After watching the oversight committees for the Afghan conflict yesterday I started on thoughts about how to end the war.
A project and problem that I've been working on since the towers fell in 2001.
And, even though I do not, by any means, think that I can offer an end all solution I can offer my findings and opinions.
Much like everyone else is able to.
As I began outlining my arguments it struck me that this conflict was representative of many other things and that the coming holiday, Thanksgiving, was an example of exactly what we are fighting for. And this morning I finished this piece.
So, as follows, is the script for the video that I recorded and posted just before this blog post.
Concerning Afghanistan
The main reason the attacks of September 11th 2001 happened is because the Afghanistan people, at the time represented by Al-Qeida, had a legitimate grievance that they were caught between the larger super powers as these super powers fought for control over the resources of their homes.
Concerning Troop Movements.
The problem is not "can we, as the U.S. and Coalition armed forces win on the battlefield?", that is not and has never been the question. The question is, and always has been, "Can we end the fighting."
One of the biggest examples we could set that would be more effective than any number of troops or aid sent in for nation building would be to begin re-examining our nations oldest treaties with the Native Peoples of the lands that we already live in.
What faith do the Afghan people, and the various organizations that oppose western involvement in their affairs, have in a nation that does not honor the treaties with their own people?
Addressing the territories that are currently owned by the U.S. Government and the lands of the Indigenous People.
This the main arguing point that the Taliban and other organizations like them have against the U.S. and other super powers that they believe, regardless of evidence or intent, but fully believe that they are simply being prepped to become another "American Territory."
We need to heal the rifts within their own borders before we can bring the Taliban and ISIS to the table with any true trust or willingness to negotiate.
Arguably the only thing that the American Military should be doing in Afghanistan is making sure that food, medicine, and other supplies are getting to the Civilians. And coordinating with both Russian and Chinese governments to do it, rather than working against each other to secure a seat of military power.
These smaller, isolated, resource rich nations have been to long caught between the power struggles of Russia, China, and the U.N.
This is not a concession, it is a returning to the original mission parameters, and remembering why the conflict began in the first place.
We keep looking at borders on maps in this conflict and thinking that enforcing them is the solution. When in truth it is the continuation of ages old conflicts concerning the availability of necessities of life and the safety of tribes of peoples.
Looking at the entirety of the Middle Eastern and South Pacific Conflict post World War II in an attempt to thwart the "red threat".
After World War II the allied powers forced many smaller, nomadic tribes, that had their own conflicts and grievances amongst themselves together. The Israeli conflict a direct result of the larger nations being unwilling to shelter a displaced people and returning them to a homeland with weapons to fight a people that were no longer representative of those that originally displaced them.
Much in the way the youth of our nation are railing against systems put in place by the very same people that chose to send a displaced people into a war zone rather than inviting them into their homes until a peaceful negotiation for their home could be made.
All of this misinformation being spread by those that saw by those that saw themselves as apart from nature and not a part of it. Creating a breading ground for dictatorships, subjugation, and generations of war.
These peoples, those of the Islamic faiths and Middle Eastern nations, coming from from a faith and civilization with a history longer than any government in the Americas outside those of the Native Peoples.
America offers it's hand to help, but it is a hand dripping with the blood of the Native Peoples of their own land while the other pushes the descendants of slavery away from the very table that they are offering seat at to others.
These are the sad facts of our nations history.
That we are still having the same arguments, and fighting the same wars that our ancestors were.
And though the language, the front lines, the warriors, and the tools have changed.
The same reason for fighting continues on.
Food, Water, Shelter and they safety they provide.
Many think that Oil is the reason, but oil is just a tool used to secure these other things.
This Thanksgiving, as many of us are isolated and scattered.
Either through circumstance or by choice.
One thing that I would ask the people of America : indigenous, refugee, immigrant, visitor or those born on the soil and claim rights to the land is to think on this.
As you are eating your meals, as you are sharing the stories of your ancestors, no matter what side of history they came from, as you are debating the events of the past four years and speculating on the future.
Think about where we've come from.
How far we, as a world have moved forward.
But also how much farther we can go.
It is my hope, my faith, that out of this blood soaked history we can grow a new tree and Thanksgiving will no longer be an American Holiday.
But a World Holiday.
Much like Armistice day. When the world stopped fighting and shared a meal together.
When we, as a planet shared a meal by candle light and with our gazes turning collectively back ot\ to the stars and we find a common goal to work towards.
This Thanksgiving I am not thankful.
I am hopeful that we will find peace.
I am faithful that those in positions of power will use their voices to build a lasting peace.
We only have one planet, but we have many peoples, many nations, many tribes.
Stay Safe Out There.
