What does Peace with the Taliban Look Like?

It has been a week since we declared peace with the Taliban.  Officially we have gotten 4 Americans out of Afghanistan that the State Department claims credit for.  They bravely met them outside of Afghanistan at a Consulate in an undisclosed country bordering Afghanistan after the 4 tracked across the Afghan battlefields to escape.  Forgive me if I have my doubts about how much the State Department actually did.

Earlier in the week a Congressman Markwayne Mullin had a plane ready to land at KIA (Kabul International Airport) but was forced to circle.  He planned to pick up 20 Americans who were supposed to have been there waiting.  The Taliban Refused.

On Tuesday, August 31st, there were reports of several airplanes, Airbus A380 and Boeing 737,  on the tarmac with Americans and Afghans loaded waiting for takeoff clearance. The State Department did not provide that clearance. The planes have been there for several days.  The passengers have melted back into the city in hiding.  Thanks to our new Taliban peace-loving and cooperative allies they remain there.  Some reports indicate these people are being held hostage for more demands of money (CBS News). Also, there are reports of the Taliban going door to door seeking those with "Blue Passports" (USA).

Taliban Flag

Peace with the Taliban looks a lot like a hostage crisis.  I remember the 1979/1980 Hostage crisis President Carter ineffectively dealt with in Iran.  I see our current administration looking far worse.  Our current president has been in the government for 50 years and has sat on committees dealing with these things, including the Iran Hostage Crisis.  And yet we purposefully left Americans behind to be used as a pawn, enslaved or worse.  In the hands of an enemy that we know to have a different moral code that we do not ascribe to.

Forgive me for saying this Mr. President, but if this is peace, I almost prefer the war we had.

A peace where our people are ransomed, raped, or enslaved.  Where the brave Afghans who tried to help establish a free Afghanistan were abandoned to be mutilated or killed?  That is not how a moral society works. But there is another question, is America moral anymore?  

So why did President Biden do this?

Politics over principle.  The ends justify the means.  Take your pick, they essentially mean the same thing.  Many Americans wanted out of what was becoming an endless war, myself included.  For the last 10 or so years, I did not see an end game.  A point of victory.  We were fighting an idea that would always return like a hydra “The War on Terror” not an enemy.  If we did that we would be stuck there forever.  All the nation-building we had tried to do in that area had failed over and over.  We tried to westernize people.  As somebody who has spent time overseas in a foreign land, I can say this is a bad approach. 

America is unique for many reasons.  Most of us these days don’t even know the real things that make us so unique, because we are too busy blaming people for things.  I highly recommend “The 5000year Leap” as a start.  But the fact is we cannot expect Syria, Afghanistan, or any other Muslim Majority country to adopt a Constitutional Republic like ours.  Not in one generation.  One of the huge differences between the US and most countries is our lack of Homogeny.  You have heard the phrase “Strength Through Diversity?” Well, that is a bald-faced lie.  Most countries have a racial homogony that gives them a commonality.  We do not have that.  Our Homogeny comes from the principles in our Declaration of Independence that was then codified in our Constitution.  Eventually amended to be sure every individual is included. 

The true secret to the United States of America is not that "BIPOC-Americans" and "White-Americans” can get along and do something wonderful. The secret is that Americans have common principles and will work to develop a community that is a better place to live. Hyphens cause division. 

That is at least how it did work in the 19^th and early 20^th centuries.

Then we got over it and started looking to the Federal Government to fix it all again.  Between Wars, and Depressions and Civil Rights Acts, and National Aid to this group or that group.  These special groups became something less, or more accurately something more.  More equal than others.  Thank you, George Orwell.

I am a firm believer that we are all Human or Homo Sapiens.  Melatonin levels have nothing to do with race.  According to many Anthropologists, we came out of Africa, according to scripture we originated from Adam and Eve.  In either case, our genetic differences are so small we can exchange, blood, organs, and create progeny together.  That is enough for me to view all people as just that, people.  Nothing less.

It is the content of your character that makes you special. Be loyal to your country, your community, and love your family.  Help those around you.  Try to build up, do not tear down.  That is American.

Gregor - Back from the brink! From there and back again. A spiritual Hobbits journey.