US Ambassador Eikenberry visits Afghan peace vigil with his wife ; Mountains cannot reach mountains, only Man can reach Man
October 30, 2009 by
Filed under Journey Updates
Mountains cannot reach mountains, only Man can reach Man
An Afghan world of thanks to U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry
The Afghan peace vigil ended on its 7th day, the 28th of October, after the U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan , Karl Eikenberry, visited the 10 youth who kept the vigil and told them that he’d take their message of peace and reconciliation to the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate President Obama.
US Ambassador Karl Eikenberry, his wife & Bamiyan Governor Dr Sarobi
with the Afghan peace vigil youth
Below were the words of gratitude delivered to Ambassador Eikenberry for reaching out to the Afghan peace vigil youth just as ‘Man reaches out to Man’.
We also thank our international peacemaker friends for standing with us, especially our friends from the Fellowship of Reconciliation, Iraq Memorial to Life in Olympia, Washington State.
We hope to post some videos of the visit tomorrow and will continue raising our voice of peace till the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate President Obama and the world hears the wish for true peace and reconciliation shared by all Men.
How can we not reach out in peace to one another, all over the world, at such a difficult time as this?
Mountains cannot reach mountains, only Man can reach Man
An Afghan world of thanks to U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry
We are the youth of the mountains who do not represent any political or religious views except for those views which make us truly human, capable of acting in love and truth, in good times as well as in tragedy ( taken from our message of peace to President Obama ).
We thank Ambassador Eikenberry for coming and his kindness in giving us a chance to raise our ordinary voice of peace in Afghanistan and the world.
We, the people of Afghanistan, have a proverb that says, “Mountains cannot reach mountains, only Man can reach Man.”
Ambassador Eikenberry, today you have reached out to us as Man reaches out to Man and we are touched. We, the youth peace volunteers and the people of Afghanistan also want to reach out to all of humanity with our wish for true peace and reconciliation.
We are hopeful that we would not be like the mountains which, because of the deep pressures of fissures and divisions, have hearts that cannot be moved to reach one another.
We wish to pursue creative, non-violent, civilian solutions to bring peace to every human person.
Ambassador Eikenberry, we thank you, and hope that you would be able to take our simple message of peace from Afghanistan to reach out to the Nobel Peace Prize Winner President Obama and to the world, in the same wonderful way you have encouraged us with your visit this morning.
A world of thanks!
This framed photo was a gift to the Ambassador
The peace vigil group also gave the Nobel Peace Laureate President Obama
this photo, requesting the Ambassador to deliver it with our message of peace
The Afghan human faces of peace keeping vigil for President Obama & hoping for the US Ambassador’s visit
October 30, 2009 by
Filed under Journey Updates
This was first posted on the 26th of October 2009.
Please hear the Afghan peace vigil youth and see their human faces of peace
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7Kap2_210Q
The Afghan youth who are keeping the peace vigil to raise the voice of peace in Afghanistan and in the world may soon be encouraged with an initial response from the US Ambassador in Afghanistan, who is scheduled to visit these boys at their vigil in Bamiyan Peace Park very soon. ( The Ambassador did come to visit us on the 28th of October and spend almost 45 minutes with us ! Please read upcoming posts. )
This could be the Afghan and international moment of peace, when a tiny voice of peace is heard before the giant mountains.
Please journey with us.
Text of video
The autumn morning breaks over Bamiyan Peace Park
The peace vigil youth in Bamiyan Peace Park?, standing for peace
4 of our younger Afghan peace vigil keepers
Abdulai
Father and grandfather killed in war
Abdul Ali
Uncle killed in war
Zekerullah
Uncle killed in war
Abdul Raziq
Uncle killed in war
Shir AqA
Grandfather killed in war
Lala
Father & grandfather killed in war
Faiz Ahmad
Brother killed in war
Mohammad Jan
Brother-in-law killed in war
Mohammad Hussein
Father & grandfather killed in war
We are raising the voice of peace in Afghanistan & the world
We’ll keep waiting for President Obama, the Nobel Peace Prize Winner
Be at peace, stay in peace!
The diesel lamp in our peace vigil tent, giving light to our nights
The Afghan peace vigil youth at their breakfast of tea with bread
Email on 261009 from Fellowship of Reconciliation and Iraq Memorial to Life
Hakim,
We so believe in the way you have constructed your non-tribal message. It is for this reason that we continue to vigil with you. 24 hours a day/7 days a week. Momentum is taking time to generate here as well.
Here is the letter I sent to the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize Winner:
Dear 2009 Nobel Peace Prize Winner,
I write from the Olympia, WA site of a peace vigil we are participating in with the Afghan Youth Peace Volunteers. Please read their message of peace addressed to you and posted at http://OurJourneyToSmile.com/blog/
Nine Afghan youths, aged 13 to about 25, have also sent this message to you via an US emissary who is representing them in delivering their message for peace.
We started the vigil here in Washington State at 2:30 am October 22, 2009 (2:00 pm Bamiyan Peace Park time) and hope to stand in solidarity with them until they receive an appropriate acknowledgement from you, the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize recipient.
PLEASE READ their full message prior to responding. Considerable thought was put into the wording of their message. They speak from the strong position asking all to work from a position of reconciliation. They do not have hateful words or thoughts; they have given you an incredible platform from which to make a world-class statement about the meaning of reconciliation.
You are a beautiful word-smith. I know you will respond to them with the thoughtful remarks known to come from Nobel Peace Prize Laureates.
Please consider responding to their presentation “Reconciliation of Civil Hearts” in a speech that would be broadcast across the globe.
By turning our collective attention to them – you empower all of us to look at the world through their eyes. They’ve have given us their view sculpted in a timeless language. You have a unique perspective and have seen much of what they speak of.
Honor them in a way that only you can.
With much love and hope for their future and ours,
Douglas Mackey
(And on behalf of the Fellowship of Reconciliation & IMtL.)
We will continue to stand with you.
Dear friends on the path ( in the Fellowship of Reconciliation in the US ) ,
There were times when John Lennon could bring tears to our eyes as hope swelled in our hearts.
My body now weeps with the hope that comes from some young people in Bamiyan, Afganistan. No accusations – they request reconciliation.
It’s taken us months to hear them & and still so few are looking at their work…
Please take a few moments:
One their first videos: Our Journey to Smile video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfrMoBqqVmE
An early video – how simple, powerful: Afghan children smile for love, peace, forgiveness and humanity
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XUiFp-kTzk
Two days into the vigil in Afghanistan:
http://ourjourneytosmile.com/blog/2009/10/afghan-peace-vigil-waiting-with-the-world-for-president-obama/
Today – thanking the IMtL and Fellowship of Reconciliation:
http://vodpod.com/watch/2389194-untitled?pod=dandelionsalad
Today at their website – with photos of OUR vigil in Olympia:
http://ourjourneytosmile.com/blog/2009/10/910/
Please, also, make some time to write Mr. President:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/
Can you spend some time standing for them at Percival Landing in Olympia, WA? Call (360) 485-3764 to be added to the schedule.
toward peace,
Douglas Mackey
Email from other international peace-loving friends
Hello,
I just read about your group and the peace work you are doing. I am an artist living on the west coast of America, in a small town called Port Orford, Oregon, and I am thrilled to have a way to offer my best wishes for peace personally to a young person in Afghanistan.
Many here have worked hard to end the wars that our country engages in, and sometimes, I feel discouraged. Hearing of your group gives me such a feeling of joy.
I am so impressed and encouraged to hear of your group and this event that you have created. You are amazing!
With love and encouragement,
Linda Tarr
Dear Linda,
Thanks for your words of encouragement.
Stay warm and don’t be discouraged.
I will read your message to the Afghan youth keeping the peace vigil .
Peace from Afghanistan,
Hakim
On behalf of Our Journey to Smile
“Our voice of peace is frail and shaking but it is not fearful. And today, we wish to deliberately take it back from the noise of war.
Our only worry is that we would not be heard by those too rich, powerful and hardened to empathize.”
People in this Country USA care deeply,we have our own set of drama,disappointments.
public does not have the true picture of your people suffering as you have no idea that we have streets full of homeless,drug addiction and workaholic parents ,homes empty of love,because material goods do not fill hearts with love.
Did you ever hear the song-”The grass is greener…?”
Know that to be peace lover means to be peace maker,and believing that others do not care break your own heart.Is not true-we all have issues,although war awakens us to value harmony in country,physical death is a fear producing reality,however some people spiritually dead,are dead already,so what is the difference?
Dis information divides us ,not elite,our own apathy to know tools how to stay in harmony within.
You are driven,make sure that your heart is in harmony and accusing brother who simply does not know may hurt you,your heart is perfect,so do not stay in anger to long.
We are not to go to bad with heavy heart as the distress is a stage,a labor pain.
Take a great care of your heart ,flow with compassion for self and pray for ignorance to decrease.
Mariolka(alejka)
Dear Mariolka,
Thanks, Mariolka! We will guard our hearts!
Peace and warmth!
Hakim
On behalf of Our Journey to Smile
I am impressed with your Vigil. We need peace worldwide.I hope your message get through.
Charles Graves
Dear Charles,
Thanks so much from all of us! I’ll let the youth know your message.
Peace and warmth!
