At PBS’ Religion & Ethics Newsweekly site, George R. Lucas, Jr. wonders whether David Petraeus might “ramp up” efforts in Afghanistan to “enlist the aid of anthropologists and other academic social scientists to advise on ethics and local cultural practices,” as he did in Iraq. Meanwhile, Susan Jacoby, in her Washington Post blog, doubts the degree to which this change in American military leadership will yield meaningful, long-lasting cultural effects. She writes: “Regardless of who is in charge of U.S. forces in that country, the inside story remains the same: this is a society dominated by a toxic mixture of tribal thuggery and radical Islam, both of them based on repression of women.” Jacoby applauds the efforts of some women to “fight for a small amount of freedom against such overwhelming odds,” but she fears that “their hopes will certainly be destroyed if and when the country returns to the total control of fanatical, violent men:”
And it is really a matter of “when,” not “if.” I think about these women when I think about the inevitable departure of American troops from this country–on whatever timetable and whoever is president at the time…. I don’t think Americans can change any of this… People must first possess the will to be free before outside liberators can help them, and those who do possess that will in Afghanistan–including a minority of both women and men–are and always have been outnumbered by the forces of unreason and violence.
Speculation about the location of such “will”, about its relationship to religion, and about the ability of American programming (whether inaugurated by Petraeus or not) to identify and support it, will doubtless increase in the coming weeks.