Yaolee Chen

English 101

The Final Proposal

Glenn Simshaw

 

                                 The American War in Afghanistan

     September 11th, 2001, on the TV, an air craft hit at the top of the building of the World Trade Center in New York from the right; after while, another craft hit in the midst of the build from the left.  The building caught on fires and was burned into ashes. The news in the media said, a terrorist Osuma Bin Laden had paid and trained the pilots to destroy our World Trade Center.  Therefore, how to stop the terrorist became the chief issue of our war in Afghanistan.

     According to Marshall’s Plan, the U.S. played a role as a policeman to secure the peace of the world.  In 1946, George Kennan in his 8,000 words of telegram said “Russia is a political machine, and it is necessary for the U.S. to militarily support the free and independent countries, which is known as the containing statement (Lippman 18).  Walter Lippmann, when read the statement, sees George Kennan’s idea as a blueprint for the U.S. to invade the whole world (19).  Harry S. Truman based on the idea of the containing statement said in his Truman’s Doctrine that, like the fruits of a same basin; if one corrupt, the rest of them will follow up: and it is necessary for the U.S. to militarily support the non-communist countries (Nashi 896).  George Marshall based on all the ideas that I had listed above, and wrote the Marshall Plan.  George Marshall said, “The wars are to against hunger, famine, and despotism. Later, Marshall’s Plan and Truman’s Doctrine were the two calves of a same walnut that it is necessary for the U.S. to support the free and independent countries both militarily and economically (Nash 897).  Today, our war in Afghanistan was, also, based on this principle that the Americans wanted to stop the terrorist.

     First of all the Americans had ignored some fundamental differences between the Islamic fundamentalist culture and the American culture. A woman of Islamic often wore a piece of large clothing, which covering her from the top of her head to the last finger of her toes.  Her ears, noise, and mouse were often covered with a veil (Anderson  ).  This was very different from an American woman.  In the 1950s, by the women’s mystique, idealized women in American society often wore with long hair, high-hill-shoes, and with big breasts (May 153).  The Islamic politics were different also.  The people of Islamic believed in the only one true god, Allah.  They believed that the political leaders should be selected by god.  The caliphs were the Islamic leaders chosen by god.  The people in general had no rights to vote for the public opinions.  The culture differences were important in our war in Afghanistan, while we thought the rulers of Afghanistan were the despots <unesco.org May 2001>, the Islamic fundamentalist lunched on a cruse called jihad <nbc4.tv Sep.18th ,2001>, the holy war, to against “the American sexual desires” (Marlings 137).

     The newspaper talked little about the anti-American feeling among the oil countries; yet, the opposing American cultures still could be found from the news:  In the middle and the late of March, 2002, the U.S. fight in Afghanistan seemed was successful.  On April 1st, the U.S. paid and trained troops, Gazai, marched in Kabul.  Since, some 7mmChina made rocky bombs dropped in the areas, one or two miles away from the government offices of Afghanistan in Kabul.  So, we had enemies from China.  Then, on April 15, the former president of Afghanistan, Zaher Sha, who once was exiled 29 years ago, returned; and Zaher Sha gained the great welcome by the civilians of the Afghanistan: the civilians prefer their former president than the American puppy government Gazai.  So, we had the enemies from the civilians of Afghanistan.  The American predominant role was somewhat like ”the Black Parthenon Party” (Mercalf 381-395) that we called our action in Afghanistan “a self-defense” (Foner 2-6) under the rejection by the people of its country, its leaders and the neighborhood of the country, which I mean China.

     Another news to illustrate the anti-American feeling, which had happened on the same day of the returning of Zaher Sha, the president of Afghanistan, was the returning of the president of Venezuela Chavez on April 15th.  Days before the returning of Chavez, Chavez was resigned by the American Society under the protest of 2,5000 civilians who wanted the President of Venezuela Chavez to continue his leadership.  In the protest, some civilians were injured or killed by the policemen of the American Society.  “The Returning of the President of Venezuela Chavez” showed that the civilians welcomed their former president.  And the American society had suffered the humiliation while tried to replace their leaders.  This case is very similar to the U.S. desire in Israel in 1982.  The Reagan’s administration approved Israeli invasion of Lebanon.  The United States directly added a new Lebanese government and then under went the humiliation of being forced out of Lebanon. The Americans accepted numerous actions by the Israelis that were in general opposed by nearly all the countries of the whole world.  The United States on April 15, 2002, again, assumed its role as a policeman to replace the president of Venezuela.  By which action of the U.S., we were offended by the civilians of Venezuela.  The U.S. repeated its history as it had in 1982.  Our role as a policeman in Afghanistan was critical.

