Photo from the opening of the new Root Cafe last Christmas time.
Try a cup of Phoenix coffee at the reborn "Root Cafe"
by Mike Marcellino
If you hail from, ever in, or never been to Cleveland, don't miss stopping by The Root Cafe in Lakewood, Ohio (minutes west of Public Square downtown), for a trip back to why we miss the 60s and the best coffee, camaraderie, bakery, music, poetry and food like veggie pizza. (It already has two five star reviews on yelp.com.)
I've the pleasure of knowing the proprietors Julie and Bobby, who realized their dream with hard work and help from the community. The cafe moved a couple of doors down from their Lakewood Phoenix Coffee, but the beans are still roasted right in town by Carl Jones of Phoenix Coffee, rising from the ashes of his once famed Arabica Coffee, founded on Coventry Road, Cleveland's answer to Haight-Ashbury.
While Cleveland carries shackles of such recent pop titles such as America's "most miserable city" bestowed by Forbes Magazine, don't believe it. Cleveland won that title largely due to its lake effect blizzards and corrupt politicians, aspects it shares with many of America's big northern cities.
If you doubt that unsung Cleveland's a cultural gem, stop by The Roots Cafe. Tell Julie and Bobby (and their really smart, friendly kids, Hazel & Gabriel) that Mike says hello, and misses them and the rest of what makes Cleveland special. Or, maybe we can meet there, at The Root Cafe, 15108 1/2 Detroit Ave. for their all day celebration of the spring equinox Saturday March 20th. (I once read poetry at an open mic at the old Lakewood Phoenix.)
And to see that Cleveland does have some decent public officials, stop by the office of U. S. Congressman Dennis Kucinich, just down the road. He's the guy that ran for president to set up a Department of Peace.
Ex-Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, vice presidential candidate in 2008, continues to go to the gold as she lays the groundwork for a presidential run in 2012. Trouble is her apparent calculated public speeches and comments keep getting her off course and on some pretty think ice.
Only weeks ago Palin inked notes on the palm of her hand to remember to uplift people in trying to ignite the Tea Party by her speech in which she predicted flatly that the only way President Obama could get re-elected was the use what she referred to as "the war card" by declaring war on Iran. That reminded me of the late Senator Barry Goldwater saying in a speech that he might use the atomic bomb against the communists. The difference is that then presidential candidate Goldwater's statement was a candid answer to a question, while Palin's created "the war card" phrase to nail her rival with a political shot. Her shot trivializes the consequences of war and the complexity of U. S. relations with Iran, that country's nuclear program and Middle East peace.
In her latest pre-campaign episode, Palin lashed out bitterly against the makers of the latest episode of "The Family Guy," about a girl with Down syndrome with a joke about her family. Palin's song, Trig, has Down syndrome. Plan called the show's makers "cruel, cold hearted people" and accused them of "mocking her family."
Palin's criticism drew a response yesterday from actor Andrea Ray Friedman who portrays a girl with Down syndrome. Ms. Friedman matter of factly explained that she has Down syndrome and also a sense of humor.
The Arts Beat "Culture at Large blog of Dave Itzkoff in The New York Times last night's has attracted 368 comments, one from a "conservative" Frank from Texas who wrote of getting annoyed by Palin.
What may be most revealing about the latest Palin episodes is they seem to reveal her real nature. Palin portrays herself as a political outsider, a female version of Joe six pack and all for regular people.
The uplifting palm notes, coining "the war card" and now blasting the liberal media, in this case an animated television comedy series raise serious questions about the true nature of Sarah Palin.
Palin's choice of words in public reveals a politician trying to win a campaign not yet begun by creating her own issues that don't match up with reality very well. The latest "Family Guy" episode belies the nation of equality and the wrong in discrimination.
I don't know about Palin, but I look at blacks and whites, people with Down syndrome, AIDS and soldiers and veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as people. Aren't we all just people after all? Isn't that equality?
When it comes to comedy, I like the kind that's funny and let's us laugh with each other, not at each other. Other than that it doesn't make any difference if your mother is the ex-governor of Alaska and a former vice presidential candidate. It's just a funny, quirky line in a television show, making fun of a politician, after all.
When you've stated publicly that you may run for president of the United States, being the subject of jokes comes with the territory. Lighten up Sarah.
For these two years now, I've been holding out on expressing an opinion about Sarah Palin, her brand of Alaskan politics, and run for the presidency. (In fairness some folks in her home state may not want to be included in the Palin revolution.) Now, I'm trying hard to remember her main point in the vice presidential campaign, except that she didn't like McCain "handlers."
