World's indifference to the Afghan tragedy

September 18, 2001 4:41 AM

World's indifference to the Afghan tragedy
If you read my article in full, It will take about an hour of your time. In this hour, 14 more people will have died in Afghanistan of war and hunger and 60 others will have become refugees in other countries.

A few months old, but well worth a read in current context ...
posted by walrus (12 comments total)

Very moving. But what is to be done? Taleban is run by the clerics and so far they seem to allow terror training grounds for Ben Laden. Do we go thereand kiss them and then send lots of foreign aid? In my view the fundamentalists want a return to the days of Islam's greatness and a doing away with all things western.
posted by Postroad at 4:52 AM on September 18, 2001

Well... that's our answer then. We wait 40 more years, and the whole country will have either died off or fled to another country. At that point, I say we take over, and create a theme park.

While the Walrus and the Carpenter seek new topics to cry about, let me suggest just a few more geographic regions which the world is indifferent to:

Albania
Algeria
American Samoa
Andorra
Angola
Anguilla
Antarctica
Antigua and Barbuda
Armenia
Aruba
Ashmore and Cartier Islands
Azerbaijan
Bahrain
Baker Island
Bangladesh
Bassas da India
Belarus
Belgium
Belize
Benin
Bhutan
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Botswana
Bouvet Island
Brunei
Bulgaria
Burkina Faso
Burma
Burundi
Cambodia
Cameroon
Cape Verde
Cayman Islands
Central African Republic
Chad
Chile
Christmas Island
Clipperton Island
Cocos (Keeling) Islands
Colombia
Comoros
Congo, Democratic Republic of the
Congo, Republic of the
Cook Islands
Coral Sea Islands
Costa Rica
Cote d'Ivoire
Croatia
Cuba
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Djibouti
Dominica
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
El Salvador
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Estonia
Ethiopia
Europa Island
Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas)
Faroe Islands
Fiji
French Guiana
French Polynesia
French Southern and Antarctic Lands
Gabon
Gambia, The
Gaza Strip
Georgia
Ghana
Gibraltar
Glorioso Islands
Grenada
Guadeloupe
Guam
Guatemala
Guernsey
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Guyana
Haiti
Heard Island and McDonald Islands
Honduras
Howland Island
India
Indian Ocean
Indonesia
Iran
Iraq
Israel
Jan Mayen
Jarvis Island
Jersey
Johnston Atoll
Jordan
Juan de Nova Island
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Kingman Reef
Kiribati
Korea, North
Korea, South
Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan
Laos
Latvia
Lebanon
Lesotho
Liberia
Libya
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Macau
Macedonia, The Former Yugoslav Republic of
Madagascar
Malawi
Malaysia
Maldives
Mali
Malta
Man, Isle of
Marshall Islands
Martinique
Mauritania
Mauritius
Mayotte
Micronesia, Federated States of
Midway Islands
Moldova
Monaco
Mongolia
Montserrat
Morocco
Mozambique
Namibia
Nauru
Navassa Island
Nepal
Netherlands
Netherlands Antilles
New Caledonia
New Zealand
Nicaragua
Niger
Nigeria
Niue
Norfolk Island
Northern Mariana Islands
Norway
Oman
Pacific Ocean
Pakistan
Palau
Palmyra Atoll
Panama
Papua New Guinea
Paracel Islands
Paraguay
Philippines
Pitcairn Islands
Qatar
Reunion
Rwanda
Saint Helena
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Pierre and Miquelon
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Samoa
San Marino
Sao Tome and Principe
Saudi Arabia
Senegal
Serbia and Montenegro
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Singapore
Slovakia
Slovenia
Solomon Islands
Somalia
South Africa
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
Southern Ocean
Spain
Spratly Islands
Sri Lanka
Sudan
Suriname
Svalbard
Swaziland
Syria
Taiwan
Tajikistan
Tanzania
Thailand
Togo
Tokelau
Tonga
Trinidad and Tobago
Tromelin Island
Tunisia
Turkey
Turkmenistan
Turks and Caicos Islands
Tuvalu
Uganda
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
Uruguay
Uzbekistan
Vanuatu
Venezuela
Vietnam
Wake Island
Wallis and Futuna
West Bank
Western Sahara
Yemen
Zambia
Zimbabwe


For god sakes, you soulless devils, wake up! Ignorant fools! Be aware of the world around you. To make you all acutely aware of the misery, loss, wants and desires of people all over the world who don't really think of you other than to vaguely know that you've got stuff, I declare today to be Comoros day.