Hakim
On behalf of Our Journey to Smile
The human faces of the Afghan peace vigil for Obama
October 25, 2009 by
Filed under Journey Updates
Please watch the Afghan youth struggling happily to raise the voice of peace
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkTmzCyJtw4
Text of video
The Afghan youth tucking in for the night at the peace vigil
The peace volunteers spend their night in a makeshift tent
When struggling together, humans can bring some warmth to the cold
Like new breakthroughs, waking up can be tough
Zekerullah’s morning vapor
The cold of Afghan autumn nights will not stop us as we raise the voice of peace
Abdulai’s morning vapor
The human faces on the 4th day of our Peace Vigil at Bamiyan Peace Park
tucking in for the night
the cold autumn in the vigil tent
zekerullah’s morning vapor
abdulai’s morning vapor
Day 4 Peace vigil at Bamiyan Peace park
Dear Afghan youth peace volunteers,
Here are a few photos from our place of vigil. We’ve had the opportunity to really talk to over 300 people about your message. Several thousand have seen your message as they drive by the Afghan Youth Peace Volunteer signs in their car or truck.
We have a few videos that we will send soon.
It does seem that the recognition you have requested from 2009 Nobel Prize Winner could be very significant. Most Nobel Peace Prize winners are good writers and some have given great speeches. We’ll ask Obama to consider delivering his response to your elegant appeal for the Reconciliation of Civil Hearts in the form of a speech.
Peace be with you inside your hearts. . .
. . . soon in your lands.
We love you,
Vigil with Afghan Youth Peace Volunteers, Olympia WA
Dear friends of Iraq Memorial to War at Olympia, W.A.
Thank you for all your hard work for peace in our hearts and the world.
The human face and voice of peace needs to be raised ABOVE the noise of war and politics.
Love and warmth from Bamiyan, Afghanistan
Hakim
On behalf of the youth in Our Journey to Smile
Friday evening vigil for Afghan youth
Dennis and sign
pat and mike
Afghan peace vigil waiting with the world for President Obama
October 24, 2009 by
Filed under Journey Updates
Please watch the Afghan youth keep their peace vigil in the cold, autumn night
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qv_axzoD_g
Text of video
The Afghan youth peace volunteers in front of their night vigil tent in Bamiyan Peace Park
We are waiting for President Obama
We hope to raise the voice of peace
We are raising the voice of peace in Afghanistan & in the world
We are waiting for Obama’s answer
We are waiting for Barack Obama’s answer
We are waiting for Obama’s answer
We are waiting for Obama’s answer
Abdul Ali in his sleeping bag, blowing steam in the freezing cold
Please also watch the Afghan boys say thank you to all peacemaker friends & Iraq Memorial for Life for standing with us
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOqKKgCvoOw
From people of Olympia / Fellowship of Reconciliation,
Dear Hakim, and all of the group,
We admire the group’s dedication, kindly share our support with all the youth volunteers for reconciliation in Afghanistan.
……you find more, and more, and more people standing with you.
We’re sharing your letters and photos with those who come by our place of vigil. Interest in what all of you are doing is growing here.
We stand with you.
Sincerely,
friends for reconciliation in Olympia, WA.
Douglas
Iraq Memorial to Life
Dear Douglas,
Thank you for your emails of encouragement.
We are into the 3rd day and night of our Afghan peace vigil. The youth are keeping strong in the cold but I’m not so sure for how long more.
They are most grateful for your partnership and I’ve video-ed their thanks to all our international peacemaker friends and to you.
The ‘ridicule’, ‘disapproval’ or simply the ‘silence’ (mainly from locals) is a challenge but we’ve discussed this in the vigil group and are learning how to respond with dignity.
Thank you.
Thank you for standing with us!
Hakim
On behalf of the Afghan youth peace volunteers
Afghan Peace Vigil for Nobel Peace Laureate President Obama
October 23, 2009 by
Filed under Journey Updates
Please watch Afghan youth raise their voice of peace and at their ongoing peace vigil
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3VAq06TNGY
Text of Video
Bamiyan youth held a cultural event at Bamiyan Peace Park, attended by internationals and Afghan youth
The youth read peace poems, enacted a peace sketch, sang & played the flute for peace.
They read their message of peace ( http://ourjourneytosmile.com/blog ) for the Nobel Peace Prize Winner President Obama
We’re keeping a peace vigil at this Peace Park till the voice of peace is raised in Afghanistan & the world
Afghan youth peace volunteers, led by 13 year old Abdulai, keeping warm in their tent at night as their vigil continues till President Obama acknowledges their message of peace
Progress of our peace vigil
Life progresses principally when individuals struggle together for something worthwhile, especially when these individuals hardly know each other, but do so because they recognize the common human values that hold Mankind together.
Because of this kindred human spirit, otherwise described as love, we will not give up.
Below are the emails we’ve received from wonderful groups and individuals who are standing for peace too.
We are deeply grateful to each and every one of them. Thank you!!
Just wanted to say I admire what you’re doing and wish you and especially the children the best of luck and much happiness. I too look forward to a day of peace with no wars – ever.
Sincerely,
Laura
Dear Laura,
Thanks!! May our shared wishes gradually come true!
I’ll let the children know your kind wishes.
Peace!!!
Hakim
Hi Hakim,
Hope you don’t mind that I reposted this on my blog, Dandelion Salad.
Is this our Afghan moment of peace? 13 year old Afghan boy will keep peace vigil with other youth
Hopefully many around the world will be with you in spirit for peace in Afghanistan.
Have you sent this to President Obama? He needs to see this.
much love,
Lo
Dear Lo,
Our hope is to keep the day-and-night vigil at Bamiyan Peace Park from the 22nd of October onwards, while waiting for Obama to acknowledge the receipt of our letter; which we will send through the US Envoy in Bamiyan.
NOBODY is expecting this to work out ; if you have a way of raising publicity and sending the Afghan youth’s peace message ( which I’ll add to the post tomorrow ) to Obama, it would be deeply appreciated.
Love and Peace!
Hakim
It is time.
And beyond all word – we thank you.
I will be standing with you. Listening to you.
Can we broadcast the speech in real time here in the US?
Young people want to join you – standing.
We’ll do it in Washington D.C. – can you set it up so that the broadcast
could be heard and/or seen in real time here in United States?
There will be 20 or more at the vigil tomorrow afternoon.
Peace is our wish for all Afghan people.
Douglas Mackey
Website: iraqmemorialtolife.org
Dear Douglas,
We also cannot thank you enough!
We apologize that the technology in Afghanistan would not allow us to do real time broadcasting……
The event went well. There were originally 10 who covenanted to keep the vigil but 1 dropped out, so there are 9 of us. We are now keeping the vigil at the Peace Park till an acknowledgement comes from President Obama.
The 9 of us keeping the vigil have been talking about the ridicule, criticisms that we’ve heard and other worse scenarios that may arise. We are ready to face whatever comes.
We had no specific request except that the voice of peace be raised and heard in Afghanistan and the world, through his acknowledgement of our message of peace.
We will not give up here.
Struggling and standing with you,
Hakim in Bamiyan, Afghanistan
On behalf of all the Afghan youth with us
…will remember your cultural event on Thursday night with prayers.
Take care and cheers
LiLian
Praying!
Keep believing, keep hoping (: something we never take away from hearts that cry for peace.
Love
Liza
So, where does the power come from, to see the race to its end?
….From within! Eric Liddell
press on!
chiew wan
Best wishes for your vigil for peace! I hope you are wildly successful. I will keep you in my thoughts.
Susan
There are some in our city of Olympia in the state of Washington (not the Capital of Wash.D.C.) who stand in solidarity with you. We find ourselves unable to stop our government from attacking people around the world. It is not the common people that hate, it is in the hearts and minds of men in government and the military who want to play with big guns and have others bow down to them.
But it is not only those in our country, it is men all over the world who hunger for dominance of others. It is men in many of the governments of the world who can order the deaths of those whom they despise. Our government is no better or worse than many others in this regard.
And so we also stand in vigils for peace and are ignored, even by our neighbors who feel weak and helpless in the face of those giants. Our government officials have even ordered our own military to shoot civilian college students who were protesting the U.S. invasion of Vietnam. Much like the Chinese government ordered their military to shoot civilians in Tianamin Square for wanting a more democratic form of governance.
There are many of us around the world who want a more peaceful world and stand for those ideals in many ways. I will be so bold as to speak for them in saying we honor you and support you in your efforts.
“Peace is not a passive act. Peace is the courage to stand for compassion while staring hatred in the face.” T. Zander
tezzer
Dear Abdulai ( 13 year old Afghan boy keeping the vigil )
We have not heard from each other for a while; I know you are very busy with school and other things.
I really hope that you, your friends, and your family are all doing well.
It is my birthday on Saturday, and I remembered how you said you do not know your birthday.
So, I will wish you a happy birthday even though you are not sure when it is.
I wanted to tell you that I asked my classmates to pray for Afghanistan and the world on Peace Day.
Also, I read that you are keeping a peace vigil. It’s a really great thing and I wish to join you in speaking out about peace.
Please take care and God bless you.
