Comments on: A Message from Kathy Kelly

By: Nikolai

Nikolai — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 02:29:46 +0000

“The New York Times reported on November 14, 2009 that, according to internal U.S. government estimates, it costs one million dollars to keep one soldier in Afghanistan for one year. Consider this sum in light of the fact that, in Afghanistan, district governors earn 70 dollars per month. Their operation budget is 15 dollars per month, and half of them have no dedicated office. Or, in light of the UN estimate that the Gross Domestic Product, per capita, in Afghanistan, is less than $1,000 per year. Or that The United Nation’s Children’s Fund, better known as UNICEF, says Afghanistan is the worst place in the world to be born, having the highest infant mortality rate in the world with 257 deaths per 1,000 live births. Only 70 percent of Afghans have access to clean water.”

I’ve said it before: there should be far more money going into aiding development then fighting (although, unfortunately, that has imporantance as well). Our fellow humans shouldn’t have to live like this.

By: Nikolai

Nikolai — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 03:58:26 +0000

Man, it’s all about civil service reform. The Pakistani civil service has the expetise, put was cut off at the knees in the ’70s. Having an unbeuracritzed civil service will make politicians more accountable in the long wrong. The problem is, the civilian governments don’t want to do it, and when the military gov gets in there, they finds themselves soon too comfortable (whatever their original intentions)! So really, that’s what’s needed to be addressed, in terms of ‘bad leadership.’

Really, this also comes from the patron system in place, where people, after being elected, worry about appeasing people who got them elected, and can’t concentrate on the real issues…

The patron system in Pakistan is like the lobbies in the US. Both banes to their countries.

By: s harpasand

s harpasand — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 05:59:53 +0000

>….
>But Pakistan is strong enough not to be bullied around. They
>have terrible leadership and the population is paying for it.
>

ummm…leadership is direct reflection of the people.

By: Yesman

Yesman — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 20:36:28 +0000

Pakistan, a country with 160 million people, nuclear weapons and a powerful army? No, you do not feel bad for a country like that. Feel bad for Granada? sure, Chile? yes Domninican Republic? Sure, even Iraq? yes. But Pakistan is strong enough not to be bullied around. They have terrible leadership and the population is paying for it.

By: Fazal Majid

Fazal Majid — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 17:07:21 +0000

Chomsky describes “speaking truth to power” as a waste of time because “power already knows the truth … they don`t have to hear it from us … you have to speak truth to people.”

It’s not entirely true. Governments and power structures are not monolithic. Patrick Ball at the AAAS has shown how documenting human rights abuses and pinpointing the individuals responsible can be useful when they exceed what the government they operate under will countenance. Unfortunately I am not sure if that applies to the US today given the clear evidence that abuses are sanctioned at the very top, even in the new administration, with offenders like the Abu Ghraib crew being tossed to the wolves only for getting caught, not for the actual deed.