We fight wars to protect America, our values, our interests, our allies. We fight wars so that we can achieve an end point that we think is in furtherance of that.

So if we're going to fight this war, then everybody better be very clear what it is that we're trying to do. Would we like to see education levels in Afghanistan improve? Absolutely. Is that directly in our national security interests? Probably not.

So we want to help, but we want to keep focused on what is clearly in our national security interests, to dismantle, disrupt, and defeat al Qaeda and its extremist allies.

Really? A better-educated Afghanistan is not in our national security interests? This seems to me to be demonstrably false, and you can take any number of logical paths to see why. One seems pretty obvious: a more literate and educated nation is more likely to be economically prosperous, independent of need from other nations, and be less prone to conflict, both internally and externally.

Another is more directly related to ideology and religion: young men are indoctrinated in fundamentalist Islamist schools, learn to take extreme interpretations of Islam literally, and with little worldly education accompanying the indoctrination, become ripe for anti-Western, anti-modern sentiment.

So I am baffled by Clinton's comment. How could a more enlightened Afghanistan population not be in our direct national security interests? We certainly have no fear of violent extremism from South Korea or Sweden, so it only makes sense that not only would it be nice if Afghanis had better educations, but that it is crucial that they do. Clinton also talked about the "perversion" of Islam that abets the Taliban's hold over territory and codifies their oppression. Would not that "perversion" be far less influential, and would not the population be far less amenable to it, if everyone in Afghanistan were better-versed in history, science, civics, world literature, and yes, other religions? It seems to me that the best way to dilute the Taliban's influence over the "hearts and minds" of the Afghanistan population would be to give them a world-class education.

I want to assume that Sec. Clinton knows this, and that her comments were simply a clumsy attempt at a rhetorical contrast in the context of one lone interview. I hope that the entire U.S. government knows that wisdom and knowledge are the best vaccines against extremism and ignorance. (Sec. Clinton also cited ignorance as one of the modern "Berlin Walls" that challenge us today.) I'm not smart enough myself to know whether this means that we ought to be directly involved in bolstering the average I.Q. of Afghanistan villages, but I do hope we see that if we do have national security (and moral) priorities in Afghanistan, that the facilitation of education must rank very highly.

Related Secularism Examiner Articles:

• It's no longer okay to mix up the Constitution and the Declaration
• Ted Kennedy on the vital necessity of the separation of church and state, 1983
• Charlie Crist convinces God not to lay waste to Florida
• Opposing Francis Collins for NIH is not evidence of bigotry

http://www.law.berkeley.edu/clinics/dpclinic/LethalInjection/index.html

Which always takes me to a closely linked issue:

Animal euthanasia (from the Greek meaning "good death") is the act of inducing humane death in an animal.[1] Euthanasia methods are designed to cause minimal pain and distress.

In domesticated animals, this process is commonly referred to by the euphemisms "lay down," "put down," "put to sleep," "put out of its/his/her misery," or "sent away to the farm." Horses are euthanized if they suffer from an intractable illness or a complicated injury.

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It didn't begin that day down in the desert, but it reached a kind of bizarre fruition.  It was Tucson.  It was hot.  Fucking HOT!   He was piloting the fourth identical black Chevy Suburban SUV in a presidential motorcade enroute from Tucson International to a country club up Ventana Canyon road.  Patriots, well wishers, and the idly curious lined the streets, waving little American flags as the president's vehicle approached.  Solomon had been at this job for 18 years and his enthusiasm was waning.

As they ascended the road up the canyon Solomon began to sweat, though the car's air conditioning was functioning perfectly.  He had a subliminal feeling of danger; of having a trap close in as the motorcade methodically traversed the miles between the airport and the president's speaking engagement.  It was all happening too slowly, and a sick feeling akin to panic was growing in him.  He tried to suppress the fear by performing the drill, methodically checking the crowd while scoping the rear views on the look out for anything unusual. 

Like that man in the overcoat and baby carriage up ahead and off to the left.  With the elephant mask on. 

"Bogie at 10 o'clock", Sol said emotionlessly over his wireless headset, as he sped ahead to the left of the presidential vehicle in order to provide cover from any armed attack.  Lipinsky, in the front seat drew his weapon and scanned the crowd, up and down, but saw nothing.  Collins and Eldridge in the rear seat, weapons out, drew blanks as well.

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Six months ago, I wrote a column decrying President Obama's compulsive bowing before foreign leaders and monarchs. After my editorial onslaught, the administration appeared to take note, and I thought that the matter resolved.

But now, as reported in the headline of the ever relevant Drudge Report, Obama is back to his old bowing games, shaming the nation with his obsessive genuflection. Here he is with Japan's Emperor Akihito, bowing almost to the ground like a shogun-era peasant before a guy whose dad bombed Pearl Harbor. Then he followed up the deep bow by jigglin' his noggin' like a drunken bobble-head to the Empress. These people don't even have an economy anymore!