Weep for them. Light a candle. Send them money, and a nice, fresh pie. Write your congressman, and demand we solve the ills of the Comoroans. Remember - the world is YOUR personal responsibility. Be quick now - tomorrow is Tokelau day... they need cable TV...

Yeah, yeah - let me pre-empt: I know - "If this bitter subject is irrelevant to your sweet life, please don't read it." I choose to make this subject irrelevant to my sweet life, because if I take one country's sob story into my heart, I owe the world 400 more of them, in order not to play favorites. Because I'd absolutely know that, if I wept only for the latest favorite of boo-hoos, I'm really just a shallow, faux breastbeater who's riding the current fashion of sympathy.

But you know, if you aren't up on the situation in Comoros, then why should I care more about Afghanistan?
posted by Perigee at 5:26 AM on September 18, 2001

I would declare today a day of remembrance for those 1,800 women and children killed in Sabra and Shatila, but I'll post a link about that later..

I would say that the best thing America could do would have food drops so the people of Afghanistan can actually have some energy to assert themselves against the Taleban - thats hard when your tummy feels empty..

Ahh, us human's in our own insular worlds, eh? Each nations press concentrates on that nation, so we don't see the plights of others, eg: "1 million Bangladeshis have just died in the latest cyclone to hit the country" - our response? "Oh, thats a shame, pass the sugar dear". News can make the world seem oddly remote, its only when its on our front doorstep that we notice (ie when I heard Canary Wharf go off and was shocked out of my skin).

btw, I'm Bangladeshi, so my reaction was more like 'crap, crap, crap - we need more flood shelters..'
posted by Mossy at 5:33 AM on September 18, 2001

Yes very true... ur article was moving... but.. a fact is the Taleban do not represent the people of Afghanistan ...

"Afghanistan's Taliban militia seized control of Kabul soon after government forces abandoned the shattered Afghan capital. In its first action, the Islamic militant group hanged former President Najibullah and his brother from a tower. "...
The government forces still loyal to their cause 'FREEDOM' from the Taleban..still continue to fight. Though they hold only around 5% of Afghanistan they are recognized as the government of the country by the UN and also countries like IRAN

What fate do the common people have against such terror ... the options they have are "Agree" else "DIE" -- Simple choice "YES"

"The principal threat is the new kind of international terrorism as advocated and propagated by the so-called jehadis from Pakistan and Afghanistan for the last 20 years. The Taleban being the shining symbol of success, they have as yet."

HOWEVER .....................................................
"Don't send an army of elephants to kill a cockroach" a news article said --
"Bin Laden does not get involved in the nuts and bolts functioning of his supporters. He is not at the head of a pyramidal hierarchical structure, giving orders and getting them obeyed. Instead, he is at the centre of a circle, surrounded by about 12 concentric circles, each representing one of the organisations constituting his International Islamic Front For Jehad Against the US and Israel. He gives them total autonomy of functioning, without interfering in the planning and execution of the operations. "... A WAR against the above group is what we need not the people of Afghanistan
posted by xxx--xxx at 5:37 AM on September 18, 2001

But you know, if you aren't up on the situation in Comoros, then why should I care more about Afghanistan?

I haven't noticed some 30% of Americans advocating dropping nuclear weapons on Comoros. As Sun Tzu says in The Art of War: "know your enemy".

As to the rest of your post, get off the medication, or get on some. It's not logical to assume that just because I post something regarding one problem area of the world I am unaware of others. Neither is it logical to assume I want you to give them your money.

Information is neutral, in and of itself.

