Glenn comments on the latest instance of children being killed needlessly in Afghanistan

glenn commenting on an nyt story about the second time in three days that a child has been killed in afghanistan by nato forces...

It's the perfect self-perpetuating cycle: (1) They hate us and want to attack us because we're over there; therefore, (2) we have to stay and proliferate ourselves because they hate us and want to attack us; (3) our staying and proliferating ourselves makes them hate us and want to attack us more; therefore, (4) we can never leave, because of how much they hate us and want to attack us. The beauty of this War on Terror -- and, as the last two weeks have demonstrated, War is the bipartisan consensus for what we are and should be doing to address Terrorism -- is that it forever sustains its own ostensible cause.

sitting here in kabul, it's particularly painful to me when i hear of any child - but especially an afghan child - having his or her life senselessly ended in the murderous reign of terror and violence we call war... i was just having my breakfast and talking with our cook in the kitchen, asking about his family... he has four children, a son, 15, another son, 11, and two daughters, 5 and 3... he is clearly devoted to them and i can't imagine one of them being taken away as "collateral damage"...

sadly, it isn't just the war machine that is killing kids... the violence spills over into the rest of society as well... our other cook was telling me just yesterday morning how thieves, desperate for money, are kidnapping children off the streets and holding them for outrageous ransoms which, if they don't get in the specified time, simply kill the child...

i can't imagine losing a child... i have three grown children and two young grandsons, all of whom i love dearly... losing one of them would be far worse than losing an arm or a leg, and my life would be irrevocably and permanently diminished... children are the light of our lives... losing even one of them is a tradegy beyond comprehension and yet that is a daily fact of life for afghans... it must stop and stop soon...

Submit To Propeller
Tweet

[Permalink] 0 comments

Let's hear it for a little fun in the midst of misery

god bless the children... i've seen children in kabul having fun no matter what the weather, no matter how abject their poverty and no matter how tough the security situation... a little skateboarding sounds like just the ticket...

from the la times...

A white van pulled up to a concrete fountain on a leafy side street in downtown Kabul, trailed by shrieking Afghan children.

"Ollie! Ollie!" they shouted, pounding on the vehicle.

Oliver Percovich, a lanky Australian in a black T-shirt, emerged from the van with a load of banged-up skateboards. The children grabbed the boards and raced off to skate in the cracked bowl of the dried-up fountain.

Skateboarding was unknown to Afghans until Percovich, who followed his social scientist girlfriend to Kabul, starting teaching local children to skate in early 2007. Two years later, their relationship is over and his girlfriend is back in Australia. But Percovich's "Skateistan" nonprofit club has become a magnet for children in Kabul, the capital.

In a country where girls are rigidly segregated from boys and rarely participate in sports, Skateistan has managed to bring boys and girls together. Dozens of children swarm across the fountain every day, sharing boards and showing off improvised skating moves.

Neighborhood kids rush the Skateistan van to grab a skateboard
for an afternoon session.


Skateboarders take over the streets of Kabul under
vigilant security.

again, i say, bless 'em... if i get the chance to get some of my own photos when i get back in september, i'll be sure to post them...

Submit To Propeller
Tweet

[Permalink] 0 comments

The child scavangers of Kabul

what a tragedy... i see them every day all over the city...

from al jazeera...

Foreign leaders say the ultimate goal in Afghanistan is to improve the lives of ordinary people. For more than forty thousand children forced to survive by taking up work in Kabul, there's little evidence of anything actually improving.

Submit To Propeller
Tweet

[Permalink] 0 comments

The tragedy of Gaza continues

having spent three weeks in january in jordan, right across the border from israel, in a city that harbors palestine refugees dating back from the late 1940s, the thought of the children caught up in this is heartbreaking...

thanks to juan cole...


People walk amid debris on a street strewn with rubble from
buildings bombed during the current military incursion, in the
southern city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip.


A a girl waits her turn to fill water containers at a public safe
water tap in the southern city of Rafah, a few days after the
ceasefire was declared. Approximately 500,000 people have
no access to running water.

Gaza Children's Appeal

Life for children in the Gaza Strip continues to deteriorate. Shortages of electricity, fuel, safe water and sanitation are having a serious impact on the lives of women and children and the recent conflict is adding to their suffering.

The population of Gaza has now become totally dependent on humanitarian aid for its survival. There are shortages of foodstuffs including flour, rice, sugar, dairy products, milk, canned foods and fresh meats. Last year, 1.4 million Palestinians were estimated to be food insecure.

The health system is overwhelmed, having already been weakened by the 18 month blockade.

Utilities are barely functioning: the only electric power plant has shut down. At the moment, hospitals are relying on back-up generators. The breakdown of these generators would pose a serious risk to public health.

The water system provides running water just once every five to seven days. The sanitation system cannot treat sewage and is dumping 40 million litres of raw sewage into the sea daily.

to donate online, click here...

Submit To Propeller
Tweet

[Permalink] 0 comments

One of the most brilliant smiles imaginable

this photo was taken by an afghan friend and colleague... the setting is the iran-afghanistan border where the big, long-haul trucks wait to get through the customs checkpoint... the young boy begs for a liter here and a liter there of petrol from the truckers to put in the container he is carrying and sells what he can collect to drivers along the road... he also collects a few afs (currency in afghanistan is referred to as "afs") for keeping watch over the trucks while the truckers grab something to eat at the food stalls or catch some sleep in their cabs... when my friend aimed his camera at this gasoline-soaked, greasy little urchin, he broke into one of the most brilliant smiles imaginable...



if this photo doesn't touch something deep inside you, you might need to check to see if you still have a pulse...

Submit To Propeller
Tweet

[Permalink] 0 comments