An American soldier appears to have suffered some form of mental defect while killing several Afghan village people including women and children - a horrific act by anyone's standards. As a result, the U.S. has agreed to pay $50 thousand per death and lesser amounts for the injured.
What on earth are we accomplishing here? Several Americans were killed by Afghans after someone burned the Quran; did Afghanistan pay American families $50K per murdered American? And why on earth would we apologize for this burning without insisting those responsible for killing Americans be brought to justice. Are we implying the actual value of human life is calculated to be worth $50,000? "Oh well, if we throw some money out there, maybe this problem will go away?!"
As we cast America's shadow across the Middle East, will those people who survive the shadow of our military power believe we are a generous and compassionate nation or simply an ignorant fool to be led down that dusty road? Many Americans have begun to ask: "what are we trying to accomplish in Afghanistan?" It is a well-established fact that Afghanistan is a major producer of opium which leads to heroin and a major drug problem worldwide and we apparently allow this agricultural activity . . . why?
Obviously, these people have no regard for the United States or whatever it is that we are trying to do there. I truly believe that President Hamid Karzai is talking out of both sides of his mouth. But the real issue here: "What does America get out of War?"
The Romans seized the valuables of defeated nations and brought home slaves and virtually anything that was not nailed down as payment for loss of life and the expense of war. We - as a nation - have been involved in several wars in the Middle East - how have we benefitted? Theoretically we were victorious in Iraq and yet there is no victory parade in New York displaying any sort of tribute, gold or treasures; in fact, no one has even mentioned a desire to reimburse the American taxpayer for monetary costs or loss of life. Do you think for a micro-second that Iraq or Afghanistan has grasped the meaning of democratic rule?
It has been estimated the cost of war in Afghanistan will exceed $3-trillion or more and that's if we manage to get out by 2014. So what does the American taxpayer get out of all this and who gets to help us repay this $15.5-trillion national debt? There appears to be no answer in sight.