Here's the story by John McCormick of Bloomberg on Sara Palin's speech at the Tea Party rally.
Today, it wouldn't have surprised me if Governor Palin had tattooed her palm with the words, "WashingtonDC," to make sure she didn't wind up in the wrong capital. What words she wrote on her palm before a speech at the Tea Party rally isn't the main point, though they are revealing. The point is it suggests she had to remind herself that her choice is whatever it takes to capture the support of the disenchanted and Independents. Before giving a speech I've jotted notes down on paper or a napkin just in case, but not to remind myself why I was speaking. I also don't believe in speeches designed to tell people what they want to hear and to make them feel good. Those speeches tend to ignore or warp the facts, don't get at the truth.
What put me over the top though, wasn't trying to remember whether she needed to be "uplifting" rather than, gee, "depressing" or even "real."
What put me over the top was using "the war card" in your run for the White House. Suggesting that President Obama could be reelected only if he used "the war card" by declaring war on Iran, is an incendiary, like throwing gasoline on a smoldering fire. That there's been little reaction, says the pundits don't take Sarah seriously. A mistake. Palin also presupposes that Obama is wrong about everything.
Ms. Palin shows herself to be a "wild card" using the "war card" language. It's irresponsible and certainly doesn't promote a peaceful solution to Iran's nuclear program and proliferation of nuclear weapons.
I suppose this must be part of brushing up on domestic and international affairs in endless briefings since her first appearance in the national spotlight. But, is the main thing she has learned looking through political glass that the way to win is to use "the war card"?
Look. I'm as overdosed on politics as usual on Capital Hill rather than statesmanship. But, would a Tea Party person explain why Sarah Palin is an outsider? I think most Tea Party people like Palin because she thinks so little of our President Obama.
Yes, Governor Palin, we could use a political revolution. But, going to war, isn't a card for anyone to play in political games.
Soldiers go to war, not politicians, and soldiers, their families and friends pay the price.
Whatever you do Sarah, put the "war card" rhetoric back in you desk. Sign up for a course on the Middle East/South Asia. A briefing may not work as Iran is 5,000 years old.
Notebook Writer with Mike Marcellino airs our fifth show on Blog Talk Radio Wednesday, Feb. 3th, 8-10pm EST. We're pleased to welcome a new member of our cast - New York City poet, spoken-word curator & educator Adela Sinclair.
Stay tuned to Mike's Blog, The Point of the Whole Thing, for Notebook Writer show lineups and updates. Our January show was among the most popular in the books category on Blog Talk Radio. Notebook Writer is the first Wednesday of every month 8-10pm EST.Notebook Writer is produced by Red River Writers Live/Robin Falls (Red River Valley, Texas).
Our next show features guest writers & performing artists: Richard Cave, musician with the popular Haitian band, Camiri, whose members survived the earthquake in Haiti; Ray McNiece, Cleveland author, performance artist, educator and Izreal Kahlid Allah of Washington DC/Mobile Al, poet activist with Blacknez Recordingz and Lola Haskins, Florida author of seven books of poetry/prose, & and the forthcoming poetry collection "Still the Mountains" (2010)
Host Mike Marcellino, a national award-winning journalist & author of The Point of the Whole Thing Networked Blog, talks with an eclectic mix of writers about writing and life, takes calls from listeners and performs his own stuff. An Army war correspondent, he first wrote poetry and prose during mortar & rocket attacks in Vietnam. He likes to surf and the film "Viva Zapata" with Marlon Brando. His new folk band is Mike Marcellino with Ensor. Mike's performed his brand of poetry folk music at clubs & coffeehouses in New York City, Cleveland, Tulsa, Baltimore and St. Augustine, Fl.
Co-host Natalie Bliss, a poet, writer and artist from Auckland, New Zealand, likes Leonard Cohen, animals, rugby and teaches grade school kids art.
Just joining the Notebook Writer Show crew as assistant producer is Adela Sinclair, a New York City poet, educator, spoken-word curator, performer and blogger. Member of the Madison Poets, Gallery RIVAA, PSA and PEN America. She holds a Masters Degree in TESOL (Teaching English as a Second Language) and is a NYC Department of Education ESL teacher. Organizer of poetry readings at Gallery RIVAA, FALL FOR ARTS Festival, Salmagundi Art Club. She enjoys setting poetry readings against the backdrop of paintings, sculptures, and photographs.