Of course, if you just wanted to make a huge post here because you're addicted to the sound of your own bleating then I have inadvertently offered you an opportunity, for which I apologise.
posted by walrus at 5:42 AM on September 18, 2001

I say we go in there, dispose of the Taliban, put in the previous government, and then award that government the bounty so they may improve their country.
posted by ericdano at 5:49 AM on September 18, 2001

I haven't noticed some 30% of Americans advocating dropping nuclear weapons on Comoros.

Funny, I haven't noticed any Comorians being accused of harboring a terrorists that would like to see America destroyed and his perverted notion of Islam installed. Perhaps that's why.
posted by haqspan at 6:34 AM on September 18, 2001

Funny, I haven't noticed any Comorians being accused of harboring a terrorists that would like to see America destroyed and his perverted notion of Islam installed. Perhaps that's why.

*sigh*

My point was not regarding the relative merits of bombing either country.

I was making a statement about the relevance of information regarding the situation in Afghanistan, in response to an ad hominem attack directed at my posting of the thread in the first place.

Think I'll just get my coat ...
posted by walrus at 6:48 AM on September 18, 2001

In his less than laconic note, Perigee provides an almost complete list of the world's countries. He has obviously attempted to remove the US, Russia, China Japan and EU countries, but forgot Belgium and the Netherlands in the list.
However his statement: let me suggest just a few more geographic regions which the world is indifferent to, is kind of flawed since each one of these countries (some claiming a comparable number of inhabitants with the US), is by definition part of the world. I would suggest that "the world" in the above phrase be substituted with the "US public" (in which case the list might be too short), or "us white folk in the West" in which case it is too long. I wonder what kind of response one would receive here if he/she suggested that they live very far away from the US, so they are indifferent to Tuesday's events. One can't demand of the world to care and not care about the world.

In a related question: how many baseball games would you think be cancelled in the US if a terrorist attack claimed 10,000 lives in Paris? In India?
posted by talos at 7:13 AM on September 18, 2001

Thanks for posting that link Walrus. I'm looking forward to seeing Makhalbaf's film. (I saw his film Salaam Cinema! and I've gotta say it was one of the best things I've ever clapped eyes on)
posted by dydecker at 8:21 AM on September 18, 2001

I've not seen any of Makhalbaf's films, since I wasn't even aware of him until I came across his article on Afghanistan.

I just found a review of Salaam Cinema, by the by. I'd like to give it a watch, but I don't speak Farsi!
posted by walrus at 8:49 AM on September 18, 2001

As we head towards war and destruction, I think that it's important to remember beauty and creation. In his article on the world's image of Afganistan, Mohsen Makhmalbaf writes, "It is neither a country remembered for a certain commodity nor for its scientific advancement or as a nation that has achieved artistic honors."

While I support the spirit of everything Mr. Makhmalbaf says in his article, I want to point out Afganistan is known for at least one artistic cultural commodity. Rugs!

Afghan weavers have been making rugs of exquisite beauty for hundreds of years. Currently, Afghan refugees in Iran and Pakistan are being employed to make these rugs. According to this article this industry is helping the Pakistani economy (and more importantly, the refugees) to the tune of $130 million dollars.

I would like to urge American citizens concerned with the plight of the Afghans to consider buying an Afghan rug. It doesn't have to be a huge investment. A small, but beautiful rug, can be bought for a few hundred bucks.

I realize that this will only help in a very small way, but at this time every bit counts.

In digging around the internet, I found this organization:

The Afghan Refugees' Weaver Project

The Ersari project was started in 1992 to benefit the Turkmen refugees living in Afghanistan. This project continues the cultural art form of weaving by maintaining the traditional aesthetic and quality of dyes and weaving.

The Ersari project has information on locations in the U.S. where you can buy their rugs.

Some other sources on the internet are:

Jacobsen Rugs
ocarpets.com
afghanrugs.com

I know nothing about these companies, but I thought that providing these links would be a good way for people to at least find out about these rugs.
posted by spudsilo at 9:22 AM on September 18, 2001