A soldier's view

Fortunate son wrote (5 October)

I was told on several occasions by Afghan leaders that their personal relationships with me positively influenced their perceptions of Americans and I know that my team and I influenced hundreds if not thousands of young Afghans, leaving lasting, positive impressions of Americans as a kind, caring and giving, yet determined people who want nothing more than for them to inherit a free and open society where they will have opportunities not available to their fathers; where ignorance does not dominate their lives.

and more recently (10 October)

We have plenty "anti-War" types who are willing to demonstrate once war becomes a fait accompli, but we don't have near enough "pro-Peace" types willing to work for a more just and equitable world and actually prevent the conditions of war before they begin. As long as the average American's preoccupations are the price of gas; as long as we remain willfully ignorant of the world around us; as long as we're content to be the "Shining Gated Community on the Hill", it would seem to me that our fate will be to settle for the ensuing partisan blame game for the last crisis while waiting for the next Pearl Harbor or 9/11 in order to get people to pay attention to the miserable conditions of their fellow man and stop tolerating the existence of those regimes that benefit from their misery and ignorance.

As it stands, the score is still 0-0, the newspapers have already printed the headlines declaring our humiliating loss, our broadcasters are sending the opposing side our playbook, sixty percent of our spectators (most were "fans" only before kickoff) have headed for the parking lot, our coaches are down to fielding only seven players and we're still in the first minute of the game.

It's not going to be easy to nurse the ills of this wounded planet. It's going to require billions rather than millions to consider the possibility that a massive re-think may be required.