The show airs from 7-9pm CST (8-10pm EST). Show call in number is 646-595-4478 or you may listen (or register to be on the air) on the show's Blog Talk Radio website. The show is also archived and Podcast.
Reality is French Creole.
Demele, it’s told
Managing up on the ground,
down, once sold
Being bold
No longer doing what you’re told.
Reality is in French Creole
Demele, it’s told
Earthquake
Debate
Being late
Defying all odds
peas in a pod
in the face of suffering.
Reality is in French Creole
Demele, it’s told
Heartbreak
Getting up. Always
Waking in a fluster,
passing muster in a world ready to explode
Keeping hope
insight.
Reality is in French Creole
Demele, it’s told
Disentangle.
Carry on
(in Middle English)
Revolutionaries in quarrel,
wear outlaw labels.
Demele, it’s told, copyright 2010 by Mike Marcellino
Time is still running out in Haiti
by Mike Marcellino
Note: One January 14, two days after the earthquake struck Haiti, in a commentary, Mike Marcellino reasoned the the U. S. military was best suited to take charge of the disaster response. Today, the United Nations and what's left of the Haitian government remain in charge.
Seven days after an earthquake struck Haiti, the question of who is (or should be) in charge of the disaster response is still debated. U. S. Marines who landed five days ago asked the same question.
A retried U. S. Army general on PBS Newshour tonight said the U. S. military should take charge as it's self contained and able to address all the challenges from medial treatment to security. They are also ready and near Haiti.
A retired bureaucrat with USAID (United States Agency for International Development) thinks the United Nations can do the job once coordination is in place.
At this point, the only thing for certain is who is not in charge.
The military isn't, apparently to avoid looking like a U. S. takeover of Haiti.
FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) isn't. The U. S. agency responsible for domestic disaster response and should have learned some lessons form Hurricane Katrina. FEMA is expert in immediate reponse, such as USAR (Urban Search and Rescue) and making progress out of chaos. FEMA refers all reporters' questions to USAID.
USAID, which falls under the U. S. State Department, is the U. S. agency in authority, but it doesn't provide immediate disaster response itself, only coordinates and provides material aid and expertise.
Even though disaster experts say the first 72 hours is critical to saving lives and preventing greater secondary health issues, the United Nations and a Haitian government in collapse remain in charge.
Today, critics and the media continue raise question, such as, why planeloads of medical teams and supplies of Doctors without Boarders continue to diverted from landing in the Haiti airport controlled by the U. S. military.
One thing certain is Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and it was devastated by an earthquake, leaving 200,000 or more dead, 3.5 million homeless and Port-au-Prince in shambles with chaos and violence in the streets.
Mike Marcellino is a two-time national award winning journalist. He also served as a U. S. Army combat correspondent in the Vietnam War and worked as a Congressional staff member on international human rights issues affecting Soviet Jews and the people of Taiwan.
Crisis in Haiti: An analysis of the earthquake aftermath
by Mike Marcellino
Mike Marcellino is a two-time national award winning journalist and served as a US Army combat correspondent in the Vietnam War. He also worked as a Congressional staff member focusing on international human rights, community issues and veterans health care.
Is Haiti on the edge of collapse?
Does anyone know the true extent of the disaster and the threats it imposes?
Based on the latest news reports, it appears some capable organization must take control of Haiti to avoid catastrophe.
Conditions are chaotic. Time is running out to save people in the rubble, provide medical supplies and personnel to treat victims and prevent lawlessness to go out of control.
The U. S. military would seem to be the only organization capable of addressing the situation in time to avoid unnecessary death and a total collapse of the society in Haiti. Perhaps, the Haitian government could allow the U. S. military temporary authority for a period of time to allow stability and some improvement in conditions.
Yet, President Obama doesn't appear to be moving in that direction. Perhaps he will after Secretary of State Clinton reports on conditions on the ground in Haiti.
This story filed an hour ago by James Reinl, foreign correspondent for The National (United Arab Emirates) with AP and Agence France Press best captures the urgency of the situation in Haiti, and the chaos on the ground there.
Here are some excerpts -
“We have now used up all of the medical supplies from NGOs based in Haiti. We haven’t yet received anything from the internationals. I know they are at the airport, but there is no distribution yet." (director, Port au Prince General Hospital)
“This is chaos. I’ve been to all the disasters in the world: Myanmar, Pakistan, Iran, India. They were organised much better – there is no organisation here,” said Luc Beaucourt, part of a field medics’ team from the Belgian charity V-Med. “Everything is destroyed. The government. There is no military.”
