Category: Afghanistan

Afghanistan, Athenae, Do Something19 Comments

Care Packages

I was JOKING about needing a forklift, but it might be useful in getting all of this to the post office: It’s hard to see under all of the everything but for the record that is 25 pounds of coffee (at least, 25 is when I stopped counting the coffee), video games, snackies, hundreds of minutes of phone time, more peanuts, animal crackers, goldfish, fancy fruit-nut mixes, handfuls of candy, card games and magazines than you can fit in six priority mail boxes. I need to pick up one, maybe two more on my way home from work. Now it … Continue reading Care Packages

Afghanistan, Athenae13 Comments

Care Package Update

Guys? SEVEN FREAKING HUNDRED FREAKING DOLLARS. When I put upa post asking for donations for a care package for leinie’s son and his fellow servicemen and women in Afghanistan, I thought maybe we’ll raise a hundred bucks. Get a few pounds of coffee, some phone cards, a video game, put it in a box and send it over there with a note saying we’re thinking of you and please come home safe to your parents. When we got to $250 that first day, I thought holy shit. And I thought hey, let’s see if we can raise it to $300, … Continue reading Care Package Update

Afghanistan, Athenae, Do Something5 Comments

So, About How You ROCK …

I asked you guys to getthe care package fund to $300 and you got it to$400!!! I’m afraid to even mention thepossibility of $500. You all might break Paypal. I will be keeping this reminder up until Monday, at which time I’ll be shutting it down and going on the world’s biggest shopping spree with a camera, Mr. A, the ferrets, and possibly a forklift. This is gonna be a lot of awesome. Way to go! A. Continue reading So, About How You ROCK …

Afghanistan, Athenae, Do Something

Hit That

Just a quick update of GOD DAMN SON for the Care Package project. You raised $250 yesterday! Holy crap. How awesome are you? Do a dance of joy for the giant box of fun, caffeine and sweets that will be going to Afghanistan soon. Let’s make it to $300 worth. Hit the tip jar. Put “care package” in the comments field. A. Continue reading Hit That

Afghanistan, Athenae, Do Something12 Comments

First Draft Care Package(s)

Because knowing you all as I do, and knowing how you work, I don’t think it’ll all fit in one box. In comments tothe Richard Cohen post, leinie wrote: MY CHILD is in Afghanistan right now. Thanks to the previous administration’s amoral and illegal actions, not only do I have to worry about him being killed in battle, I have to worry about how he’d be treated were he to fall into enemy hands. Which, to be honest, I’ve always had to worry about, but in the past, my govt. operated from a higher moral ground and hadn’t given the … Continue reading First Draft Care Package(s)

Afghanistan, Jude13 Comments

Other Shit That Should Be Obvious

Read this shit some time. Read this, as well. I tried arguing about Afghanistan with people back in 2001; naturally, no one listened. I understood that, after 9/11, we would be attacking somebody. You don’t outspend the rest of the world militarily and then not use that military when attacked. However, I did not expect an invasion and occupation of Afghanistan. I thought it was a stupid idea then, and I think it’s a stupid idea now. One of the big justifications for the war was the removal of the Taliban, that group of fundamentalist assholes who imposed their own … Continue reading Other Shit That Should Be Obvious

Afghanistan3 Comments

Meanwhile in Afghanistan

Stars and Stripes reports on an Afghan policeman killing an American soldier and the mounting concerns that militants have infiltrated the national force: JALALABAD, Afghanistan — A U.S. soldier was killed in eastern Afghanistan Thursday when an Afghan policeman opened fire on an American patrol returning to its base. The Afghan National Policemen opened fire and threw a hand grenade at the U.S. patrol as it returned from a meeting with tribal elders in Bermel District, Paktika Province, near the border with Pakistan. The remaining U.S. troops killed the policeman, according to the military. SNIP But Thursday’s incident was the … Continue reading Meanwhile in Afghanistan

Afghanistan2 Comments

In the other war

Allison Hantschel

DoD Secretary Gates is thinking of rquesting more troops for Afghanistan according to NYT although it would only be a few thousand. More troops are certainly needed and have been requested but one battalion already in Afghanistan is being sent to Iraq… Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, has already pushed for more troops. Eikenberry said Tuesday he has asked the Pentagon to order a battalion of the 10th Mountain Division to remain in Afghanistan until the end of the year rather than leave this spring. The unit already is scheduled to deploy to Iraq later … Continue reading In the other war

Afghanistan5 Comments

This Just In: We Screwed Up Afghanistan, Too

Allison Hantschel

From the Trib: Violence against women increased in every province of Afghanistan last year, according to Women’s Affairs Ministry statistics. Those numbers include self-immolations, a relatively new and disturbing trend in Afghanistan in which women set themselves on fire. The desperation that leads to such acts has been attributed to domestic violence and forced marriages. At least 60 percent of Afghan women are in forced marriages, and 57 percent marry before they reach age 16, according to a report by the international rights group Womankind Worldwide. Not for nothing, but this might be something to ask Laura Bush about during … Continue reading This Just In: We Screwed Up Afghanistan, Too