iRead recap: Lamia Afghan Foundation

This recap will be a little different than the others. Instead of summarizing what happened during the session, we would like to show a video presentation. The following video is based on the PowerPoint Presentation shown during the session. Enjoy!

Join us for an iRead session

November 24, 2009
12:30-1:30
K-Room in the Dining Hall

General John Bradley will speak about the Lamia-Afghan Foundation, an organization he and his wife Jan founded to provide humanitarian aid to the people of Afghanistan.

Check out their website to view videos or find out more information about their foundation, or see an article published in the November 2009 Christian Chronicle which profiles the foundation.

The schedule is complete!

We now have a speaker for our session on January 26. Mr. Buck Smith, Adjunct English Instructor, will speak about his first-hand experiences as a Green Beret in Afghanistan following September 11. We hope everyone can join us for that session and all of our others!

iRead recap: Dr. James Ray

Our second iRead event for Three Cups of Tea featured guest speaker, Dr. James Lee Ray, Professor of Political Science at Vanderbilt University. Dr. Ray’s research includes American foreign policy, international law and politics, and the causes of war and international conflict. He has published widely on these subjects.

Dr. Ray began his talk with a brief outline of the history of Afghanistan noting that historically they have been a part of many empires. The emergence of a national entity can be traced back to 1747. However, this “Graveyard of Empires” alternated control between the British and Russians up until 1919 when it came under monarchial rule. During the 1960s and 1970s strides were made toward democracy. Late in the 1970s the monarchy was over thrown, and in 1978 Afghanistan was under local communist power. Concerned that the local communist were not strong enough to fight the militant Islamic mujahideens, the Soviet Union invaded in 1979. It was noted that President Jimmy Carter was funneling support through the CIA to the mujahideens in order to lure the Soviet Union into a Vietnam like war to drain their resources and end the Cold War. The initial Soviet invasion easily toppled the communists in power however; the result was a brutal war of occupation. The decade of the 1970s was a horrible decade for the people of Afghanistan. One million Afghans died, and 1/3 of the country’s population fled. When the Soviet’s pulled out, the United States lost interest in Afghanistan. A power vacuum was created and a civil war erupted making conditions even worse than those suffered in the 1970s. This prior relationship creates a problem for US foreign policy as it has created a lack of trust that the US could engage in Afghanistan and pull out again.

In the 1990s the Taliban took over 80% of the country. After the tragedy of 9/11 the US invaded Afghanistan and put an end to the Taliban rule. Hamid Karzai was put in power as the President. In 2004 a Constitution was approved giving the President strong powers with little power to the Parliament. Political parties were established and now there are over 90 political parties, all required to be pro-Islamic, and making it hard to distinguish one from another. There are two primary ethnic groups in Afghanistan: Pashtun (42%) and Tajik (27%) with the majority Pashtun controlling the government. The Presidential election of 2009 is crucial to US involvement as in needs a government to work with. However, the election was plagued with corruption. It is likely Hamid Karzai, a Pushtun, will defeat Adula Adula, a Tajik, due to the majority status of the Pushtuns. Foreign influence in Afghanistan is wide spread and penetrating, further complicating the political situation.

Dr Ray then spoke about “Insurgents, Tribes, and War Lords,” which are forces to reckon with in Afghanistan. They are all part of the Taliban. The most influential is Mullah Omar who has a dedicated following and presides over a shadow government. The standard view has been that the Taliban are a local group with local interests, compared to Al Qaida who have more global interests. Both are anti-American and some are beginning to think that these groups are now almost indistinguishable as the Taliban has intensified its radicalism. However, the US National Security Advisor, James Jones, still thinks the two can be separated to defeat Al Qaida. There are also powerful war lords and tribal chiefs who perhaps can be paid off to aid US interests against Al Qaida, a strategy used in Iraq. Critics of this strategy think this is a mistake as it will strengthen some factions and make it impossible to integrate the country into a modern entity.

