"Did you read about that $100 million power plant in Afghanistan," asked a 52 year old Englishman who often joins the vigil. "The Americans spend all that money to build the plant and the Taliban collects all the revenue it. It's incredible!"
This Englishman added some comments about how profitable the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have been and continue to be as the U.S. government is wasting a vast sum of money.
John Fortier, a Korean War veteran who holds a nearby vigil each Friday evening, walked up as this Englishman was finishing his comments and added, "If you take the profit out of it, the wars would collapse from their own stupidity."
Speaking of which in Iraq, U.S. military bases are coming under increasing attack, even as the U.S. maintains the fiction that "combat operations will be ending" in August, when 50,000 troops are scheduled to be withdrawn. The remaining 50,000 U.S. troops, along with U.S. Special Forces and tens of thousands of "contractors" will be acting in what the U.S. calls "stability operations" as they continue to kill or seize "militants."
While in Afghanistan in the last two days, 12 NATO soldiers were killed, eight of them American and four of them British. Their deaths were caused by car bombs, rockets and gunfire, including a "rogue Afghan soldier" who shot and killed three British soldiers and wounded others before fleeing.
The NATO death toll this month to date is already 46 and may become the 13th straight month in which this monthly toll has set a new record. Last month 103 NATO troops were killed, the biggest troop death count since the war began nearly nine years ago.
The death and maimed count for the Afghan men, women and children also continues to grow but I don't have the latest figures. Like Iraq, Afghanistan is a giant horror show, and it will grow worse if President Obama's plan to escalate the war is implemented.
But thousands of miles away, in a peaceful Los Angeles area vigil, a 35 ish Algerian woman walked up as the vigil was about to conclude. "These wars should end," she said as she carefully read the sign. "They are more about oil and minerals as people are dying. It is foolish."
She stood about 5ft. 4, with a round cherubic face and short brown curly hair and looked each of us in the eyes as she talked. There was a warmth about her, a soft smile, a glow in her eyes and she spoke in a gentle voice. It was like a mother hurting from the death of her Iraqi, Afghan, U.S. and other children and in her mild, well reasoned manner it was captivating.
We then extended the vigil to accommodate her as she questioned what the U.S. could possibly accomplish in these wars and at what price. And she wondered why the U.S. would commit such terrible acts on others. As she finished speaking with us, John thanked her and I hugged her and this vigil concluded with a sense that we had found another kindred spirit.
Dick
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