuild bridges or just plain build
public transportation. British and then U.S. imperialism
in Afghanistan, Iran, etc. created the conditions for
extremist Islamic governments that oppress many dissenting
citizens. How convenient that the corporate powers who
run our government now cite these extremist governments
as the pretext for military intervention.”
The
withdrawal of foreign troops has long been a primary
demand of the resistance fighters, and that demand is
a legitimate expression of Afghan democratic will. For
transparency, to lay the groundwork for a responsible
withdrawal, and to limit the geopolitical mischief of
the Bush administration, a timeline is important.”
A
withdrawal timeline as short as possible with the potential
for interim peace and humanitarian aid by troops as
they withdraw. That would mean 1) training in humanitarian
mission 2) humanitarian aid given without political
influence of threats to withdraw assistance due to lack
of alignment with current US office holders/oil company
interests 3) a non aligned, perhaps UN sponsored, oversight
of these activities to keep them true (would need to
create standards of engagement and ways to insure those
standards were adhered to).”
- Bring Afghan women to the US to tell their story
and share their experience = 47.8%
- Fund rebuilding, education and health care not more
military = 81.3%
- Push for a “Marshall Plan” for Afghanistan (unfulfilled
Bush promise) = 62.3%
- Quit arming Afghan men = 63.2%
In
all cases, the best people to decide what must be done
are Afghans themselves. The decisions of the US government
should flow from the requests of Afghan communities.
Ideally, all foreign troops should report directly to
local community leaders and not to Washington; that
would be a big step toward real democracy (even though
it would be politically difficult to implement, and
would create far more democracy than the White House
could be expected to tolerate). The "Marshall Plan"
idea scares me a bit because we would again have Washington
trying to turn the Afghan economy upside down to suit
its geopolitical interests. American money is needed,
but the US government is the worst possible stakeholder
to have making strategic decisions.”
I
think it is always worth talking to any person or group
of people to find out what where they are advocating
for the greater good, where they can still advocate
for justice, show mercy, kindness and compassion and
to ask questions about advocacy of policies that do
not have those qualities to find out why they would
advocate for them. In this way we build connection and
relationships, better understanding about where we stand
firm against policies that hurt people or the planet
and which policies we say we can support.”
I
wish you had a "not sure." I am not comfortable
without knowing more about whether there are moderates
to speak with. At what point do you draw a line in the
sand and say "I won't cooperate with people who
treat women as less worthy than cattle?" I really
don't know the answer to this and I don't think there's
a simple one. What we need now is more detailed information,
not sound bites from either the right or the left (the
latter of which I obviously strongly affiliate with,
but who are not immune to rhetoric.)”
Even
though I don't think it will do much good, i.e. make
the Taliban less violent or demeaning toward women,
I think that there should be an attempt to engage them.”
- Ending US occupation of Iraq = 91 %
- Preventing war with Iran = 93.8 %
- Pulling our troops out of Afghanistan = 54 %
- Impeaching Bush and Cheney = 71 %
- Ending military recruiting in our high schools =
60 %
- Closing the prison at Guantanamo Bay = 80.4 %
- Restoring our Civil Liberties = 90.5 %
Political
unrest is the result of not meeting people's basic needs:
adequate food & water, medical care, and meaningful
work.
Raising standards of living and education are key. Set
up contingencies that reward nonviolent conflict management
with what the
people need and want.”
Have
Codepink and other peace organizations partner with
the Central Asia Institute (the non-profit started by
Greg Mortenson of "Three Cups of Tea") to
build more schools in Afghanistan, especially for women.
This weakens the power of the Islamic fundamentalist
madrasses and puts more power in the hands of the Afghan
civilians.”
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# 2 Tell Us What You Know
- Correct Response: 32,000
- 36.2 % Answered Correctly
- Correct Response: 560
- 57.3 % Answered Correctly
How
many Afghanis have died?”
I'm
sorry, I don't know either #2 or #3. This war gets very
little media attention.”
- Correct Response: False
- 79.3 % Answered Correctly
- Correct Response: About 10,000
- 65 % Answered Correctly
- Correct Response: As-yet undetermined number of
troops in a "surge" similar to the one that
"turned around the war in Iraq" (as he stated
at a "Jobs for America" townhall in Albuquerque)
- 79.7 % Answered Correctly
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