“This is a historic disaster. We have never been confronted with such a disaster in the UN memory. It is like no other,” Elisabeth Byrs, spokeswoman of the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, told AFP in Geneva.
To read the entire story posted on the Internet by The National click the link below.
Earthquake and America in Haiti Saving lives and a nation by Mike Marcellino
In the aftermath of the earthquake, President Obama is acting swiftly to bring critically needed aid to Haiti.
But, with this massive natural disaster, the president has inherited a dismal American record in the world's first black republic created by former slaves. The legacy includes occupation, rejection of political refugees and neglect in nation building in the world's first black republic, less than 700 miles from Miami. Haiti lies in ruins with estimates of 250,000 or more dead.
Does the U. S. and United Nations grasp the enormity of the situation? After 72 hours without water, food and medical attention, the survivors will start dying, according to experts. In addition to reaching people trapped in rubble in Port-au-Prince, other cities, like coastal town of Jacmel, are isolated as roads have collapsed.
Military officials have already ruled out air drops of supplies citing concerns of causing chaos and violence, though 10,000 U. S. troops will be in Haiti or off the coast by Monday.
While all human disasters are equally tragic and disturbing, this one hit me personally as I recently spent time living Flatbush, Brooklyn, one of the largest Haitian American communities.
This working and middle class neighborhood is majority West Indian, especially Haitian. They live in a flat plain founded in the 16th century by the Dutch whose graves remain, though faceless, outside a church filled with Haitians, who still practice voodoo.
Dutch graves in a cemetery outside a church in Flatbush, one of the largest Haitian communities in the U. S. photo by Mike Marcellino
Walking my friends' white dog around the block, going to the supermarket, buying some meat pies, getting to the train station or just wandering, I was struck by the kind, respectful and happy nature of my Haitian neighbors. I rarely saw another white person, yet never felt like a minority.
The spirit and nature of Haitians and others from countries like Grenada, Trinidad and Jamaica inspired a song I wrote and recorded simply called "Flatbush." Now I feel my friends are in trouble and need help.
(If you wish, you may listen to the recording "Flatbush" on the music player on top of this blog)
Haitians will survive, you can feel it. They have "demele, " a Creole word that means "to manage life in the face of hardship."
Haitians overcame slavery and founded the world's first black republic in1804. They have survived dictators, being turned back by the U. S. Navy in their boats seeking political refuge, abject poverty (Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere) and hurricanes.
The outpouring by the American people and organizations is encouraging. You can even donate $10 automatically by texting the Red Cross on your cell phone. Folks in Miami are appealing on Facebook for volunteers to load supplies for Haiti. A benefit concert, "Hope for Haiti," is already planned.
The sight of American troops on the ground in Haiti and a aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson is America at its best. Will we act quickly enough, or will get bogged down by red tape and the lack of imagination?
This disaster may have a silver lining if it serves as wake up call for the U. S. to stay the course in Haiti.
The U. S. controlled Haiti for nearly two decades ending in 1934. Marine Corps commanders governed the provinces. More than 2,000 Haitians died in a revolt crushed by U. S. forces in 1918. Marines killed 10 Haitians protesting economic conditions in 1929.
Before the U. S. departure, a commission appointed by President Hoover, recognized material improvements during the occupation, but pointed out that Haitians were excluded from decision making in the process. The commission concluded: "The social forces that created [instability] still remain--poverty, ignorance, and the lack of a tradition or desire for orderly free government."
A bad example of helping build a free and prosperous nation.
The New York Times Friday, published a debate among Haiti experts, "Is the U. S. Doing Enough for Haiti?" In the article, University of Chicago professor Greg Beckett makes a case for "a long term commitment for durable change."
Beckett, a Harper Fellow in social sciences studying the environmental, urban and political crisis in Port au Prince, further states -
"The U.S. has a long, strained relationship with Haiti, and more than any other country it has a political responsibility to lead efforts to rebuild the country. In the past, the U.S. has occupied and administered Haiti, given support and financial assistance to governments, trained the military, led stabilization missions and shaped economic policy.
"The occupation of 1915-1934 centralized military and political authority in Port-au-Prince, but left little in the form of infrastructural improvement. Economic policies have left Haiti dependent and persistently poor. Aid initiatives have bypassed the government and contributed to the weakening of state and social institutions."
Today, despite of the United Nations' peace keeping force of 8,000 troops and the presence of 10,000 humanitarian workers, Haitian mothers still commonly make "dirt cookies" for their children to eat. They can't afford food.