Your friend,
Elisa ( 14 year old American girl )
peace vigil youth in their tent at night
Love you guys! Will watch video tomorrow when I can use another pc (mine is too slow). Just wanted to send congratulations and thank you for bravery. Will write again soon Kyle Christensen
We, an interested group in Singapore, are with you in your peace vigil. Everyone on this earth is entitled to peace..especially you in Afghanistan who have gone through so much hardship through no fault of yours. We are very glad that your voice of peace is being heard,at least by some of us now,,,and by more to come. Cecilia & friends
Is this our Afghan moment of peace? 13 year old Afghan boy will keep peace vigil with other youth
October 18, 2009 by
Filed under Journey Updates
13 year old Abdulai will keep the Afghan peace vigil from 22/10/2009
This may be a chance for Afghan youth to raise the possibility of love, for Man to do a little something for other Men, by standing and waiting firmly for peace before the giants that be.
10 Afghan youth, including 13 year old Abdulai, have committed to give voice to peace amidst the noise of war.
We will speak our conscience to all who are willing to listen because we have wishes that are common to all Men.
We are ordinary, insignificant Afghan youth who believe that human civilization and history is waiting for further concrete encouragement to turn the tide on violence. We wish to encourage a turnaround for peace, confident that love and truth are strong enough to stand before giants.
We will have a cultural event “Voice of Peace in Afghanistan”. About 100 Afghan youth are expected to participate in the singing of songs, the reading of poems and the delivery of the message of peace. This will be held at the Bamiyan Peace Park on Thursday the 22nd of October 2009.
After the cultural program, 10 of us, including 13 year old Abdulai, will keep a day-and-night vigil till our ordinary message of peace reaches the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize Winner, President Obama.
Here, the autumn nights are already freezing cold, but our friendships and your actions of moral support elsewhere will keep us sufficiently warm.
Here, at this small corner of calm in a world of widespread conflict, we will wait with fellow human beings everywhere who cannot wait any longer for true peace to be given its due time and space.
Place of vigil : Bamiyan Peace Park, Bamiyan Province, Afghanistan
Date : 22nd of October 2009, Thursday
Cultural event : Voice of Peace in Afghanistan
Our Message of Peace : Reconciliation of Civil Hearts
Cultural event program :
1400 Opening address
1410 Peace Quotation
1420 Peace Flute
1425 Peace Poem
1430 Peace Song
1440 Peace Sketch
1450 Message of peace “ Reconciliation of Civil Hearts”
1505 Peace Song
1515 End of Cultural Program
1515 Beginning of vigil till the delivery of our message of peace “Reconciliation of Civil Hearts” to Obama
Abdulai before the giants
Our challenges which require your hand of friendship
- Publicity
We wish to encourage the world with our small action for peace in the midst of super-power violence. We hope to give peace an Afghan human face while our fates are decided by others.
We will post our message of peace “Reconciliation of Civil Hearts” and updates of our vigil on our web-site http://ourjourneytosmile.com/blog
We will invite the few media we have here, though we know that the current world media is predominantly interested in war.
Please publicize our effort in the ways you can. If not, just mention us to your friends and contacts in your conversations and discussions about Obama’s Afghan ‘war of necessity’.
2. Encouragement by being in touch with us at journeytosmile@gmail.com
As we seek to encourage the world to turn the tide on violence, we are not ashamed to say that we need encouragement too.
In a country silenced by war for 30 years, those who still hope for peace are few and those who would do a little something are even fewer.
Like everywhere else, there’s fear.
- Keep vigil with us
If time and space allows you, either individually or together, we ask that you’d keep vigil with us till Obama has acknowledged receiving our message of peace.
Introductory message to our Afghan vigil for peace
Is this our Afghan moment of peace?
A chance for Man to do a little something for other Men
Every now and then, a chance comes for Man to do a little something for other Men.
We stand before giants at a time when Afghanistan’s heart is withering, along with the hopes of human civilization.
For us who live in war, we have a heightened awareness that the end comes to all of us eventually but we wonder if, in the short meantime, we can find compassion and truth.
We’re convinced that neither compassion nor truth can be found in war, so we’ve decided to sound our voice, for we have to cope somehow with the disappointment we carry, an anger at ourselves and at life.
Our voice of peace is frail and shaking but it is not fearful. And today, we wish to deliberately take it back from the noise of war.
Our only worry is that we would not be heard by those too rich, powerful and hardened to empathize.
The elite of Afghanistan, America and the world, through their determined actions, are teaching us to crave for power through violence, to pursue money through selfishness, to rule through lies and to dominate through pride. And while suffocating in this moral decline, to be seen as saints.
With all due respect, we shall not learn these grievous vices, which make us so detestable we begin to hate even ourselves.
And we ask that these elite leaders do not make it impossible for us to aspire after the finer human qualities which all of Mankind dreams of : kindness, hard work, dignity and peace.
We have had 30 years of war and grieve that our families and friends have been killed so that our elite and your elite may thrive. We are tired. It’s a fatigue of our souls. We do not wish to live like this anymore, like inconsistent beasts.
We have agonized through many nights wondering what happened to us and to Man, why we’ve come to fear darkness as if there was no light, why a corrupted in-humanity is the best we can wish of any power.
Each time we think of anyone as ?? ????? ‘without conscience’, we get cynical that Man is capable of such heartless-ness and we lose our grip on the hope we’re clinging to, that Man can change.
Sometimes we cry, but is there any purpose left to silent tears that don’t bring reform?
We try to keep busy, studying without intention, surviving without joys, living without life. But we cannot ignore the insult that daily, those who are abusive, wealthy and deceitful triumph and those who aren’t Afghans or who don’t live here make costly decisions for us and our country, largely for the sake of themselves.
We ordinary Afghans didn’t ‘terrorize’ New York, in fact, even the worst of us didn’t, so please don’t demonize us with the fears that plague the world. We can ultimately only ‘terrorize’ ourselves.
We are not demons. We are humans, as terrible and virtuous as anyone can be.
Some of us have become so distrustful and so sad with hate, over those games that neither we nor the religious people of the world have any answers for, that we would rather perish struggling against our own cruel people than at the hands of strange foreigners, however kind. Internationals need not have to be hurt for what is our conflict and our journey to take.
We want freedom so instinctively that we want freedom from other sovereign nations too, from their distant, cold analyses dictated by their need to sleep safely at the end of each day, their profit, and their powerful, sacred lives.
It pains us to know that their charity is shaped by war. Their charity may help us out of our 2nd lowest Human Development Index ranking in the world but the war which they choose to hallucinate over only gives them false security and leaves us true madness.
Come live here if your imaginations ever lead you to think that violence makes everyone safer. It does not make any of us, our families, our children, our women or our future any safer. As war has been throughout time, it diminishes us, destroys us and finally, it ‘disappears’ us.
We grieve for the rest of the world too, for unfortunately, those who admire, emulate and advise the ways of militarism are the ones who will come against every brute force with at least an equal and opposite reaction, a Newtonian principle confirmed in the world of human relations; hate increasing hate, revenge fuelling revenge and a silly sense of retaliatory justice going in vicious circles, all of which we, the ordinary people of Afghanistan and the ordinary people of the world, no longer want any part of.
And you know what? They don’t even know us.
We’ve grown up thinking that our world cannot be humane. Now, we’re witnessing that it can only be violent.
But our hearts believe that even if the elite ignore us, belittling us doesn’t take away our worth.
We have hope that suffering has a value which overcomes defeat and that even if we are mistakenly hurt in perpetual wars that recognize no brothers or sisters, love has a value which overcomes even death.
As we stay this night in Bamiyan Peace Park, on a cold Afghan autumn night, we attempt to do something beyond us, to do a little something for the warmth of other Men.
As we await acknowledgement of our appeal for a Reconciliation of Civil Hearts, from the Nobel Peace Prize Winner far away, we know that we’re not alone. We’re waiting historically with the rest of the world.
Dear friends of peace,
Just to give a quick update that our cultural event at Bamiyan Peace Park ( picture above ) was graced by the US Representative in Bamiyan, Mr Eric Mehler.
Now, 9 youth led by 13 year old Abdulai ( picture below ) have begun their day-and-night vigil at the Park, in waiting for the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize Winner President Obama to acknowledge our message of peace ( printed below )
We will keep vigil with hope for our voice of peace to be raised in Afghanistan and the world, above the noise of war.
Please walk with us.
Love and peace,
Hakim in Afghanistan
On behalf of Our Journey to Smile
http://ourjourneytosmile.com/blog for updates
The ordinary voice of peace from Afghanistan
Reconciliation of Civil Hearts
???? ?????! Salam ‘aleikum!
With all due honour to Bamiyan Governor Dr Sarobi, Head of UNAMA Bamiyan Heren Song and our international friends from the UN family and NGOs , Eric the US Representative in Bamiyan and other distinguished friends, we welcome you and the possibility of peace to this forgotten but gorgeous place.
We thank you for your hearts of peace in joining us today.
We, the ordinary youth of Afghanistan, have a message of peace for you, for all the respected leaders of our disconnected world and in particular, for the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize Winner President Obama.
We are struggling because it seems that nowadays, the voice of war has its space and its rights; we wonder if the voice of peace has equal space and rights. We wish to raise our voice of peace to give it a chance, without fear or shame.
We are the youth of the mountains who do not represent any political or religious views except for those views which make us truly human, capable of acting in love and truth, in good times as well as in tragedy.
We are tired of war and we desire peace as peace truly means in the souls of men.
We have great problems indeed but we also have courage because we have with us the great Afghan outdoors like this and we have within us an even greater desire for creative, non-violent solutions.
