Shine a Light
It's a new dawn, a new day, a new life... not so much for me, but for Afghanistan in particular... & I'm not feeling good
Chief among the multiple failures of the last 20 years (failure to 'win' the war on terror, as if you could wage 'war' on such a thing, the failure to establish a stable, reliable & accountable government, the failure to train an army/police force, the failure to win the hearts, minds & trust of a nation & the failure of the very reason you supposedly turned up for in the first place - to find Osama Bin Laden, who was laughing into his sleeve in neighbouring Pakistan for years) is the failure to learn from history, thus, as the old saying goes, dooming yourself to repeat it. You only have to go back a little over 200 years to see how 'modern' warfare in Afghanistan is a fast-track to defeat. The British tried a few times, the Soviets likewise, both ultimately failing, until the USA-led 'Coalition of the Willing' tried again in 2001, riding on the aggressive, yet misguided hubris sparked by 9/11. Ultimately, the only people who can call the last 20 years anything remotely like a 'success' are the arms manufacturers
And now... with the Taliban resurgent & in control of most of the country, including the capital, with the latest President fleeing the country, with all the freedoms the population briefly enjoyed & dared to build a future on in tatters, the scenes at the various airstrips, as thousands try to board planes evacuating the lucky few are devastating to see... especially the footage & reports of people falling to their deaths from planes as they take off. Despite the Taliban's assurances of minimal retribution, those who died trying to flee may yet be the 2nd-luckiest ones
Just ask any Afghani woman who received an education & tried to build a career. Just ask the interpreters who worked with the foreign military & will now be targeted for their collusion, who have largely been left behind by the military to their fate. Australia, late to the party as always, has sent a couple of planes over, to 'rescue' some of these people, but have already conceded that not all of them will be saved. Certainly not if we follow Germany's lead - one of their planes was carrying just 7 people when it left. It makes this photo look like an absolute godsend, rather than the blind panic & chaos it really is...
There are those who would ask us to pray for the people of Afghanistan. Myself, I see this whole sorry debacle as further proof, if it were ever needed, that there is no god... or at the very least, not one worth praying to