Dr Ray concluded that the US military has a daunting challenge. General McCrystal, US Commander in Afghanistan, has proposed a counter insurgency strategy to create a stable country by sending more and more troops. President Obama has already doubled the number of troops in Afghanistan and it is uncertain that he will send 40,000 more as McCrystal has proposed. Another strategy would be counter terrorism which is a less ambitious plan. This plan would buy off elements of the Taliban, war loads, and tribal chiefs to establish a balance of power. The objective would be to concentrate on killing Al Qaida and the terrorists, rather than creating an integrated and stable nation. Given the nature of bureaucratic battles on foreign policy, it is likely a compromise alternative will be found and a middle strategy adopted.

Dr. Ray left us with two questions to ponder:

If a stable Afghanistan is achieved, how much safer would we be? There are a lot of other places terrorists can go to carry out their anti-American terrorist acts.

If the US is defeated in Afghanistan wouldn’t this be a devastating blow to the US and a boost to the Taliban and Al Qaida?

Interesting questions and discussions followed.

Join us on November 24 when Jan and John Bradley will speak about the Lamia-Afghan Foundation which provides humanitarian aid to the children of Afghanistan.

Join us for an iRead session

October 27th
12:30-1:30
K-Room in the Dining Hall

Dr. James Lee Ray, Professor of Political Science at Vanderbilt University, will speak about the current political situation and American military involvement in Afghanistan.

Pictures from the first session

This is just one of the 97 pictures we took during our first iRead session. To see all of them, visit our Facebook photo album. A big thank you to the National Guard and everyone who attended!

iRead rocks!

Our first session was a success thanks to the Tennessee National Guard bringing a rock wall. Pictures to come soon!

iRead Survey

Please take a few minutes to complete our iRead survey and give us an idea of who you are, why you're participating, etc. Thanks!

Get ready to rock!

We're going to have a rock wall!! We had a little bit of a hard time scheduling one, but we finally managed to snag it! The only catch is that we've had to move our first session from September 22 to September 24. The session will still be at 12:30 at the K-Room, but it's going to be on a Thursday instead of our standard Tuesday. So, mark your calendars and wear comfortable clothes; it's going to be lots of fun!

Upcoming activities!

Whether we like it or not, summer is officially over at Cumberland University, and that means that it's time to start thinking about everything coming up during the fall semester. Our last post was about our tentative schedule. Those dates are no longer tentative! And, for those of you who like to know exactly what's going on at all times, here's a rundown of the programs:

Fall semester:

September 22 - Kick off event to promote the program including a slide show, refreshments, and maybe even climbing a rock wall!

October 27 - Dr. James Lee Ray, Professor of Political Science at Vanderbilt University, will speak about the current political situation and American military involvement in Afghanistan.

November 24 - Jan and John Bradley will speak about the Lamia-Afghan Foundation which provides humanitarian aid to the children of Afghanistan.

Spring semester:

January 26 - pending! Ideas and volunteers are welcome.

February 23 - Dr. Michael Rex will conduct a session on the literature and art of Central Asia.

March 23 - Dr. Binhazim from the Olive Tree Foundation will speak about Women in Muslim Life

Also, the University Bookstore is selling Three Cups of Tea for $11.00, so if you still need a copy here's your chance to get it without having to leave campus! All of us here at the library are excited about what we have planned so far, and we think the program will be even bigger this year than last year. If anyone out there in Internet-land has any questions about iRead, upcoming programs, or the book itself, leave us a comment or email the library (library@cumberland.edu). We can't wait to see all of you on September 22!

Tentative schedule

We have a *tentative* schedule and a new location! We're moving to the K-Room next to the cafeteria in order to have a little more space. We've also decided to switch our sessions from Wednesdays to Tuesdays from 12:30-1:30.

Here are the dates we have lined up:
September 22
October 27
November 24
January 26
February 23
March 23

We're still finalizing some of our program topics, so look for more information on those as the first session gets closer. Based on what we've scheduled and planned so far, it should be a pretty exciting year!

...Drumroll please...

The 2009-10 iRead selection is Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson. As with last year, Vise Library will have a book discussion group that meets around once a month. We are currently in the planning stages of next year's iRead program, so please check back periodically for more updates.