Yet, the Haitian spirit endures. Haitians still pound shape beautiful metal art from recycled steel drums. Now they wonder whether any buyers will be able to reach them in the devastation.
When the Marines open the roads again, let's hope the United States gets nation building in Haiti right this time.
The fate of rebuilding Haiti lies with America's first president of color. But for now President Obama has a more pressing question to answer. The Marines have landed in Haiti and they are asking, "Who's in charge." (source, Christian Science Monitor, Jan, 14, 2010)
The walls of fire
grow higher, higher
pools of blood
carnage
bodies of brothers
touching
rock cliffs and open fields -
Hornet’s Nest at Shiloh
Devil’s Den, Gettysburg.
The walls of fire
grow higher, higher
pools of blood
carnage
bodies of brothers
touching
sea to shining sea -
lost in the Argonne Forest
face down on beaches at Normandy
frozen by the waters of Chosin Reservoir.
The walls of fire
grow higher, higher
pools of blood
carnage
bodies of brothers
touching
paddies, highlands -
Nui Ba Dinh, the Black Virgin Mountain
the Ashau Valley
along the perimeter of Khe Sanh.
The walls of fire
grow higher, higher
pools of blood, carnage
bodies of brothers
touching
empty deserts
filled with giant rising suns -
Fallujah rooftops
unknown streets of Sadr City
barren mountains, caves of Tora Bora.
The walls of fire
grow higher, still higher
pools of blood
carnage
bodies of brothers
touching.
The walls of fire copyright by Mike Marcellino 2009
Photos by Mike Marcellino, South Vietnam, 1967-68 Copyright 2010
(top) "My Girls" (right) "Oriental River" and (below) "Search and Destory"
Mike served in the US Army as a combat correspondent and photojournalist in the Vietnam War from 1967 to 1968.
He recorded "The Walls of Fire" as the folk band's fourth poetry song in November 2009. Mike is songwriter and vocalist and Tomas Texino composed the music.
You may listen to the recording of "The Walls of Fire" on the music player here or visit our band site at ReverbNation. You've invited to be a follower of Mike's blog, "The Point of the Whole Thing" and a fan of the band on ReverbNation and the band's Facebook page.
A soldier's reflection: From the Cold War to Vietnam and Afghanistan
Written in 2007 by Mike Marcellino, the poetry song was originally recorded and performed by Mike's first band, Split Peace in Cleveland and again recorded by his new band, the Mike Marcellino Band, accompanied by musician Tomas Texino, composer and producer.
In the piece, Mike recalls living in Las Cruces, New Mexico, a few months after returning from the Vietnam War where he served in the U.S. Army as a combat correspondent and photojournalist. He sent the winter a tiny trailer outside a small horse ranch in the desert hills near the Mexican border. His most enjoyable time were walking through the desert hills and escaping to Juarez, Mexico, now one of the most violent places on earth.
You're invited to listen on the music player on Mike's Networked Blog, or visit our band website and be a fan of our new folk band.
Las Cruces is near the White Sands Missile Range and not far from McGregor Range, near El Paso, Texas. It was on this range in 1967 that Mike, using a Pentax with a 300 mm lens, photographed in color and black and white the test firing of Army Hawk missiles. The photos were picked up on the Associated Press wire and transmitted around the world.
For his first person story and photographs, published in "Army Times" and other newspapers, Mike accompanied a Hawk missile battery, part of the 32nd Army Air Defense Command stationed throughout in West Germany to defend against a possible attack by Soviet army during the Cold War. This was before "the fall of the Berlin Wall" and the Soviet Union, reunifying East and West Germany.
Today, in part, the Army uses McGregor Range to practice urban warfare in a desert setting. They call it "urban ops pursuit." These soldiers and others like them are certainly tuning up for fighting in the Afghanistan War. Some will die or be wounded in service to their country.
