Hiring 300K Taliban to learn to read at $10/day is cheaper than sending 1K more troops

[thunder rising]

1K Troops is $1B. That was a quote I picked up somewhere.

We know that the only way to build a better society is education.
So, hire them to learn to read. Instead of military trainers training folks to kill how about the 3 R's

Let them learn to read their own Koran. That's an offer they can't refuse.

[Buzz Clik]

1. Yep. You just solved the problem.

No one thought of educating the Afghanis before.

[seabeyond]

2. really... serious. we have free education offered in u.s and promote learning strongly and STILL

we have many in this society that has no desire to take advantage of that opportunity given. not to mention, we have a history societally and person family of being educated where many many in afghanistan do not have history to value education. and miraculously these people are going to embrace education

people are not that easy.

[thunder rising]

4. Free? I didn't say free ... Pay 'em. Hence value!

[Hannah Bell]

6. you missed the point, which was the provision of income more than the reading.

[seabeyond]

10. maybe... but i dont see that as "the answer". as motivating as we would see it

reading, educating.... a lot of people dont see it the same way. i think that is a basic lack of understanding looking at it from this perspective. even paying someone to educate isnt going to do a thing for some people

now

want a program like that. i wouldnt have a single issue

dont think reading and education is going to shift their religious beliefs either. that is not how adn what those beliefs are about. those beliefs are about a power adn control

[thunder rising]

14. Islam is a peaceful religion. The uneducated are being used (sound familiar) let them read their

own holy book and debate among themselves.

Basically, the reading is just a cover to get them used to not fighting. A way to make an income without having to kill Americans to do it.

[seabeyond]

17. i know islam is a peaceful religion. i am not going after the islamic faith. i am being realistic

about a forever culture that has ideas ingrained and generation after generation being conditioned.

it isnt the answer to end the war. but it is a good answer, a good solution to help along the way

they used money to settle iraq down too.

[armyowalgreens]

18. Islam, like almost all other religions, is neither wholly peaceful nor violent.

It is a mixture. To suggest that it is a peaceful religion is being very disingenuous.

[thunder rising]

11. Exactly. The task they do to earn the money is learn to read. Oh yeah, give em a cup of ice cream

[bhikkhu]

12. True, the literacy rate has been pretty bad

29% or so in 93 ( http://countrystudies.us/afghanistan/72.htm ) overall - much higher among men than women. But given the opportunity, kids will learn to read. I think its a very worthwhile and "hopeful" effort on our part, though I would be happier if another wealthy country with a greater regional interest - such as Saudi Arabia - would foot the bill or lead the effort.

[Fumesucker]

23. Saudi Arabia?

The Saudi govt is officially religious nutcase, why would you want Saudi teaching Afghans how to read and then guiding their interpretation of Islam?

[bhikkhu]

25. Ok, how about the UAE

instead of building another indoor ski slope in Dubai they could help out a bit...

[Blue-Jay]

3. That's a real head-scratcher.

[PADemD]

5. Teach the women to read, not the Taliban!

Knowledge is something the Taliban cannot take away from them.

[thunder rising]

8. Ahhh...that's a plan to stay right where we're at. Teach women toshoot and kill.

[stray cat]

7. the 9-11 terrorists were college educated engineers - and trained in the West

[thunder rising]

9. And that is related how?

[lonestarnot]

13. Oh fuck those taliban fuckers. I say pack up and leave that trash behind.

[armyowalgreens]

15. A lot of the fighters, the real grunts, are brainwashed uneducated fools.

And, yes, I do feel bad for them and their miserable circumstance.

[thunder rising]

16. I wouldn't mind that either, but then be prepared to live with women being stoned

I don't want you to have a change of heart.

[lonestarnot]

24. Arm the damn women! And teach them how to defend themselves.

[Hannah Bell]

22. you mean our fuckers should pack up?

[Matariki]

19. Yes, but then Haliburton, Bechtel, Titan, etc won't grow their profits

[JVS]

20. What makes you think that teaching them ro read will make them comply with the West's wishes.

They are people with their own culture and their own world-views. We don't get to decide what they think.

[thunder rising]

21. ?? The only western wish is that they get used to not killing everyday.