The beginning of the end

It's a shame I didn't start this blog earlier because if i had my prediction that we would leave Afghanistan before the end of 2010 would have been documented. In echoes of Churchill's "beginning of the end", the conference on Afghanistan in London heard repeatedly about the beginning of a "transition" to Afghan control.

It's become or rather has been for a while one big mess. In reality it should be years before we start leaving or reducing troop numbers but Afghanistan is a political embarrassment for Brown and Obama. It's an unpleasant left over from the previous administrations of Blair and Bush. The current leaders of the free world cannot wait to leave. They use the word transition to start shifting all responsibility for both good and bad to the Afghans.

While this may seem cold and underhanded in reality its not a completely bad thing. Afghanistan is the Afghans problem when its all boiled down. Doubtless they will face many years of fighting the Taliban but they will not be alone, they will receive continued funding from the US and Allied troops are not just going to disappear. However the body count will now fall almost exclusively on the shoulders of the Afghan people.

In the end no one in the West wants war. The terrorist threat for the most part seems to have subsided, the hysteria of the past few years has grown weaker and now more pressing matters like the recession have taken hold.

If Afghanistan wants to democracy and a functioning society its going to have to prove it. Its going to have shed more blood. Endure more years of hardship. And be prepared to really mean it.

Being casual

Today's topic is chilling. Being laid back. And, in general, not being an absolute mental. What inspires this train of thought, beyond it being a life philosophy, is a story I recently heard about John McCain.

For the truly ignorant among you McCain was the Republican nominee for President against Barack Obama last year. Obviously he was beaten and now his Holiness Obama has the top job. Part of his campaign for Presidency was his staunch opposition to gay marriage. However it has become blatantly obvious his own family seriously disagrees with him, his own daughter is gay and wishes to marry and his wife recently appeared in a campaign to remove the ban on same sex marriage in California.

A question that springs to mind is: why can't McCain let it go? Why does it matter? Does it make any difference to anyone? Of course not but McCain and people like him worldwide insist on opposing it and getting all worked up for no reason. Instead of allowing everyone to be happy they would rather cause confrontation and discontent.

Doubtless this divide in opinion causes no small amount of family argument. But instead of supporting his daughter or simply letting her and other gays across America get on with there lives he insists on vigorously opposing same sex marriage.

So if McCain would just relax if everyone could be a little more casual about others choices wouldn't we all get on much better without trying to intrude in peoples preferences or interrupt the flow of life? The same can naturally be applied to virtually everything. From relationships to your choice of cake (an incredibly serious issue) being casual helps everyone.

So be casual. Be happy.