The last few weeks one of my regular podcast listens has pleasantly surprised me with some solid programs. This week, as I drove my boat towards home this morning while listening to my podcasts, Amsterdam Forum from Radio Netherlands hit it right again.
The topic this week was the military mission in Afghanistan, who is doing what, what countries are wanting to get out, and special attention to the troubles of the Dutch to afford and continue to carry out their mission in Afghanistan.
They threw around the numbers of how much it costs the Netherlands to keep their military in the country. They also mention things that I sometimes forget.. like that the Dutch are in a very dangerous area, and the many countries like Canada are under a great deal of pressure at home to get out. Then there was the story of how the German troops aren’t allowed to do numerous types of activities that are deemed too risky. And ultimately you hear from a Dutch military analyst who says he predicts they’re be there for at least ten more years.
The whole time I kept thinking what a bizarre situation we’ve created. (we being citizens of the world) Its supposed to be a rebuilding mission but it is still a military mission and there seems to be no end in site and even the idea that things are improving has become debatable. Then of course there’s the idea of leaving and what will happen to the country at it seems they are not capable of keeping the pseudo puppet government in power.
Nevermind my analysis, the point today is to recommend you listen to this edition of Amsterdam Forum; create interviews from such an impressive array of participants. I really admire their work on this one… and continue to worry about what has happened and what will happen in Afghanistan.