As the US and world media focuses attention on the upcoming war with Iraq, this article looks at the current state of Afghanistan.

Now, remember, this is Kabul, a city protected by nearly 5,000 international peacekeepers, and the safest, quietest place in Afghanistan. Yet anxiety is gripping it like winter flu.

These unsettling little tremors, possible signals of a more dangerous faultline, are not all. A more basic issue is in play: a deep concern in Kabul that the international community is losing interest even though the task of repairing the wreckage of war – let alone, the even more massive job of nation-building – has just begun.

There is resentment at the presence of international troops. There is also an increase in the number of rockets being fired at the forces. But there is also a deeper fear.

But a fear of abandonment – or at least a sharp fall-off in international support – is palpable and encompasses many international aid agency workers as well as residents. One agency official, a veteran of several previous conflicts, told The Independent: “The Pentagon and the White House have absolutely no policy on Afghanistan.”

Outside the capital there is very little security or trust.

The UN and Hamid Karzai have tried to persuade the international community to tackle the resulting “security vacuum” by extending Kabul’s peace-keeping force, the International Security Assistance Force, (Isaf) to key provincial cities – exporting the relative stability that they have created within the capital.

These efforts failed. The Pentagon has proposed a cheaper option: dispatching reconstruction teams of 80 to 100 dominated by US reservists to provincial centres. But this has met strong opposition from international aid agencies.

International aid workers are not optimistic about post war Iraq either.

It is not hard to find international aid workers who see that the problems of Afghanistan will be repeated in Iraq. “There is a real question over whether the international community is prepared to take on the burden of rebuilding Iraq over the long term,” said Paul O’Brien, advocacy co-ordinator for Care in Afghanistan.

Another Western observer summed up his views more acidly. “If the Americans think this is success, then outright failure must be pretty horrible to behold.”

looking back…looking forward has 10 things not to say to a couple trying to have children.

connexions uses the thundering words of Wesley to remind computer users in the 21st century to conduct our comments with the knowledge of our own weaknesses and with awareness others are watching. Why do we act like someones blogs comment section is an ethical and moral ‘free zone’?

A preacher has decided that computers are demon possessed. Just another way for people not to take responsibility for their behaviour.
Link via Shalom

Quote:

The real art of conversation is not only to say the right thing in the right place, but also to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.

It probably doesn’t come as any big surprise that women like computer games as much as men do. At WomenGamers.com, experienced gamer and computer user; Seniors correspondent Cricket, has some sage and droll suggestions on how to deal with trolls after tangling with one in the blogosphere recently.

Often the initial encounters are innocuous enough. After my personal experience with the troll, I am inclined to equate trolls with abuse in the real world. The abuser is charming and friendly but can turn on a dime and become vicious. And the internet troll is just as abusive, the effect to the victim similar.

And there is some good advice right back at Cricket in the forum.

I mean… he quotes the Bible? Good, you reply by quoting Marilyn Manson or Saturday Night Live, or by starting a sentence with “hey, that reminds me of what the Ayatollah said back in 1976, when he…”. He’s a steadfast supporter of gun control laws? You quote Charlton Heston in “Planet of the Apes”. He’s a gun fetishist? You quote stuff from the Democratic party. Everything’s possible and you don’t even have to believe it yourself to quote it. The bottomline is that you stop taking him seriously and that’ll drive him crazy! At some point he’ll probably start insulting you, but that just means you’ve won.

Fromage du pied from Sand in the Gears. ar arr arrr.

Kevin Newman of Global News chides Canadians who complain that CNN is too American. I have had friends ‘complain’, and I confess that my comment is similar–’then don’t watch it!’ CNN is American, and it reflects what Americans want to see and hear.

CNN is doing what it is supposed to be doing: reflecting the country it is broadcasting to. And in spite of the fact that Canadians seem hooked on its coverage of major international events, we are not who CNN is talking to. It is talking to Americans.

And those viewers are wounded.

Link via relapsed catholic