She lived in a small village in Germany that was spared the heavy bombing of the industrial cities. Her family was living in rooms given up by the resentful Native German families. One day a small squad of American soldiers came by that small village. She and many of the children of the town came running to the town square to see the strangers in their green uniforms. One of them was carefully giving a square of chocolate to each child, breaking it from one of several bars of chocolate he had in his hands.
He broke a square off and held it out to her, smiling as he did so. She hungrily and happily took it from his hand, and smiled back, speaking in a proper manner "Dankeshon", thanking him for the gift of the rare chocolate. He continued breaking off pieces of chocolate, making sure each child got only one sqaure, so there would be enough for all.
Then the soldiers finished their break, and headed off in their jeeps and trucks to parts unknown.
This first meeting with an American seems to me an emblem of our national character. The peace loving, generous and thoughtful Americans, who sometimes are forced to fight when really they would rather not have to. We as a nation are not unfamiliar with war, but we do not look forward to it in a general way. And we would rather enter a battle firmly, decisively and with proper timing and sufficient strength so as to finish the hostilities quickly and avoid a protracted war. Yet when the shells stop ejecting, and the lead is no longer flying we are so happy to spread our largess around, to help the poor afflicted ones left in the wake of the battles. The innocent ones, the young, the non-cambatants are generally treated by Americans with compassion, and largess. We feel sorry for the poor people taken along by despotic or maniacal leaders, the ones who's countries economies and National Character were lead astray by evil ones. So our country as a whole generally helps out to one degree or another. And the people of the USA are usually quick to send aid through individual charities.
This faceless American, the nameless soldier who dropped that piece of chocolate into my mothers hand that day gave her a lot more than chocolate, he gave her a glimpse of another land. A land where people got to eat chocolate, indeed they had so much that they could even give some to people they did not even know. He opened the curtain displaying for her a place, indeed an idea of freedom and plenty. A concept unknown in the world centuries before, and a new concept to her from the years of war and poverty. This concept grew in her through the years. The education, the opening of the Fortress Europe to American concepts and ideas matured the concept, and later when an adult the marriage to my father, an American soldier himself brought her to these balmy shores. The land that enshrines the concept of immigration in one of the best-known statues in the world. "Give me your poor, your huddled, your teeming masses ready to break free." She was one of the poor teeming huddled masses, and she made it to this country and became an American, and she helped raise some American children.
What does this have to do with Afghanistan? When we finish off the Taliban, we will have to make sure the people get a good government established before another terror fills the vacuum with another bad government. Yet these people in their long history have never had a democratic government. They will have a hard time adjusting to the concept of active participation in government. So for a while I feel the USA should administer the government, or failing that perhaps the UN or NATO should run it. (But I think Afghanistan would be better off with a McArthur style American government). A Marshall Plan type of concept should be performed also. This is to get the country back on it's feet economically. Factories could be given cash infusions and advice and know how to retool (they'd have to start from scratch in this case since they never really had factories before also). Money would soon be flowing into the hands of the people. The farmers would be able to start growing things right away again, knowing that they would soon have paying customers for their produce. The country could start exporting soon bringing in much needed money from outside. The people would have a provisional military government administered by the USA. They would start the democratic process going slowly at first with local elections, and then slowly build up to regional and then finally national elections. After a period of some time, perhaps five to ten years they would be ready to elect their own president. At that time they would be ready to assume the reigns of administration of their own government. This is admittedly a long-term process. And it's not something that we would want to have to do; but we really do have to do it. Not to perform this momentous task is to risk alienating these people who will be good and strong allies for us if we help them along for the next decade.
Some things just have to be done, even if the thought of it seems a burden. But once in a while the chicken coop needs to be cleaned out, and it is a lot fresher in there when there is a fresh layer of clean shavings on the floor. The war is the cleaning out, and the aftercare of the country is the shavings. The shavings take a while to spread out, but they will keep the smell from coming back in so quickly.
So let our country be like that young soldier so long ago, let our country hand out a bit of chocolate after the war. Let's open that curtain to some of those people over in that rugged mountainous land, and let the light of peace, freedom and democracy shine on their dusty tear streaked faces.