We desire reconciliation. It’s time to struggle for a reconciliation of civil hearts instead of fueling a clash or confrontation of civilizations. We wish to converse as equal, fellow human beings, without the need for guns and bombs.
We desire to patiently build our nation. So, while we appreciate your friendship and partnership, we desire just as much to trek on our own paths, build our own parks and choose which of our own mountains to climb.
We desire the dignity of working with our own hands and walking with our own legs. We ask for assistance that builds factories, industries, roads and an economy that would help us to stand on our own.
We desire justice and truth. So, we ask for your support in denying space to corruption, fraud, lies and deceptions and in quenching the abusive greed for power and money that are destroying our society and humanity as much as violence and war are.
Many of us are suffering at the expense of a few, so though the few rich and powerful are loud and dominant, their monopoly is neither moral nor democratic. We may be suffering, but suffering eyes can still see, not with the sight that sees only appearances, but with the insight that sees beyond words to raw but real meanings.
Perhaps, we have deeper anger, hatred and fears but we believe that Man cannot overcome such giants with bloodshed. We learn to overcome them when we understand each other, so we ask for the nurturing of wide-scale, local and international humane relationships that would empathize with our shared human condition, restore trust, and tear down barriers.
We need to explore human relationships and non-violent options like we pursue science, so that we can fulfill the enormous generational responsibility spelled out in the original charter of the United Nations :
“We, the peoples of the United Nations, determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war,.. And for these ends to practice tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbors…have resolved to combine our efforts to accomplish these aims.”
Preamble, Charter of the United Nations
We’re not willing for one more international soldier, one more Afghan soldier or one more of our countrymen to die a violent death.
The world should not move along the unilateral, one-track path of violence and militarism anymore. We cannot cope ; no human can. We should work together to walk along the multiple treks that lead us to beauty, to dreams and to those values, virtues and thoughtful conversations which every heart longs for.
So please, we ask that the world shifts her engagement with our sovereign country to a predominantly civilian approach. We should have as many civil forums, as many civil negotiations, as many civil discussions and as many civil occasions for relationship-building as are imaginatively possible. We believe that these civil efforts cannot be done through either our local military or any foreign military because Mankind cannot build relations with weapons.
We desire the security that other peaceful nations have. We desire for the peace and security which we’ve had in Bamiyan for the past 8 years to spread throughout Afghanistan. We believe that neither foreign nor local military escalation would bring victory for anyone, as that would be going towards failure, if not a military failure, then a civilizational failure of our very souls.
We do not accept the violent actions or solutions that the world seems to be counting on. We have become a terror to one another, in our inconsiderate actions and in our cowardly silence, and this must stop.
We wish to refuse the ‘insurgent’ any further excuse to hurt us; brothers killing brothers, friends killing friends, humans killing one another.
Thus, we trust that the heart of peace in President Obama and in all men would help Afghanistan and the world towards true peace and reconciliation. Thank you very much or as we say in Afghanistan, ?? ???? ???? ‘a world of thanks!
From the bottom of our hearts,
???? ?????! Be courageous!
??? ?????! Be happy!
????? ?????! And be at peace!
The youth peace volunteers of Afghanistan
Our Journey to Smile
http://ourjourneytosmile.com/blog
The fishermen of Afghanistan ; an allegory about ‘catching insurgents’
October 13, 2009 by
Filed under Journey Updates
The fishermen of Afghanistan ; an allegory about ‘catching insurgents’
Asking Why, and not only Who and How Many, in the Afghan strategy for international security
Please watch 2 young Afghan boys on their fishing trip
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7CSThmlKRQ
Transcript of the fisher-boys’ conversation
Ali Jan, what are you doing?
Fishing.
How many will you catch today? We’ll see…the question is if there’s ANY fish.
Are you a fisherman?
A little bit of a fisherman.
Is having fish beneficial?
Yes, if we can first catch them…
Why are you laughing?
We should keep our word ; you said you’ll catch 10 fish, so catch the 10 & bring them!
You yourself go catch just ONE fish. When will you catch that ONE fish?
That ONE fish, inshallah ( God willing ), will be caught.
When?
When we lower the hook.
Lower it then.
Don’t be crazy…can YOU catch your 10 fish?
You’ll see..I’ll catch 30 fish.
How did you tie the hook?
Don’t boast! Don’t ‘short circuit’ my mind.
Can your mind be short circuited?
Why can’t it be short circuited?
Let’s go…don’t laugh. Don’t laugh like that.
I’m setting off to fish then…
Heh..Abdul Ali..take this…
The bold italics below are allegorical thoughts on ‘catching insurgents’ in Afghanistan, in which the fish are the ‘insurgents’ and the fishermen are the troops. In essence, it suggests that in Obama’s current re-assessment of the Afghan strategy, more attention should be given to the WHY, and not only to the WHO and HOW MANY. The rigorous questioning of WHY would guide humanity in creatively choosing civilian options, over the military options that unfortunately only address objects and numbers, not people.
American, NATO and Afghan forces, what are you doing?
???
Post September 11 eight years ago, the urgent response to the threats on America’s national security posed the reactionary question of “WHO did this?”
It was an appropriate initial question, but it is not the same as another more basic and important question of “WHY did they do this?”
Asking WHY helps us to analyze the root causes of ‘terrorism and guides us on what we should be doing to tackle the root problems; it gives us a clearer goal for the ‘Afg/Pak’ strategy, a goal more relevant to American and international security and which therefore, we cannot afford to ignore.
In addition to asking WHO the ‘fish’ are, we should surely ask, like scientists, psychologists, behavioural psychiatrists or simply as people who aspire to think and feel broadly, WHY the ‘fish’ would hate Ali so much as to plot his murder?
Unfortunately, everyone got angrily and foggily wrapped up in the WHO, which remorselessly lead to the frantic embracing of an all-out, no-alternatives, victory-at-all-cost goal of ‘disrupting, defeating and dismantling Al-Qaeda and its allies (including presumably the Taliban in Afghanistan).
“The administration’s stated goals in Afghanistan have ranged from eliminating the threat posed by Al Qaeda — which is based in neighboring Pakistan, not in Afghanistan — and building a stable democratic state.” Nancy A. Youssef, Jonathan S. Landay and Warren P. Strobel , the McClatchy Newspapers
Podesta: “From the perspective of the American people, how do you define clear objectives of what you’re trying to succeed as outputs…Richard Holbrooke: “But I would say this about defining success in Afghanistan and Pakistan. In the simplest sense, the Supreme Court test for another issue, we’ll know it when we see it.”
“We’re lost — that’s how I feel. I’m not exactly sure why we’re here,” said Specialist Raquime Mercer, 20, whose closest friend was shot dead by a renegade Afghan policeman last Friday. “I need a clear-cut purpose if I’m going to get hurt out here or if I’m going to die.”
Briefly, whatever ‘war’ was needed to deal with the WHO (Al-Qaeda and its allies) of ‘terrorism’ was arguably and ‘successfully won’ with the bombardment of Afghanistan after September 11.
The ‘victory’ was arguable because in the WHO list of the nineteen Sept 11 perpetrators, none of them were Afghan ; they were 17 Arabs, 1 Egyptian and 1 Lebanese who resided in Germany, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia and who were trained (in part) in flying schools set up by the CIA in Florida.
So for the proponents of military action, the post September 11 bombings, besides targeting Afghanistan, should have at least included Germany, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia, and perhaps even all international flying schools with Arabs, Egyptians and Lebanese enrolled in learning to fly.
But this is already being facetious and be-labouring an eye-sore fact. The ‘war’ solution played out its ‘useful’ role in the ‘WHO goal’ 8 years ago and should have ended then.
This ‘WHO goal’ is not clear because it doesn’t satisfy our intuition about solving the root problems. It also doesn’t sit too well on common-sense ground realities and on our conscience.
To truly make America and the world safe against ‘terrorist acts’, we must stop to ask WHY ‘extremists’ threaten international security in such ‘suicidal’ ways, besides knowing WHO they are.
The WHY involves multiple historical, geographical, socio-political, cultural and religious factors, all culminating in escalating anger, distrust, hate, fear and sectarianism amidst a void of meaningful relations ; these form some of the roots of ‘terrorism’.
Disrupting, defeating and dismantling these roots requires a multi-prong civil approach which cannot include war ; let any human being stand up, religious or a-religious, to reason and justify how war can end anger, distrust, hate, fear and sectarianism or build meaningful relations.
In increasingly clear contrast, the current strategy of waging war against the WHO is feeding the roots of ‘terrorism’ and making all of us less safe. This realization is not counter-intuitive but logical and conscionable, recognized by all humans, including civilians, diplomats and ‘warriors’.
