Changing Hearts & Minds

by Dennis Green

Well, like anyone else, I hate to admit it when I’m wrong, but every now and then, I am. I think I’ve been wrong about Afghanistan, and the prospects for our involvement there. Two events have changed this heart and mind.

The first was President Obama’s acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize, one of the most eloquent and articulate statements about war and peace since Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. He wasn’t defensive, but defended the necessary use of force, of armed conflict, of war itself. And in front of that audience, doing so took enormous courage.

Secondly, and a few minutes later, I watched a Tivo of Charlie Rose interviewing General Stanley MacCrystal, leader of our forces in Afghanistan. He is also eloquent and articulate, but more importantly, he is a decent man. Not merely a brave and decorated soldier, but a decent man.

How can I tell? Well, to begin with, I’m an excellent judge of character. I have made my living by reading people most of my adult life — students, employees, clients, audiences, voters — and my success, my livelihood, my very being, depended on my ability to judge people and their basic nature, and their reactions.

Also, I had an excellent teacher. My own father, who never gave me five words of spoken advice, yet nevertheless taught me what it meant to be a decent man by simply being one, by his example. Of course, he was imperfect in many ways, but he was a good, solid, decent human being. He didn’t wink or fudge or cheat or speak out of both sides of his mouth. Even his obsessions were short-lived.

MacCrystal debunks the many myths about Afghanistan — that there has never been a central government, that sectarian loyalties such as being Pashtoon are more important than being Afghan, that no security partnership is possible — and he is convincing. His confidence helps, but it’s ultimately his decency that persuades you he isn’t lying.

I wish he’d been out there sooner, speaking as he did on Charlie’s show at great length, in-depth, taking tough questions and giving thoughtful and complete answers. And very few journalists other than Charlie Rose, perhaps Bill Moyers, could do the job, could bring out the best in the man without fawning all over him or lobbing softballs.

And Obama showed just the right degree of humility in accepting the prize, acknowledging that he is still “in the beginning” of his efforts to change America’s role in the world’s quest for peace. If the literal meaning of “Islam” is “Peace,” I suspect Obama will see that its promise is fulfilled.

But when he says that “there is also evil in the world,” he is absolutely right. If anything, his speech made it clear that simplistic notions of pacifism are something that he cannot afford. Nor can we. If I had any traces left in me of the knee-jerk anti-war youngster who took to the streets protesting the War in Vietnam, Obama has called me on my bullshit.

And MacCrystal has convinced me that something good may yet come about in the sorry wastelands of Afghanistan. It’s been quite a morning!

©2009 Dennis Green