According to CNN:

“Five foreign troops were killed Saturday in Afghanistan, bringing the number of NATO and U.S.-led coalition troop deaths in June to 32 — more than in Iraq.” (source)

It astonishes me how the war in Afghanistan does not receive as much coverage as the war in Iraq (at least in the US.) Everybody is talking about bringing democracy to Iraq, getting out of Iraq, there will even be a reality show about Iraq someday, but the war in Afghanistan always stays in the shadows. The general opinion about Afghanistan is that it is justified because of Bin Laden:

“After attack on the World Trade Center in New York on Sept. 11, 2001, President Bush gave the Taliban an ultimatum to hand over Mr. Bin Laden. When it refused, the United States joined forces with rebel groups that had never accepted Taliban rule, notably the Northern Alliance, which represented minority tribes. An air and ground campaign began that drove the Taliban out of the major Afghan cities by the end of the year.” (source)

Obviously, Bin Laden is nowhere to be found. He may be dead, he may have had plastic surgery, or he might be drinking tea with Chaney right now (for all of you conspiracy folks out there.) All in all, it does not matter what happened to him. What matters is that people are getting killed over a war, which is called the “war on terror.” Such a thing does not exist. You might have some success in defending a war against communists (due to Cold War propaganda), but a war against terror has as much validity as a war against Narnia.

Still, you would think that the war with somewhat more international support would have more coverage. Then again, how do you cover such a monster? You can’t say that there are improvements in Iraq and right after that confirm a deadly suicide bombing in Afghanistan. What kind of an ending is that? Fox’ surely wouldn’t be able to make their pro-monsters-bellow-the-bed stand, and even liberal media will have a hard time explaining what’s happening. Regardless, soldiers from all over the world are dying.

Why does it all need to be black and white? It’s either emo or death metal, Liberal or Conservative, you are either with us or against us. This kind of attitude is what spreads ignorance.

Lara Logan on Afghanistan

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