Crux of Afghan Debate: Will More Troops Curb Terror? Does the United States need a large and growing ground force in Afghanistan to prevent another major terrorist attack on American soil? Eric Schmitt and Scott Shane, NY Times
“The war in Afghanistan is increasing the likelihood that Americans will be killed in a future terrorist attack. Today, Al Qaeda no longer exists in Afghanistan. Defeating their erstwhile allies, the Taliban, will do nothing to stop terrorist attacks on the U.S., because the Taliban has never aspired to attack Americans on U.S. soil.Yet, because of the U.S. occupation, extremists are being pushed across the border into Pakistan, creating the very real risk of nuclear-armed terrorist cells.There is no “victory” to be won in Afghanistan. There is only the prospect of further destabilization of Pakistan, increased hostility against Americans throughout the Muslim world, and an increased likelihood of future terrorist attacks on the United States.” Robert Greenwald, Rethink Afghanistan
“Americans have turned against the war in Afghanistan,” Carter said. “Every time we launch one of our unmanned drones from Kansas and kill 100 people, we make 100,000 new enemies.” Former US President, Jimmy Carter
“The more military-first strategies that are employed with regard to Afghanistan, the worse it’s going to be. The counter, you know, impact is what’s happening now. More troops become occupiers, as perceived by the Afghani people. The hostility, the violence continues to increase. And in fact, I’m not willing to warrant our young men and women placed in harm’s way. It has not worked over the last eight years. We’re digging ourselves deeper in a hole. There is no military solution in Afghanistan. And, of course, I support and believe that our national security is a first priority for all of us, and we have to ensure that. But I believe that there are better ways to ensure our national interest in our national security interest. “ Republican Congresswoman Barbara Lee
Paul Pillar, the former deputy chief of the CIA’s counterterrorist center has argued that al-Qaeda’s terrorist threat is “less one of commander than of ideological lodestar, and for that role a haven is almost meaningless.” Afghanistan and Pakistan are two of the most corrupt nations on the face of the earth. US aid to both countries has been siphoned off to individuals and institutions that do not contribute to US national security.
We need to clarify our WHY goal, so that, if anyone asks the international in Afghanistan, including Specialist Mercer, “Mercer, what are you doing?”, he can answer “Escalating anger, distrust, hate, fear and sectarianism amidst a void of meaningful relations wrecked the Twin Towers and many lives. I am part of a global effort and struggle for peace that seeks to resolve these roots of ‘terrorism’ , hopefully by winning the ‘hearts and minds’ of ‘Afghans and insurgents’.”
In pensive and considerate re-thinking, Mercer may conclude that war is not the primary ‘fishing’ strategy he would choose, that the post-traumatic stress he may be experiencing is a natural ORDER of the human condition, and not a disorder, which alerts him to better alternatives.
How many insurgents will you catch today? We’ll see…the question is if there’s ANY insurgent.
The Obama administration and the world ought to challenge the US ‘intelligence’ estimate and the London think-tank claim of an increase in Taliban presence by asking, “How did you identify and count them in those porous mountains?”
It’s also helpful to ask WHY Taliban numbers are increasing, in addition to guessing HOW MANY Taliban there are.
Here again, if anger, distrust, hate, fear and sectarianism are the roots of escalating ‘Taliban or insurgent’ numbers, we would do well to reconcile them ; we’ll probably find some of the ‘Taliban or insurgents’ sympathetic to our cause!
If the ‘intelligence’ and ‘think-tank’ reply is that they obtained figures from deceitful, blood and money-thirsty local warlords, druglords, security forces and ‘intelligence’, good luck! Afghanistan hasn’t even been able to do a normal population census yet, far less count the Taliban.
We mustn’t forget the tragic incidents of bomb raids on happy weddings and grieving funerals based on such fatal ‘intelligence’.
“We make a mistake labeling everyone that is not for us with the same name. On the ground what you have is a collection of a lot of young people who resist central government. Those [people] really are not ideologically motivated. Dr. Marc Sageman who served in the CIA on the Afghan Task Force.
Are you an ‘insurgent catcher’?
A little bit of an ‘insurgent catcher’.
The international ‘insurgent catcher’ has challenges un-related to his expertise and area of training, including language, tribal and cultural unknowns. Even if he rapidly learnt local lingo and customs, he is faced with a people who have survived by constant, habitual lying, betrayals and shifting allegiances, complicated by tribal loyalties and honorary codes of endless revenge, part of what Gates calls a ‘mystery’.
Even in an infrequent activity like fishing in land-locked Afghanistan, the Afghan fisherman is a lot more capable than the international fisherman, not in terms of skills but in knowing which fish and which river. Despite his local knowledge, the honest Afghan would tell you that he knows and distrusts his own countrymen enough not to be hook-sure on any issue, especially if it involves life and death.
The Afghan ‘insurgent catcher’ can work out their local security through the age-old tribal systems and councils which they have. They know how to do this the Afghan way; it will be messy but NOT messier than having suspicious foreign ‘trainers’ around.
So, yes, Afghan security should be better trained, but trained by they themselves and NOT through funding them.
Police officials from some of Afghanistan‘s most violent regions questioned the need for more U.S. troops, saying it would increase the perception they are an occupying power. “Increasing troops in Afghanistan is not effective. This has been our experience over the past years,” said Gen. Abdul Jalal Jalal, a board member of the national police academy, who used to be the police chief for eastern Kunar province. “From the experience I have from Kunar province, our Army and police were very effective in all operations that we launched.”
U.S. officers in Afghanistan said Afghan security forces also are helping smuggle weapons the Taliban use to attack U.S.-led troops from Pakistan into Afghanistan. In addition, said a senior Afghan officer, weapons and ammunition supplied to the Afghan army and police are also being stolen and sold to the Taliban. “There is great corruption in the Ministry of Defense,” the officer said. “Everyone is looking for money.” by Nancy A. Youssef, Jonathan S. Landay and Warren P. Strobel , the McClatchy Newspapers
Is catching the ‘insurgent’ beneficial?
Yes, if we can first catch them…
Why are you laughing?
It’s hard to spot the ‘insurgent’; especially to the foreigner, ‘insurgents’ can’t be physically differentiated from civilians. They have no Insurgent or Taliban Identity Card. They speak a different language that can lie perfectly. They are practically ‘invisible’, like the fish Ali was trying to catch.
“The soldiers’ biggest question is: what can we do to make this war stop. Catch one person? Assault one objective? Soldiers want definite answers, other than to stop the Taleban, because that almost seems impossible. It’s hard to catch someone you can’t see,” said Specialist Mercer.
We should keep our word ; you said you’ll catch Al-Qaeda insurgents, so catch them & bring them!
You yourself go catch just ONE of them, Osama. When will you catch that ONE insurgent?
That ONE insurgent, inshallah ( God willing ), will be caught.
When?
When we lower the hook.
Lower it then.
Don’t be crazy…can YOU catch your 100 plus-minus Al-Qaeda insurgents?
You’ll see..I’ll catch 30 of them.
General Petreaus had said that Al Qaeda is no longer in Afghanistan.
And we haven’t debated or questioned enough about Osama’s whereabouts yet, though even with Osama, it may be more effective and less costly to turn things around through diplomacy.
How did you tie the hook?
Don’t boast! Don’t ‘short circuit’ my mind.
Can your mind be short circuited?
Why can’t it be short circuited?
These are the current ‘how did you tie the hook’ strategy questions that Obama the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate is thankfully deliberating over.
It’s courageous and humane to acknowledge that we could have been proud, requiring a creative meekness to learn and change and that our thoughts could have been ‘short-circuited’, requiring our anger fuse to be reformed.
Obama is wise in stating that the strategy needs to be clear before resources are allocated ; I humbly suggest that in order for the strategy to be clear, his administration needs to pressingly ask, “WHY ‘terrorism’?”
The ‘necessity’ in the Afghan strategy needs to be re-defined for the sake of American and international security, by addressing the escalating anger, distrust, hate, fear and sectarianism seen today not only among ‘insurgents’ , but also vividly among the elite of America. And we can’t heal those hurts in a void of meaningful relations!
Mr Obama, you would not address these WHYs, these roots, among your own elite or countrymen through a military surge. You would do so through a surge of imaginative, hopeful and kind civil ways. Please do the same for Afghanistan and the world.
On the floor of the House on September 14th, 2001, three days after the 9/11 attacks, “REP. BARBARA LEE: This unspeakable act on the United States has really forced me, however, to rely on my moral compass, my conscience and my God for direction. September 11th changed the world. Our deepest fears now haunt us. Yet I am convinced that military action will not prevent further acts of international terrorism against the United States. As a member of the clergy so eloquently said, “As we act, let us not become the evil that we deplore.”
Robert Grenier and Dr. Marc Sageman–both of whom served in the CIA, as station chief in Pakistan and on the Afghan Task Force, respectively–concurred that escalation would only further spread anti-American sentiment among Afghans and other Muslims, and that nonmilitary initiatives to contain Al Qaeda and foster civic development in Afghanistan would prove far more effective. Sageman spoke of utilizing a small “cadre of folks” that understands Afghanistan and can “cut deals with local power brokers to make the peace.” He believes we need “a small military presence” in the region for “focused action” when needed against Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups. He said we need to “Afghanize” economic development and work with NGOs and local entrepreneurs to “do things in their own communities” rather than using “outside contractors, [where] all the money for development ends up in their pocket or in Switzerland.”
Stephen Henthorne says the U.S. army puts too much emphasis on combat while paying lip service to working with civilian agencies and Afghans, and figuring out a plan to establish stability in Afghanistan. “The Canadians, the British and the Dutch do better at this because they do listen and they understand the culture,” Henthorne said in an interview. “We claim we have tons of culture classes for our soldiers and even for our civilians, but we really don’t have a clue. We think one Muslim is just like any other Muslim.” For Americans, Henthorne said, an overemphasis on combat means “we’ll be spending a lot of time, money and resources going back constantly redoing things or we’ll be stuck where we don’t want to be stuck for long periods of time.”