US Army National Guardsmen from C Company, 2nd Battalion, 127th Infantry Regiment, dash out of a building in pursuit (US Army photo)
Meanwhile, here are the lyrics of a song written by a soldier just back the the Vietnam War, the nation's longest war, taking the lives of more than 58,000 American troops. been down ta Las Cruces
by Mike Marcellino
been down ta Las Cruces
by Mike Marcellino
been down ta Las Cruces
one time,
down ta
sundown wine
color slide pictures
of mists rising from
the dusty brown
tumbleweed town.
been down ta Las Cruces
down ta the circle
of six can't stand up inside
trailers
beside the coral
sleeping in the afternoon.
been down ta Las Cruces
down ta walking
desert brush hills
with mountain lions
and pretty fast rabbits.
been down ta Las Cruces
waiting for spring
down ta SunlandPark
quarter horses
getting lost in Juarez,
lost in Juarez.
been down ta Las Cruces
down ta
inside
my worn,
torn
second field forces
jacket
sittin' in
War's outcome rests with people's will
By Mike Marcellino
Part 3 of a 3 part series on America’s course in the Afghanistan War
Today I was asked what at first seemed to be a simple question about a recent column I had written about America’s course in Afghanistan and the escalation of the war. The column was called, “Afghanistan: Different viewpoints, same ol’ same ol.’ The column cited a BBC of an interview with a senior American diplomat and Marine captain in Iraq and a Stars and Stripes story about what U. S. troops are encountering fighting and community building on the ground in Zabul Province, a Taliban stronghold.
“You have to ask yourself, ‘what are the major powers doing in a backwater such as Afghanistan??’” a reader asked. He used two question marks and I would see why trying to answer his question.
What we are doing in Afghanistan? Like some people say on Facebook about their relationships –“It’s complicated.”
One answer could be that the United States leaders fear facing hostel governments in the Middle East and South Asia threatening our oil supply (Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan).
A number of major powers have interests at stake, including the United States, Russia and China. In addition the struggle to control oil supplies, Russia and China have large Muslin minorities.
The answer may be the old Cold War “domino effect” is back in vogue in Washington. Politicians and military leaders had believed that if one country would fall to Communism then others would follow. This was the rationale for the Vietnam War, along with control of natural resources of Southeast Asia.
The United States feared the spread of Communism and yet, even though we lost the Vietnam War to the communists, other nations didn’t fall and the Soviet Union collapsed.
The decade long war in Southeast Asian cost 6 million lives, including 58,000 American troops. Some argue that just fighting against communism in the Vietnam War led to its collapse in the Soviet Union. Interestingly, Vietnam is now rather prosperous with many resorts on the South China Sea beaches and increasing tourism.
Since the beginning of the Middle East wars in the early 1990s, U. S. policy makers have put communism on the back burner and Islamic fundamentalist insurgents and terrorists on the forefront. Radical Islam is the “evil” we must confront with force, not communism, at least for the time being.
Afghanistan has been embroiled in political turmoil and war for 35 years with leftists, monarchists and Islamic fundamentalist and minorities battling for power. In the late 1970s the Soviet Union set up a communist government in Afghanistan. In a 9-year war, Afghan Islamic fighters, the mujahedeen, defeated the Soviet army. The country was devastated, as one million Afghans died and millions more fled the country as refugees.
Everyone agrees the present Afghan government is corrupt and lacks wide popular support. The country is rather lawless. Most of the people are poor and illiterate. The poppy crop supplies much of the heroin for the world’s illicit drug trade and funds the Taliban and other insurgents.
The answer may be that we’re convinced that in Afghanistan we’re in a holy war, with good fighting evil. Many fundamentalist Christians in the U. S. armed forces, including senior military leaders, believe they are engaged in a holy war.
Radical Islamic fundamentalist, principally al Qaeda and its supporters believe they are waging a holy war against the “infidels,” or non-Muslims.
One answer may be a resurrection of the Crusades of the 11th Century. Each side of course believes the other to be “infidels.”
Both “holy wars,” some historians and observers believe are rooted in the timeless desire for power and control, whether it be a cave, a country or the world.
Whatever the reason for the U. S. involvement in Afghanistan, we’ve decided that force and violence are the only solution. The U. S. won’t talk to the Taliban until they surrender and the Taliban won’t talk until the U. S. forces leave the country. There seems to be little attempt to break the deadlock.
Regardless of the answer to the question, ultimately the outcome of the war and the nature of Afghanistan will be determined by the Afghans.
The present U. S. strategy in Afghanistan seems to be predicated on the belief that we are engaged in a worldwide war against extremists, including the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
A few political leaders, even Vice President Joe Biden to an extent, along with senior diplomats, military and intelligence officers believe in a narrow focused strategy to defeat al Qaeda.
President Obama, Secretary Clinton and our military leaders have rejected that strategy, believing that Afghanistan is the den of al Qaeda.
As a result 30,000 more U. S. troops are going to Afghanistan bringing the total of 10,000. Next spring the U. S. plans to attack Taliban strongholds in rural and urban areas, beginning a new "ground up" strategy of rebuilding Afghanistan in the towns and villages.
