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Voices of Spencer Creek Valley
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Dear Friends,
Autumn is such a long lovely time of year here that we get
a little shock when we realize we are only hours from winter. Around here everyone
is talking about the hard frost that blasted the hardy hangers-on from summer --
the daliahs, the roses, the geraniums, the daisies. My kale survived. As we say in
Spencer Creek Valley, what the deer don't get, the frost will. John is wrapping up
the water pipes. Harry is on the barn roof between the rains for a last minute repair.
Rose is checking mud boots for leaks, digging out the wool socks and mittens, airing
out the heavy down comforters. Mary is splitting wood. Maggie is pressing leaves
for holiday gifts. Joe is studying hard for the S.A.T.s. Little Liam and Asher are
earning a few bucks raking leaves. Remember when we got a quarter for raking a quarter
acre when we were kids? Times change.
John hopes his bee hives survive the winter. He has another concern this winter.
He is a member of the National Guard. He hopes he won't be called up this winter
but it is a real possibility. He is close to retiring from twenty years of part-time,
often active service. Since our government has seen the terrorist attacks as more
or less standard war, the U.S. has been bombing the whey out of sites in Afghanistan
with tragic effect. What we don't seem to understand is that al Qaeda's leader is
more like a cult figure, not a military general. This bad guy who looks like a nice
gentle scholar, Osama, is fine, thank you. He and his loyal guard are safe in a deep
network of granite mountain caves while we are bombing the living daylights out of
poor kidnapped "recruits" and innocent civilians as well as Taliban gang
members... There is no such thing as a "smart" bomb. All bombs are dumb.
Some dumber than others because we think they can't make mistakes. With human error,
land use patterns of mixing official and civilian sites (like the National Guard
Armory in a residential neighborhood right in Eugene, OR) , and a lack of accurate
intelligence, the dumb bombs are making plenty of mistakes and are earning us the
hatred and enmity of millions, some of whom will be convinced the al-Qaeda must have
gotten it right, after all.
While we take joy in the seasonal routines of preparing for our relatively mild winter
in the Pacific Northwest, millions of people of Afghanistan and their neighboring
countries are caught in a crisis of vast proportions accelerated and exacerbated
by the bombing. While winter has arrived as the implacable king of the mountains,
the newly made refugees have no homes or shelter, no sanitation, regular food and
clean water, no fuel., no down comforters. Many impoverished themselves to leave
quickly. They left behind homes and fields, goats and chickens, looms and forges,
wells and springs, and what few schools and hospital were left. They left businesses,
tribal villages and city neighborhoods. They feared the bombs and the slaughter that
will follow who ever "wins". What other choice did they have? Now allowed
into the countryside, many respected journalist including the BBC are reporting a
bombing campaign that feels like a retaliatory war on these other innocent civilians.
We must halt the wave of terror that
hit our "beaches" of New York city, and the D.C. capital area. But bombing
poor, war-battered Afghanistan and its starving people into a living hell will not
win us this war. It will create new wars. The government has made its point. Enough.
Basta ya. No military objective is measurable. The errors are compounding. The Afghan
people are suffering. Let's use our brains and defend ourselves. Let's halt the bombing
as an public act of mercy for the people. Let's grant the United Nations High Command
for Refugees a massive amount of cash to help the starving people. Let's crack down
on the international network of terrorists with international police. Let's use the
United Nations effectively and swiftly as the institution vested with the job of
global peace. The U.S. hasn't been shy in the past about spearheading UN efforts.
Let's get trained federal air marshals on all flights and overseeing all security.
Too much precious time has been wasted. Let's begin to reform our foreign policy
not only for others' sakes but now our own. Let's reduce our pathetic dependence
upon foreign oil. Go solar big time, immediately. (One of the first acts of George
Sr.'s White House was to take down the solar panels put up by peanut farmer/naval
officer, Jimmy Carter.) If we could build up a "war machine" in W.W.II
in less than two years we can convert to reasonable energy sources and actions to
protect ourselves. I'm not counting on the Center for Disease Control.
Brawn and bombs in this case won't
go very far, although the cities now seem to be in the Northern Alliance's control
. The next phase of the war could be more terrible for the people of Afghanistan and the miltitary forces of our country,
our friends and neighbors. Our issue is NOT with the people of Afghanistan. It is
with al-Qaeda, a large network of independent cells operating in scores of countries.
(True, the Taliban have given them sanctuary. Some scholars say al-Qeada actually
gives the Taliban support without which it could not exist. Only three countries
previously gave any state recognition of the Taliban.) To mix up the gangs with the
people is very foolish. Maybe, we need another way to influence events ... maybe
we need a "Lawrence of Afghanistan", not John Wayne. What is the difference you may ask?
Well, John Wayne played many strong, brave W.W. II heroes and gave us an image
of war as a noble, tough endeavor. He made us believe that ordinary men could become
great when they had a great mission. But he as a real person actually never fought.
In W.W.I "Lawrence of Arabia", T.E. Lawrence, a scholar and British officer,
was recruited to covertly help the tribes of Arabia unite and throw off Turkish rule.
(Of course, Britain and France were playing a power game in the region.) He was effective
because he was made it his job to blend in, learn the local dialect, understood the
impact of well-planned, small guerilla actions. And he cared about the fate of the
people he worked with. He also pleaded at the Versailles Peace Conference for a homeland
for the Palestinians to avoid future tragedies... Decades later, Hollywood made a
film about a little known chapter in history and opened up many people's interest
in T.E. Lawrence and the Middle East. The difference? The films and heroism of John
Wayne are part of our national mythology. The film about T.E. Lawrence is based on
the real person who became a kind of real hero. Maybe we need that kind of hero now
in Afghanistan. Move over, John Wayne. Let's get "real". Creating a humanitarian
crisis through more bombing will backfire into more fodder for terrorist propaganda
and perhaps action. This ain't a movie. This is a matter of life and death here and
in poor war-torn Afghanistan.
And here in Spencer Creek Valley? We are gathering the late apples and praying John
and Joe do not go off to war.
P.S. The word is out. Some units of the Oregon National Guard are being called upto
serve "overseas". More later.
See Saving the Planet at the Movies? in this issues of WxNW .org