Unlike ondelette, who is an expert on everything and knows what is going on everywhere, and if you question him or point out the flaws in his bankrupt ideology he'll slam you with a fallacious appeal to authority, letting you know that nothing you say matters because of how ignorant you are and how super-duper smart he is.

I don't accept your definition of intervention as the pan-everything act of being involved with one's political environment. The fact that the only solution you propose or have ever proposed for the problems we face is the election of Ron Paul--a septuagenarian who may not even be alive in four years indicates the level of thinking and actual work you've put into these problems.

I'd have an Ondelette, Pedinska or Macgupta on my side any day of the week, despite the fact that we disagree on many, many issues because at least they're out there trying to make a difference and have seriously thought about how to address the problems we all agree face us. Despite your rants about courage, the biggest cowards in the world are the ones who never have the courage to offer solutions. In the real world of political solutions, you have to give up some of your beliefs to make others work--an experience you'll most likely never have.

What has been going on in Afghanistan since 2001 is a gradually failing peacekeeping and nation building operation, that had the full sanction and participation of a large number of nations, the full backing of international agreements and Security Council resolutions, that had originally the overwhelming support of the Afghans. Many countries have let people down there, including the Germans, the British, the Italians on tactical work, all the donor nations on money, all the donor nations on building infrastructure. While a lot was undermined very purposefully by the Bush administration in general and Donald Rumsfeld and the CIA in particular, a lot was also undermined with full malice of forethought by the Pakistanis and the Afghan warlords, the drug dealers and others. USAID, which should have carried most of the burden of the United States commitment, was systematically dismantled, largely, according to Rashid, by Condoleezza Rice.

The war there (not including the current insurgency against the Afghan government, to give it the proper characterization) ended officially on December 5, 2001, with one further battle in Kandahar, and the government was installed under a very multilateral Bonn Agreement on December 22, 2001.

That's important because the duration of conflict ends when a war ends. There are tens of thousands of prisoners there, the U.S. is disclaiming their control of most of them because of using Afghan jailers, their level of treatment is still very bad, torture still goes on, tortured prisoners still die, and they, unlike the prisoners at Guantanamo, are having great difficulty coming up with so much as habeas corpus rights. There is no Valentine's day card giving lawyers trying to work there any lists of people whose cases they can take, there isn't even the guarantee that the lawyers will be well treated by the U.S. military.

Everything gets justified on the September 18th AUMF. Now do you understand why it is important to know what war is going on there?

How do you think the US Government gets those funds from the populace? Coercion maybe?

Bill Gates is not the Federal Government. If more people like Gates put their money where their mouths are then the maybe Federal Government wouldn't have to coerce its citizens into forking over the funds whether they want to or not. If the Federal Government weren't coercing its citizens into giving money to fund things it deems important, like permanent war and AIDS research, perhaps citizens would have more money to give to such causes.

If research is so important, why not get individual citizens to contribute voluntarily, like Bill Gates, instead of using the Government's force monopoly to get the money for you? Why do you need the Federal Government involved if not for the fact that its force monopoly is a convenient way to get funds that people wouldn't otherwise give voluntarily?

WHAT WOULD RON PAUL DO!!!!!!?????!!!!

there trying to make a difference and have seriously thought about how to address the problems we all agree face us.

Unlike you, all the great things you've never accomplished outside of alienation and anger, and all the "solutions" you offer (i.e. worthless baby steps). And it's "they're", Mr. I got into 20% acceptance rate UC Berkley to study Journalism College Boy.

Despite your rants about courage, the biggest cowards in the world are the ones who never have the courage to offer solutions.

Which is what you do here everyday with your wishy-washy liquid ideology and your fear of people who don't look like you. I've offered solutions here many times, all you do is conclude that at the end of the day nothing can be done to really stop the Empire, and so you jump on the Chomsky Baby Step Bandwagon and enjoy the ride through the miasma.

In the real world of political solutions, you have to give up some of your beliefs to make others work--an experience you'll most likely never have.

lol, like you ever will. The clock is ticking to "do something" with your life besides tell sob stories on the Internet, old man.

I really get a kick out of the way you grandstand about the accomplishments of others and how important it is to "do stuff" when you've never done a damn thing yourself in life, except get angry at the world and bitch about it.

I guess I would posit that sometimes (certainly not always) a government might more readily (than say my Christianist relatives in Podunk, Indiana) perceive the security self-interests in helping stem the worldwide tide of infectious diseases before they wreak havoc here and elsewhere.

They might even understand that concerted, steady efforts - like those they undertook back in the 80's that resulted in the world-wide eradication of smallpox - uninterrupted by the whims of that part of the population who is willing to indulge in charity, are a necessary part of safeguarding their own society.

But that's sort of like when the Supreme Court decided that black children deserved to be educated in the same fashion as white children. There were loads of charitable folk lining up to support that one too as I recall.