We plan to step up the training of Afghan troops, start turning security over to them and in the middle of 2011 start withdrawing U. S. troop “if conditions on the ground permit.”
That’s the strategy the U. S. used in losing the Vietnam War. President Nixon called it “Vietnamization.”
South Vietnam had an army of two million, one of the largest in the world at the time of its defeat by North Vietnam, two years after U. S. troops withdrew.
The likelihood of the Afghan army being able to secure the country is questionable. Factionalism and lack of confidence in and corruption of the present government must be overcome. Afghanistan isn’t much of a nation for nation building.
“What are the major powers doing in the backwater of Afghanistan?”
“It’s complicated.
The outcome of the war is simpler. It lies with the will of the Afghan people.
Part 2 of a 3 part series on America's course in Afghanistan
The more leaders tell you things are "different" the more they seem the "same."
In a nutshell, that's what I'm piecing together in another installment of my series - "America's Course in Afghanistan."
In Vietnam, where I served in the U.S. Army as a combat correspondent at the height of the war in 1968, they told us the body counts, how we were killing them 10-1 or more. The told us how most of the country was now "pacified." (Sometimes pacification took B-52 bombs, endless jet strikes, ship salvos, artillery fire and agent orange.) They told us we're winning "the hearts and minds."
The more reading, the more recalling , the more researching, the more America's involvement and increasing escalation in the civil wars in Afghanistan and Vietnam fit a saying learned on the streets of Cleveland - "same ol', same ol'.
In today's interview with the BBC, Matthew Hol, an ex-Marine captain in Iraq who resigned as the senior civilian in Zabul Province, says only political action, not the troop surge, will settle the 35-year civil war in Afghanistan. He also estimates 500,000 troops would be needed to subjugate the countryside.
More than 500,000 U.S. troops were in South Vietnam at the height of the war in 1968. That effort allowed U.S. and South Vietnamese forces to control the major cities, but not the rural areas in a country of 65,000 square miles and 16 million people. Afghanistan has nearly twice the land area (119,000 square miles) and population (30 million) and a terrain even more difficult, if that's possible.
President Obama and U.S. military leaders say the Afghanistan war isn't another Vietnam.
(In the Vietnam War, U.S. troops pulled out in 1973 after a decade long war. Three years later, the corrupt and controversial government and army of South Vietnam collapsed weeks after the North Vietnamese army invaded.)
A report November 12 "Stars and Stripes" from ZabulProvince, a Taliban stronghold and route from Pakistan, American soldiers tell a view of the war much different from our leaders in Washington. It reminds me of that similar difference between the capital view and the reality on the ground in the war 40 years ago in South Vietnam.
Drew Brown's interviews with soldiers from the U.S. Army's 5th Stryker Brigade from Ft. Lewis, WA, are telling in this excerpt -
“During the three-day mission in the Chinehs, a number of soldiers said that even though the area had been identified as a suspected Taliban stronghold, the villagers were the friendliest of any they had encountered in Zabul. But when officers asked about the Taliban, they were usually met with blank stares or polite, noncommittal responses. Most villagers denied knowing anything about the Taliban. Some made slashing motions across their throats. ‘You stay here for one and a half hours in our village, and when you leave, the Taliban will come in our homes and beat us or worse,’ said one man. Replied 2nd Lt. James Johnson, 23, of State College, Pa.: ‘Well, there’s nothing I can do to help you, if you don’t help yourselves.’”
Sounds awfully familiar to me as I covered the Vietnam War as a US Army combat correspondent and my stories and photographs were often published in "Stars and Stripes."
It also seems, even with the surge of 30,000 more U. S. troops to total of 100,000 won't be enough. As many as 500,000 (including Afghanistan government forces) may be needed to get the job done. The job being either defeating or at least beating the Taliban and other insurgent forces back enough to allow the Afghanistan army and police to keep the peace.
Though U. S. troops have been in Afghanistan for nine years, the effectiveness of Afghan security forces remains uncertain. What's odd about that is Afghanistan's insurgent forces, the Islamic mujahedeen, defeated the Soviet Union in a nine year war ending in 1989.
In 1996, the Taliban, a radical Islamic group, came into power in Afghanistan, but, by 2001, with help from the United States, the Northern Alliance, a group of minorities, overthrew the Taliban.