Admiral Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, admitted in the recent Joint Forces Quarterly: “We hurt ourselves more [with Muslim nations] when our words don’t align with our actions….Our messages lack credibility because we haven’t invested enough in building trust and relationships, and we haven’t always delivered on promises. Each time we fail to live up to our values or don’t follow up on a promise, we look more and more like the arrogant Americans the enemy claims we are.”
Let’s go…don’t laugh. Don’t laugh like that.
I’m setting off to fish then…
Heh..Abdul Ali..take this…
The fisher-boys of Afghanistan ; an allegory on ‘catching insurgents’
We need to ask WHY, and not only Who and How Many, in the Afghan strategy for international security.
We need to recover the joy, safety and peace which we see in Ali and his fishing friend. There is NO laughter in the grief and in-humanity of militarism. We cannot find joy or safety or peace in more war and violent deaths.
We need to set off on a new path, on a path more reconciliatory, on those relationships of love and frank conversation that we observe in these Afghan fisher-boys.
In our short lifetimes, we need to work for the true security of truthful and easier-going friendships which all of us are hopefully still capable of.
There is an ever growing opinion, even if it is difficult to accept, that the climate of distrust, of fear and threat, that exists between The West and The Rest –as Roger Scruton puts it in his insightful book by the same title- is due more to non-existent relations or to reluctant will to understand beyond the proper cultural or religious schemes, than to real and seemingly insurmountable cultural and religious differences. It is due to wrong patterns of relations, based mainly on arrogance, challenges and reciprocal malfeasance; and also to literature, interpretations and experience of respective cultural and religious codices, that are exclusive rather than inclusive. H.E. Archbishop Celestino Migliore
An Afghan message of peace to Obama the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, about our savage ‘Afghan’ instincts; and timeless advice from the wall behind him
October 7, 2009 by
Filed under Journey Updates
Please watch a young, Afghan friend talk about our savage ‘Afghan’ instincts
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XI9pGYP1Eiw
“They are like ‘animals’ because they are unethical & get furious.”
From my peaceful mud-house in the Afghan Hindu Kush hills, I imagine a White House morning when Malia and Shasha are sincerely worried and fearful about some dangerous rumours, that inhuman extremists in Hamburg, Yemen, Somalia, Afg/Pak and closer to home, in New York, may be plotting to hurt them and their friends.
I can’t imagine their kind, loving father Obama storming into their room and shouting, “Don’t worry, I will send 40,000 more troops to every one of those places, I’ll escalate the number of Nevada-based computer-drone pilots who would remotely extinguish your distant fears, and if you have any strong suspicions about any fishy characters near you, I will activate our modified renditions, trace down and destroy all their safe havens or simply, I’ll kill them all.”
I can’t imagine it because behind Obama’s desk in his Senate office, there are 2 iconic pictures on the wall, of heroes close to Obama’s heart : Ghandi and Martin Luther King. They would speak to Obama in their deaths if they could. What they would have said today they had said years ago; and I’ve reproduced their clear strategy below for Obama’s convenience.
I can’t imagine this of a Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. We congratulate him for being conferred this title.
If hate is the root of the ‘terror’ around and within us, we clearly need a civil response of courageous love.
We need to bravely re-define what is of ‘necessity’; our conscience and even our fears recognize that what is of ‘necessity’ now is not war.
We cannot make ourselves more secure with more violence. We cannot gain trust with more mutual killing. We never win by imposing death on others or on our own soldiers.
Even if we, somehow, ‘win’, we ourselves, eventually, die. We all do, not just Afghans.
President Obama, ordinary Afghans and international soldiers who are dying in what is now your Afghan war, ask that you do not inadvertently re-define peace as war, for in so doing, you would have taken away all of our hope.
Though I can’t think this mad-ness of America’s First Family, the world is staring at the angry, arrogant illogic of our 21st century’s insecure, First World elite policy makers.
With them, there are no longer any creative, non-violent, civilian alternatives. Very few thinkers think. Hardly any empathize and philosophy is derisively dead.
So, when Gore Vidal said that there’ll be a ‘dictatorship’ in the US soon, or when Jimmy Carter suggested a deep racist undercurrent to health care reform or when the Pope had called the kettle black in blaming greed for the financial crisis, they are partly referring to the complete dominance of the haughty, savage instinct of SELF-preservation over all else. And this isn’t a uniquely savage ‘Afghan’ instinct. It’s in all of us.
No questions.
No alternatives.
Questions and alternatives are deemed treason.
The only ‘winnable’ military strategy becomes sacred and ‘holier-than-thou’, because we believe that we must have ‘victory’ at all cost. We fear ‘losing’, even if we lose everything ‘essential about ourselves’.
Afghans know this strategy very well. They have been dying from the dictatorship of their ancient, violent greed for power and money. Now, we are sealing their greed and our deaths with Man’s hollow appearances and foggy wars. We are declaring:
Fraud is free.
Lies are truths.
Military might is right.
And money is everything.
Afghanistan’s tribal warlordism used to be confined to villages and valleys but now, with international assistance, it has been sanctioned and propagated country-wide. So, Afghans who have lived all their lives surviving and mastering this primitive warlordism are waiting, hungrily waiting.
“Train us! Send us those dollars! We’ll help you through our endlessly vengeful, constantly traitorous shifting allegiances. Don’t worry about us; on the average, we live for only 43 years anyway,” the Afghan elite shout.
Living here in a tribal village in Afghanistan, I’ve come to understand our common human condition. I’m not talking about the breakout of the ‘Lord of the Flies’ style savagery on William Golding’s island or at Kabul’s US fortress or in the desperate, fraudulent Afghan elections.
I’m talking about something much, much cruder.
This madness needs to stop. We need to find love and truth again.
Afghans have not seen compassion or justice in the inhumanity of constant war. They need hope that the abusive money and power of the corporate 1% do not always triumph. Every human needs such hope.
Maybe, they and the world can discover these human values if Obama remains engaged in Afghanistan, but through a 90% civilian effort. We can all be more imaginative in our commitment.
Those who reason that the military strategy must precede the civilian surge should consider the view of Amrullah Saleh, the head of the Afghan intelligence agency, when he said that the Pakistani intelligence service, the ISI, could play a vital role in ending the Afghan war. “To arrest the Taliban leadership in Quetta, you don’t need a military operation … just soft-knock their house and arrest them,” Saleh told Al Jazeera. Or I ask myself how some international humanitarian civilians and I could live in Quetta post-September 11, without hired security.
We wish for a 90% civilian approach because we envision that robust international relations are fostered through sincere diplomacy, not armed threats and we expect that Obama’s government is ultimately a civilian government, not a military one.
The authority of the Commander-in-Chief was not intended to approve militarism as a way of good governance but as a check, lest we forget that we are firstly humans, and that our naked humanity needs to be our primary resort, way before partisan politics and uniformed plans.
And since weighing the financial cost-benefit of waging war would remorselessly favor fighting for an illusory national security and recycling the tangible military-industrial profit, we’re unlikely to find sanity that way. It’s time, instead, to humanely deliberate over the priceless human cost behind every soldier, veteran and civilian dying, for what?
Obama is heading towards real Change in re-considering the Afghan strategy anew, for the sake of ourselves and our fellow human beings, because re-considering is a key to humanity’s innovation, if not a way to recover our kindness. We are trusting in the kindred spirit overcoming man-made institutions and temporal decorum when we keep hope that the debate would truly be diverse and not merely cosmetic.
No human likes abandonment, as is natural in normal friendships, so while some rightly fear that creating all the civilian options we can muster to assist Afghanistan may be misconstrued as leaving Afghanistan, those fears are unfounded and unfriendly.
Einstein’s pacifist intellect is sorely needed but his common sense intellect is sufficiently important at this moment: “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. We shall require a substantially new manner of thinking if mankind is to survive.”
Obama’s penchant for history knows that war certainly isn’t new. War is the same old, tragic story. It will never be the ‘substantially new manner of thinking’ required for our survival, for our freedom from fear and our search for meaning.
President Obama, please reason with the civil hearts among the masses, whose majority want peace, through a referendum if necessary. You will then witness the very virtue you want your iconic heroes to remind you of, that ‘real results will not just come from Washington, they will come from the people’, that a truer ‘governance of the people by the people’ built upon the moral compass of ordinary people is possible in the States, and with great patience, in Afghanistan too. After all, whether we live life with a conferred title, rank or uniform, or as name-less souls, we all perish as ordinary people.
And please heed the civil voices, even if they come from the dead, silent wall behind you.
For then, the escalating anger and madness, our shared savage instincts, would begin to abate. And our world would find genuine safety in decency and in the conciliatory civilizations of this age, the momentous change we’ve all been longing for.
the bright, civil Afghan
Ghandi and Martin Luther King to Obama today
Below are the 2 icons speaking to Obama. I have not bothered to change the names of the countries mentioned because the love and truth spoken in their views don’t change, not for the well-known Presidents that pass through the White House, or for the unknown Afghans that live in the hills.
And enough similarities have been drawn about the Afghan and Vietnam war scenarios, though such analyses can never bring back those who have been killed in the past, nor clarify the doubts of those who choose to kill today, nor alleviate the terror of those who may be killed.
