U.S. & Afghanistan: Modern Day Israelites & Canaanites?

It has been over eight years since the U.S. has invaded the soils of Afghanistan. What is our purpose there? Do we hold a moral responsibility to them - or are we operating through a hidden agenda? Moral responsibility means that one is obligated to do something for the other. Our defining factor for invasion was to seek and to find mastermind Osama bin Laden and cease the Taliban and al-Qaeda terror networks. We have not found Osama bin Laden - nor have we totally wiped out the terror networks. It seems that we have done nothing but allowed Osama bin Laden to slip through our fingers, and have allowed the terror networks to strengthen.

We never invaded Afghanistan on moral responsibility. We invaded with intentions to seek and to destroy. If one is to say that we had moral responsibility for invading - than one is really saying that we had a responsibility to kill. The Bush Administrations’ motive was that the U.S. would go over to Afghanistan to kill out everything that was against our own beliefs and standards.

This is much like the charge of the Israelites over the Canaanites. Was President Bush trying to act like a god? It seems he may have, because he tried to rid the ‘world’ of evil. He was operating in a god-like manner and called for the demise of those whom he felt did not live up to the standard he wanted. Are we operating in a modern day Israelites vs. Canaanites battle? One fact is that even though the Israelites won their battle over Canaan…they had Yahweh empowering them. President Bush was not a god, but he has still charged this battle…so we are not guaranteed to come out as the victors in the end.

Religion is a big factor that fueled the killings on U.S. soil. The religion of the Afghanistan people allows for martyrdom – where as religion in the U.S. does not. The Martyrs called a holy war against a nation that did not have similar views. Since the views of the U.S. are different than those of Afghanistan’s – religious views/motives may not be the best way to defuse the tension. The only way that religion can be apart of the solution is that we as a nation that is “under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all” should practice that which we creed not only on American soil, but abroad as well. Our moral responsibility is to treat the Afghanistan people with dignity and respect as humans, and as a nation. We should not try to wipe them out, and brainwash what’s left with American viewpoints. Nor should they us.