Friday, September 23, 2011

Ideas are bulletproof

Being Friday, I was looking forward to my weekly meeting at ISAF (that I'd missed for the past two weeks because of restricted travel from threat conditions).  Truth be told, I was more missing my other weekly pleasure of a cup of coffee at one of the European cafes on ISAF.  But before I could leave our compound, it was decided to restrict travel one more day due to the unrest in Kabul.  If you remember, while I was out yesterday at the Olympic stadium, the streets were literally filled with banners, posters, and signs comemorating the recent loss.


Today was the funeral for former President Burhanuddin Rabbani, ethnic Tajik and head of Afghanistan's High Peace Council, who was killed two days ago by Taliban posing as peace negotiators.  Security in the capital was unprecedented for the event with thousands of mourners.  Several factional leaders attended the funeral, which devolved into a protest and riot.  Much of the anger was directed at current President Hamid Karzai, an ethnic Pashtun, since he had pushed Rabbani to meet with the Taliban (who are made up mostly of ethnic Pashtuns).  In his eulagy, Karzai called Rabbani a martyr.   Once a person becomes immortalized as a martyr, their status transcends the mortal confines of their body to become an idea.


I'd like to share a quote:  "We are taught to remember the idea, not the man, because a man can fail. He can be caught, he can be killed and forgotten. But 400 years later an idea can still change the world. I've witnessed first hand the power of ides. I've seen people kill in the name of them and die defending them. But you cannot kiss an idea, cannot touch it or hold it. Ideas do not bleed or fell pain and do not love."   http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0434409/


This is a quote from the beginning of a movie I watched again the other night, "V for Vendetta".  If you haven't seen the movie, I won't give away the plot.  But the main theme of the movie is that an idea, until forgotten, is stronger than any force on Earth.  Ideas are conveyed by words, and as the saying goes, the pen is mightier than the sword.  One of my favorite quotes form this movie is:   "While the truncheon may be used in lieu of conversation, words will always retain their power. Words offer the means to meaning, and for those who will listen the enunciation of truth."

While I know that the Taliban think they are winning by selectively and cowardly taking out key people throughout the GIRoA and innocent civilians throughout the country, they don't realize that with every innocent death, they create a martyr, which creates an idea.  To quote from the movie again, "Fairness, Justice, and Freedom, are more than just words, they're perspectives."  And perspectives are ideas.  While the Taliban may continue to destroy things and kill people to stop the ideas they oppose, they will never stop the ideas themselves.  Because as the protagonist of the movie states, "ideas are bulletproof".

More to follow.

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