Ghandi to Obama today
Ghandi
I may not carry my argument any further. Language at best is but a poor vehicle for expressing one’s thoughts in full. For me nonviolence is not a mere philosophical principle. It is the rule and the breath of my life. I know I fail often, sometimes consciously, more often unconsciously. It is a matter not of the intellect but of the heart. True guidance comes by constant waiting upon God, by utmost humility, Self-abnegation, by being ever ready to sacrifice one’s self. Its practice requires fearlessness and courage of the highest order. I am painfully aware of my failings.
But the Light within me is steady and clear. There is no escape for any of us save through truth and non-violence. I know that war is wrong, is an unmitigated evil. I know too that it has got to go. I firmly believe that freedom won through bloodshed or fraud is no freedom.
The end and aim of the movement for British withdrawal is to prepare India, by making her free for resisting all militarist and imperialist ambition, whether it is called British Imperialism, German Nazism, or your pattern. If we do not, we shall have been ignoble spectators of the militarization of the world in spite of our belief that in non-violence we have the only solvent of the militarist spirit and ambition. Personally I fear that without declaring the Independence of India the Allied powers would still not be able to beat the Axis combination which has raised violence to the dignity of a religion. The allies cannot beat you and your partners unless they beat you in your ruthless and skilled warfare. If they copy it, their declaration that they will save the world for democracy and individual freedom must come to naught. I feel that they can only gain strength to avoid copying your ruthlessness by declaring and recognizing now the freedom of India, and turning sullen India’s forced co-operation into freed India’s voluntary co-operation.
To Britain and the Allies we have appealed in the name of justice, in proof of their professions, and in their own self-interest. To you I appeal in the name of humanity. It is a marvel to me that you do not see that ruthless warfare is nobody’s monopoly. If not the Allies, some other Power will certainly improve upon your method and beat you with your own weapon. Even if you win you will leave no legacy to your people of which they would feel proud. They cannot take pride in a recital of cruel deeds however skillfully achieved.
Even if you win, it will not prove that you were in the right; it will only prove that your power of destruction was greater. This applies obviously to the Allies too, unless they perform now the just and righteous act of freeing India as an earnest and promise of similarly freeing all other subject peoples in Asia and Africa.
I address this appeal to you in the hope that our movement may even influence you and your partners in the right direction and deflect you and them from the course which is bound to end in your moral ruin and the reduction of human beings to robots.
The hope of your response to my appeal is much fainter than that of response from Britain. I know that the British are not devoid of a sense of justice and they know me. I do not know you enough to be able to judge. All I have read tells me that you listen to no appeal but to the sword. How I wish that you are cruelly misrepresented and that I shall touch the right chord in your heart! Anyway I have an undying faith in the responsiveness of human nature.
Martin Luther King to Obama today
Martin Luther King
Even when pressed by the demands of inner truth, men do not easily assume the task of opposing their government’s policy, especially in time of war. Nor does the human spirit move without great difficulty against all the apathy of conformist thought within one’s own bosom and in the surrounding world. Moreover, when the issues at hand seem as perplexing as they often do in the case of this dreadful conflict, we are always on the verge of being mesmerized by uncertainty. But we must move on.
Some of us who have already begun to break the silence of the night have found that the calling to speak is often a vocation of agony, but we must speak. We must speak with all the humility that is appropriate to our limited vision, but we must speak. And we must rejoice as well, for surely this is the first time in our nation’s history that a significant number of its religious leaders have chosen to move beyond the prophesying of smooth patriotism to the high grounds of a firm dissent based upon the mandates of conscience and the reading of history. Perhaps a new spirit is rising among us. If it is, let us trace its movements, and pray that our own inner being may be sensitive to its guidance, for we are deeply in need of a new way beyond the darkness that seems so close around us.
We are called to speak for the weak, for the voiceless, for the victims of our nation, for those it calls “enemy,” for no document from human hands can make these humans any less our brothers.
Our government felt then that the Vietnamese people were not ready for independence, and we again fell victim to the deadly Western arrogance that has poisoned the international atmosphere for so long.
We have destroyed their two most cherished institutions: the family and the village. We have destroyed their land and their crops.
Surely we must understand their feelings, even if we do not condone their actions. Surely we must see that the men we supported pressed them to their violence. Surely we must see that our own computerized plans of destruction simply dwarf their greatest acts.
Here is the true meaning and value of compassion and nonviolence, when it helps us to see the enemy’s point of view, to hear his questions, to know his assessment of ourselves. For from his view we may indeed see the basic weaknesses of our own condition, and if we are mature, we may learn and grow and profit from the wisdom of the brothers who are called the opposition.
At this point I should make it clear that while I have tried in these last few minutes to give a voice to the voiceless in Vietnam and to understand the arguments of those who are called “enemy,” I am as deeply concerned about our own troops there as anything else. For it occurs to me that what we are submitting them to in Vietnam is not simply the brutalizing process that goes on in any war where armies face each other and seek to destroy. We are adding cynicism to the process of death, for they must know after a short period there that none of the things we claim to be fighting for are really involved. Before long they must know that their government has sent them into a struggle among Vietnamese, and the more sophisticated surely realize that we are on the side of the wealthy, and the secure, while we create a hell for the poor.
Somehow this madness must cease.
Each day the war goes on the hatred increases in the hearts of the Vietnamese and in the hearts of those of humanitarian instinct. The Americans are forcing even their friends into becoming their enemies. It is curious that the Americans, who calculate so carefully on the possibilities of military victory, do not realize that in the process they are incurring deep psychological and political defeat. The image of America will never again be the image of revolution, freedom, and democracy, but the image of violence and militarism.
If we continue, there will be no doubt in my mind and in the mind of the world that we have no honorable intentions in Vietnam. If we do not stop our war against the people of Vietnam immediately, the world will be left with no other alternative than to see this as some horrible, clumsy, and deadly game we have decided to play. The world now demands a maturity of America that we may not be able to achieve. It demands that we admit that we have been wrong from the beginning of our adventure in Vietnam, that we have been detrimental to the life of the Vietnamese people. The situation is one in which we must be ready to turn sharply from our present ways. In order to atone for our sins and errors in Vietnam, we should take the initiative in bringing a halt to this tragic war.
A true revolution of values will soon look uneasily on the glaring contrast of poverty and wealth. With righteous indignation, it will look across the seas and see individual capitalists of the West investing huge sums of money in Asia, Africa, and South America, only to take the profits out with no concern for the social betterment of the countries, and say: “This is not just.” It will look at our alliance with the landed gentry of South America and say: “This is not just.” The Western arrogance of feeling that it has everything to teach others and nothing to learn from them is not just.
A true revolution of values will lay hands on the world order and say of war: “This way of settling differences is not just.” This business of burning human beings with napalm, of filling our nation’s homes with orphans and widows, of injecting poisonous drugs of hate into the veins of peoples normally humane, of sending men home from dark and bloody battlefields physically handicapped and psychologically deranged, cannot be reconciled with wisdom, justice, and love. A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.
America, the richest and most powerful nation in the world, can well lead the way in this revolution of values. There is nothing except a tragic death wish to prevent us from reordering our priorities, so that the pursuit of peace will take precedence over the pursuit of war. There is nothing to keep us from molding a recalcitrant status quo with bruised hands until we have fashioned it into a brotherhood.
A genuine revolution of values means in the final analysis that our loyalties must become ecumenical rather than sectional. Every nation must now develop an overriding loyalty to mankind as a whole in order to preserve the best in their individual societies.
This call for a worldwide fellowship that lifts neighborly concern beyond one’s tribe, race, class and nation is in reality a call for an all-embracing and unconditional love for all mankind. This oft misunderstood, this oft misinterpreted concept, so readily dismissed by the Nietzsches of the world as a weak and cowardly force, has now become an absolute necessity for the survival of man. When I speak of love I am not speaking of some sentimental and weak response. I’m not speaking of that force which is just emotional bosh. I am speaking of that force which all of the great religions have seen as the supreme unifying principle of life. Love is somehow the key that unlocks the door which leads to ultimate reality. This Hindu-Moslem-Christian-Jewish-Buddhist belief about ultimate reality is beautifully summed up in the first epistle of Saint John: “Let us love one another, for love is God. And every one that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God, for God is love.” “If we love one another, God dwelleth in us and his love is perfected in us.” Let us hope that this spirit will become the order of the day.
We can no longer afford to worship the god of hate or bow before the altar of retaliation. The oceans of history are made turbulent by the ever-rising tides of hate. History is cluttered with the wreckage of nations and individuals that pursued this self-defeating path of hate. As Arnold Toynbee says: “Love is the ultimate force that makes for the saving choice of life and good against the damning choice of death and evil. Therefore the first hope in our inventory must be the hope that love is going to have the last word.”
We are now faced with the fact, my friends, that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history, there is such a thing as being too late. Procrastination is still the thief of time. Life often leaves us standing bare, naked, and dejected with a lost opportunity. The tide in the affairs of men does not remain at flood. It ebbs. We may cry out desperately for time to pause in her passage, but time is adamant to every plea and rushes on. Over the bleached bones and jumbled residues of numerous civilizations are written the pathetic words, “Too late.” There is an invisible book of life that faithfully records our vigilance or our neglect. Omar Khayyam is right: “The moving finger writes, and having writ moves on.”
We still have a choice today: nonviolent coexistence or violent co-annihilation. We must move past indecision to action. We must find new ways to speak for peace in Vietnam and justice throughout the developing world, a world that borders on our doors. If we do not act, we shall surely be dragged down the long, dark, and shameful corridors of time reserved for those who possess power without compassion, might without morality, and strength without sight.
