Kipling Haunts Obama's Afghan War

TruthOut by Ray McGovern | Nov. 1, 2009 (Editorial)

The White Man's Burden, a phrase immortalized by English poet Rudyard Kipling as an excuse for European-American imperialism, was front and center Thursday morning (October 29) at a RAND-sponsored discussion of Afghanistan in the Russell Senate Office Building.???? The agenda was top-heavy with RAND speakers, and the thinking was decidedly "inside the box" - so much so, that I found myself repeating a verse from Kipling, who recognized the dangers of ... Full Story »

Posted by Cynthia Gilbert - via NewsRack (Afghanistan), NewsRack (Energy)

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Fabrice Florin
3.7
 by Fabrice Florin - Nov. 1, 2009

Thoughtful perspective on America's role in Afghanistan, from a former CIA analyst for thirty years. The author reports on a recent RAND-sponsored discussion of Afghanistan, featuring speakers such as Zbigniew Brzezinski, James Dobbins and Sen. Carl Levin. This provides a wide range of viewpoints about the tough decision faced by the Obama Adminstration about the U.S. presence in Afghanistan - including a timely quote from Kipling about 'The White Man's Burden'.

It is not wise for the Christian white To hustle the Asian brown; For the Christian riles And the Asian smiles And weareth the Christian down. At the end of the fight Lies a tombstone white With the name of the late deceased; And the epitaph drear, A fool lies here, Who tried to hustle the East.

Rudyard Kipling

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Fabrice's Rating

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3.7

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