A New Direction for the War in Afghanistan

2010-06-24T00:13:00.001-07:00

Shortly after President Obama's inauguration I sent him an e-mail suggesting what I thought should happen in Afghanistan. No surprise - I didn't get an e-mail back - and I have yet to see any activity toward my plan for a solar Afghanistan.

The Afghanis live in primitive conditions. They have a huge housing shortage. Electricity is not available to them, so they do not have lighting (unless it is from candle or firelight). They do not have access to heating or air conditioning despite extreme temperatures. There is massive unemployment (contributing to the enlistment of many young men in the Taliban and other archaic and non-progressive organizations).

Providing solar equipment to interested residents could provide solutions to many of these problems. Small generators could provide families or clusters of families access to creature comforts, such as cooking, heating, lighting and refrigeration. The development of this technology could provide employment for many people once they realized the benefit for themselves. The improvements in their living conditions that this technology would provide could allow the people to see that there is a possibility that their lives could get better and easier. They could work toward building solar farms which would provide more electricity for their use throughout the day for communication, industry (other than heroin), education and their own inventions.

There are currently small generators with solar panels, batteries and inverters available for use by individuals or families, and providing these for a chosen population could certainly go far in the struggle for hearts and minds - since they would be able to see an immediate benefit. Why wouldn't any of them want this stuff?

So that was my idea in January of 2009 - and I still think it's great.

But now, given the news of the trillion dollar discovery of minerals in the hills of Afghanistan, there exists a tremendous opportunity to help the Afghan government cultivate, produce and market their resources for their own development, for our military's exit (unless we are asked to and want to stay to lend a hand in the development) and for the goodwill it may provide. The Afghanis could have jobs which would benefit their country and themselves individually. With assistance from American and NATO forces, fewer of them will find it necessary to attack us and our allies for some real or perceived threat.

I can see that all this development would require serious planning and investment - but if we are going to spend our tax dollars in a country thousands of miles away, I would certainly prefer to know that we could create something positive. I believe that our military could be convinced that they could be useful in promoting goodwill by helping the Afghanis discover the wealth their land contains. Even U.S. General David Petraeus, told the Times "there is stunning potential here." Now that he is back in charge there, perhaps he can influence our military mission to include development of these prospects.

What are your suggestions?

Notes to Barack Obama

A New Direction for the War in Afghanistan