     While treating the terrorists, the U.S. had abusively used its military power to kill the civilians of Afghanistan.  In the early of March, a U.S. bomb dropped in Sha-e-Cot Valley.  The bomb sucked out the oxygen in the cave, so all the fighters in the cave were killed.  Two weeks after the bomb, the world’s first themobaric bomb was dropped in Gardez.  The fighters and the civilians were killed by the heat.  Since the Themobaric bomb that the U.S. had dropped, the U.S. lunched an offensive Anna Conda in the east of Afghanistan to massacre the civilians.  On April 30th, the U.S. and the British allies invaded the south of Afghanistan.  On May 2nd, the British troops massacred the civilians in Ghost, Wazristan, and Gardez.  The U.S. troops faced the hostile in Wazristan and Gardez sympathetic to what the U.S. had with Taliban a month ago.

     The history of the Americans had a similar pattern, like a burning desire by the abusive power of the 1950s in American society;and, it also like “the missile crisis” by John F Kennedy (Garry 285-296).  My research for the cause of our war in Afghanistan shows, there is another kind of burning desire by the Americans, beside to be “a policeman” (Lyndo 191-194) in the Middle East that is the U.S. oil interest in the Middle East (Campbell  ).  In the 1990s, the U.s. had planned and constructed another four vertical oil pipeline, north from the south of Russia and south to the north of Persian Gulf (Turkmen Oil and Natural Gas).  To convenient the transport of the oil from Caspian Sea to Persian Gulf, the U.S. had supported the independence of Taliban in the early 1990s (Tanter).  But unfortunately, the government Taliban, after gained 95% of the political power in Afghanistan, allowed the U.S. to have less than 15% of the rights in using the shortest oil pipeline in Afghanistan (Tanter).  So, our war was not totally played as a role of a policeman to secure the peace of the region.  Our war was, more likely, to punishing the people in Afghanistan.  Where, our war also was a part of the American culture, as the story of the following will tell you how.

     The counter culture started in the 1950s while Jack Kraoca brought the children out of their comfortable home and while that the children spent their days and nights on the streets.  The children were persuaded by the Rock n’ Roll music, believing in the using LSD (a kind of sex drug) could generate love and could create a lovely society (Chofe 333-335).  So, in the year of 1970, the children across the America came to the Ashburg St. in San Francisco, expecting the using sex drugs to create a community of love.  But the end of the story ran to an opposite direction that after they used out the drugs, the children bagged food on the streets and gained nothing in return.  So, the children began to use violence, breaking laws and rapping others (Chofe 335-337).  And this was the end of the counter culture; it also was a part of the U.S. history.

     The Islamic culture and the American culture were different.  We could not abuse our military power; and in hope a stopping terrorist in return.  The root of our war was a problem of propaganda (Economic Recovery Appears Underway) (Meyerowitz ch.1).  We had the need of the oil at first; and later, we thought the U.S. could not live without the cheap oil (Lenchtenburg 69).  So we massacred the civilians in the name of the stopping the terrorist.

     The U.S. behaved unlike a policeman in the war of Afghanistan.  George Marshall in the postwar peace diplomacy said, the wars were to stop the despotism.  The U.S. continued this commission of war in Afghanistan.  But unfortunately, in this commission, in Afghanistan the U.S. had abused its military power by killing the civilians.  The U.S. defined itself a war for self-defense, an using violence in the place of love.  And the U.S. also like the children of the counter culture who learning nothing, knowing nothing, using drugs, and ignoring the Islamic fundamentalist who had offended the U.S. political, culture, value, and the attitudes toward the people in Afghanistan.  While using violence to stop the terrorist (Jakypova), the U.S. had lost its tates as a policeman to secure the peace of the world.  No, the U.S. was not a policeman at this time.