While all this is pretty factual summary, if you stop to think about it, it sounds bizarre. It reminds me of the Abbott and Costello comedic question, "Who's on first? Afghanistan also has the same chaotic ring of the Mexican revolution in the early 1920s,
The Afghanistan and Vietnam wars are also reminiscent of a scene in "Lawrence of Arabia." After the Arab army, led by British Maj. T. E. Lawrence, had defeated the Ottoman Empire, German ally in World War I, they couldn't get along well enough to keep the power on and water running in Damascus.
The winner in Afghanistan may be who is willing and able to fight and die and not give up. One thing seems certain; people don't like to be occupied by foreign armies. History tells us the people in far flung countries didn't like the oppressive rule of the emperors of Rome, and the Roman Empire collapsed.
In a recent commentary in "Dandelion Salad," an Internet blog highly critical of America's military involvement in the Afghanistan, Rick Rozoff indicates that documents show that Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal estimates a combined army of 500,000 U. S., Afghan and NATO forces will be needed to win the war.
A foreign soldier on the ground in a civil war quickly understands that the will of the people who live there decides the outcome.
In the Stars and Stripes story, an Afghan villager tells a US Army officer what it will take to end the war -
"We asked what can be done to improve your situation here," (1st Lt. Christopher) Franco said. "They said, ‘Our problems will be resolved when you guys leave and we can sit down and talk to the Taliban leaders.’ At least they were honest."
Mike Marcellino, a national award winning civilian journalist, served in the U. S. Army as a combat correspondent and photographer in the Vietnam War
A prose piece written by Gary Willmore, "Belfast 1972" and memories of 1968 and a night in a bunker on the Cambodian border in the Vietnam War led to writing this poem, naturally very late at night
Only tombs of unknown soldiers
by mike marcellino
Words spoken
thoughts bleed
broken men
survivors of patrol.
Words unspoken
thoughts bleed
cracked open
in the pitch
ambush of questions.
Words written
thoughts bleed
the conscience of war
only tombs of unknown soldiers.
only tombs of unknown soldiers copyright 2009 Mike Marcellino
Love song to aviator Amelia Earhart, lost over the Pacific in 1937
Amelia Earhart, soft silver wings
Listeners comments:
Just listened to Amelia Earhart, Soft Silver Wings.....I love it. It's funny what you said about not having to do anything but listen. The music was so atmospheric; all I COULD do was listen....Beautiful- Julia Chapman, BristolUK
Mike, if she were here your tribute would be painted on her left wing; her right wing would have inscribed the names of Nobel peace prize winners- Clarice, Grand Rapids, MI
Since releasing their first song in September 2009, Mike Marcellino with Ensor has risen to #49 of Top Folk Artists in New York City and in the top 6% on Global and National charts of ReverbNation.
Mike Marcellino, words, vocal
Tomas Texino - mandolin, composition and production
Recorded in St. AugustineFlorida
Other songs of Mike Marcellino with Ensor -
Las Cruces
Flatbush
The walls of fire
Bondi beach
The lyrics -
Amelia Earhart, soft silver wings
by mike marcellino
Amelia Earhart,
Love your picture
in flight.
Love your goggles,
love your lips.
Love how you circled the world,
single handed.
amelia
amelia
amelia.
Like that leather
air cap.
You’re a goddess, a woman,
soft white,
ahead of your time,
such afterglow
night
in shinning armor.
Meet me on a northern coast,
not far from the equator,
above the island
where they made King Kong.
Your Atlantis, risen
in my South China Sea.
amelia
amelia
amelia.
Oh, your last flight.
Oh your last flight.
What a night.
Looking at your picture
in my book,
soft silver
soft silver
wings.
Your lips, painted colors
light, pretty pink.
Those eyes,
imagine,
sigh.
Your nails, natural,
fingertips.
Taking you with me.
amelia
amelia
amelia.
Soft silver
soft silver
wings.
"Courage" Courage is the price that Life extracts for granting peace.
The soul that knows it not, knows no release.
From little things.
Knows not the livid loneliness of fear.
Not mountain heights where bitter joy can hear
The sound of wings.
How can life grant us boon of living, compensate
For dull grey ugliness and pregnant hate
Unless we dare
The soul’s dominion? Each time we make a choice, we pay
With courage to behold the restless day,
And count it fair. - Amelia Earhart, 1927
You made the crossing
not alone.
Meet you over the Atlantic.
amelia
amelia
amelia.
Soft silver,
soft silver,
wings.
copyright Mike Marcellino amelia earhart, soft silver wings 2009