Now let us begin. Now let us rededicate ourselves to the long and bitter, but beautiful, struggle for a new world. This is the calling of the sons of God, and our brothers wait eagerly for our response. Shall we say the odds are too great? Shall we tell them the struggle is too hard? Will our message be that the forces of American life militate against their arrival as full men, and we send our deepest regrets? Or will there be another message of longing, of hope, of solidarity with their yearnings, of commitment to their cause, whatever the cost? The choice is ours, and though we might prefer it otherwise, we must choose in this crucial moment of human history.
Sometimes, ‘no’ is better for Afghan toilet development; building a Peace Park in Afghanistan
October 3, 2009 by
Filed under Journey Updates
Please watch a short video clip of Bamiyan Peace Park’s opening
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqRmvDCp32w
Bamiyan Governor Dr Sarobi with volunteer youth at Peace Park opening
Play that Afghan flute with your own breath of truth
Sound that Afghan tune with your own heart of love
Transform that Afghan poverty with your own hand of labour
“No, in that case, don’t apply for those foreign funds!”
In 2007, City Mayor Zahir proposed to the Bamiyan Peace Committee ( a UN-facilitated government and non-governmental peace building committee headed by the Bamiyan Provincial Governor Dr Sarobi ) to build a 1134 square meter Peace Park within Bamiyan City.
From the Peace Park site, you can see the Bamiyan Buddhas which were destroyed by the Taliban. These Buddhist structures were built more than 1800 years ago and though Bamiyan locals are all Muslims, they were dismayed at the loss of this heritage.
Also seen in another direction is the City of Gholghola. ‘Gholghola’ means ‘noise’, said to be the noise made by the screams of the ancient city’s inhabitants as they were being slaughtered by the raiding hordes of Genghis Khan. Genghis was taking revenge for Metiken, his favorite grandson who was killed earlier in a Bamiyan battle.
Bamiyan City is a fascinating, historical crossroads whose atmosphere holds both hurt and hope.
Can Afghans develop a single-street city and its environs? No? Size-wise, it’s merely a 2 km-long street lined on both sides by mud-brick haggling shops and chair-less tea-houses.
The main Buddha statue, though ‘artilleried’ beyond recognition, tells the stone-silent Central Asian story that humans in every age build their culture with their own hands, and build it well. Surrounding the original 53 meter tall statue are other smaller statues and a natural system of caves where monks and pilgrims stayed and came to worship.
Human civilizations do not lose their ancient skill of community building, unless the skill is deliberately quenched or subdued.
Ahmed Rashid talked about Afghanistan being a ‘rentier’ state in the book Taliban, ‘rentier’ alluding to a state almost totally dependant on foreign help. This un-natural dependence has become so ingrained and extreme that Afghans joke about it. You can hear the regretful damage done to their proud Afghan spirit. “Nowadays, to construct our own latrines, we also have to submit project proposals to foreigners.”
Suddenly, after centuries of resilient survival under rather harsh conditions, Afghans can’t make latrines in which to relief themselves! Yes, Afghans are poor but latrines have always been hand-built at practically no cost, constructed out of free bricks made from the ample, free indigenous soil, the same earth-bound way the caves were hewn out of rock!
This self-effacing laugh at themselves is an unwilling protest that something important within them has been taken away.
Many of the Afghan youth I work with, emulating their adults, genuinely believe that ‘without foreign money and help, we cannot do anything. We just can’t!”
So, as ‘conventional wisdom’ would dictate, there were NO questions asked about how the proposed Peace Park would be built. Like for every other public Afghan development, proposals written in English (rather than in their equally beautiful Dari) would be handed to foreign donors and if ‘successfully’ approved, there would be funds for the Park’s construction and perhaps ‘extra dollars’ for a few personal pockets too.
Basically, if there’s no foreign money, there’ll be no local park.
So, the government-allocated Peace Park site remained its un-cultivable rocky, neglected self, for more than a year.
Bamiyan Peace Park in August 2008
Then, in July 2008, college youth involved in a peace workshop took an interest in the yet ‘un-seen and un-funded’ Park. On their behalf, I suggested to the Peace Committee that as this was just a small park, it should be a Park built entirely by the people of Bamiyan.
“Please, we have to be realistic!”
“Aren’t you aware that there’s not a single public structure in Bamiyan that is not foreign-stamped?”
“Er…we don’t have the capacity to be self-sufficient.”
“We can’t do it!”
I felt that a different kind of proposal needed to be heard by local and foreign committee members alike, that the dignity of Afghans whom I love needed space, needed room.
So, in Dari, I persuaded, “Please understand that I’m not antagonistic towards foreigners. I can’t be. I’m a foreigner myself. But we should try to make this Park a Park built by the people! How about mobilizing village councils to contribute in various ways? How about the private or civil sectors? ”
Thankfully, Dr Sarobi, the only female Governor in Afghanistan, despite her doubts, was willing to try. “Let’s invite the private sector to consider funding the building of this Park.”
In September 2008, Dr Sarobi officiated at the Park’s ground-breaking ceremony. Agricultural soil was donated by the naturalized Afghan-Japanese boss of a local hotel. 2 of the bigger local construction companies sent their graders for leveling the soil. Bamiyan volunteer youth came, wielding shovels to help with the leveling.
Winter set in.
I heard from City Mayor Zahir about a hopeful proposal submitted by a government directorate. Otherwise, there was no movement.
I gave in.
You see, the result-orientated foreigner in me hurried to seize an opportunity to get funds from the German Embassy. After all, the intention of assistance is usually good and benign. Why say ‘no’ to good-will?
But, what I did when I submitted a proposal to the German Embassy through the UN office in Bamiyan was this : I was nipping the budding resolve of my Afghan friends and of myself, to do this patiently, on our own.
My ‘pragmatism’ became the betrayer of our nascent hope.
‘Fortunately’, through providence or the lack of it, the German Embassy rejected the proposal.
Time slipped by and we all had our own individual challenges as the harsh winter deepened, and the thin topsoil that had been leveled at the Park grounds froze over.
But time also nurtured thoughts of a new spring and independence in our minds. A few youth gathered again in the spring of 2009 to prepare the soil for planting. The volunteer turnout was meager and on one occasion, was only a pathetic pair.
But there was a remnant of effort and a trace of determination.
The City Mayor’s municipality workers tilled the land and landscaped it.
We reminded the Environment Directorate to source for and plant grass seed. We took an official government letter requesting for tree saplings to the Agricultural Directorate, only to face a bureaucratic hold-up, “I can’t give you any saplings as the number of saplings needed is not specified in this letter.’
In short, reform demands patience and persistence.
And patience, perhaps especially when it is NOT rewarded, grows.
The grass and trees were planted and began to grow. And our courage grew with the greening of the Park.
Bamiyan Peace Park October 2009
It was then that the youth’s appreciation of independence was ‘tested’. This time,I merely explained to the youth that an international NGO ( Non-Governmental Organization ) was willing to fund a part of the Park’s further development, including the possibility of building toilets for the Park, but that the NGO had an understandable regulation of placing a signboard to acknowledge their contribution. If the NGO helped, it might eventually appear like a foreign-built local Park after all.
After surprisingly quick discussions, all except one of the youth decided that they would submit a proposal on condition that the NGO waivered the ‘signboard regulation’.
I got back to the NGO’s project manager, a foreigner, who said, “No, sorry. We have our regulations. I’m very busy. We have the money. Just submit the proposal.”
Here’s another strange and humanly-disturbing irony about well-meaning help, rendered a crippling crutch by the assumed ‘right’ and ‘power’ of money, which inflates the helper with a semblance of philanthropy and deflates the helped with the embarrassment of inferiority.
So, the youth politely said ‘no’! “No, in that case, don’t apply for those foreign funds!” I myself was pleasantly surprised. No, I was overjoyed.
Sometimes, ‘no’ is better. Sometimes, ‘no’ gives room to play our flutes and give sound to our hearts.
The youth participated in the sale of a book and from the proceeds of the book sales, Bamiyan University students had an engraved marble plaque crafted and placed in the Park.
On the 1st of October 2009, Dr Sarobi inaugurated the opening of Bamiyan Peace Park as part of the International Peace Day celebrations. In her short speech, she said, “Firstly, I want to appreciate & thank all the volunteer youth who, with their own hands, have turned a place of stone into a park of beauty. Unfortunately, through years of war & conflict, we’ve lost some values. We’ve lost self-sufficiency and self-belief. Everyone waits for a foreign NGO to place a stone or brick before doing anything. If we work together, we can do a lot. Building this Peace Park is an example that if we set our own goals & not wait on others, we can build our own country and not be dependant on others.”
At the quiet opening ceremony, the predatory forces within the hearts of all men were seeking their rude expression; some of those who had hardly participated in the Park’s development claimed credit, some belittled the beautiful tune of the village flutist and others ridiculed the quivering voice of the young master of ceremony.
But there were those of us who held the grace of those who truly laboured for the Peace Park close to our hearts, workers who say ‘no’ to external appearances and empty rhetoric, and who, though often ignored or despised, would stand steady on their own two feet.
The Dari script on the plaque says, “Bamiyan Peace Park. Established 1388”
Bamiyan Peace Park Established 1388