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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 17, 2013)
LET TERS A HEAVENLY GOOD TIME “Is there a heaven? I’d like to think so.” — Bryan Ferry. And if there is, I’d like to think that the world’s largest album collection (including 45s) is also up there — hooked up to the world’s fi nest stereo components from the 1970s. And if there is, I’d like to think that Mr. Bill Finneran is at the controls, having a heaven of a good time playing the best of everything he so loved. And if there is a heaven as such, I’d like to think that I’ll also be up there in the end, picking out the next selection. Goodbye Mr. Finneran — you will always be remembered. Chaz Kirsch Harrisburg FOOD RIGHTS Support Local Food Rights maintains that the people’s right to vote trumps substantive objections to our initiative, the Local Food System Ordinance of Lane County. What is the point of the initiative process if the peo- ple’s voices are silenced before we even get to speak? We are not deterred by the passage of SB 863 (formerly SB 633) and are not en- couraged by a proposed statewide answer. DISPATCHES FROM AFGHANISTAN The state’s assertion that it can achieve better results than the local communities is patron- izing. We remain committed to the initiative process that respects the community’s right to the ballot box and local decision-making. Michelle Holman Deadwood I do believe that it is high time for the Washington Redskins to change their name. I even have a suggestion: the Washington Foreskins, in honor of all the peckerheads representing us in our nation’s Capitol. David Perham Eugene SKIN IN THE GAME CELEBRATE MARRIAGE Regarding all of the brouhaha over the disrespectful name Washington Redskins: Team names are obdurate; they don’t easily embrace change. However, out of respect for Native American cultures and to more honestly refl ect the city that they represent, Things are defi nitely worth celebrating after reading Sally Sheklow’s “State of Celebration” column Oct. 3. Especially when fi nding out about the Oregon United for Marriage petition, which is collecting signatures so that a marriage equality BY JAKE KLONOSKI Shutdown’s Distant Impact U.S. GOVERNMENT CHAOS CARRIES INTO WAR ZONE T he U.S. entered the 13th year of confl ict in Afghanistan Oct. 7, and the effort here sits on a knife’s edge. A week ago, the U.N. Security Council authorized the fi nal extension of the international security mandate, which is now set to expire at the end of 2014. Ongoing deliberations between U.S. and Afghan governments will determine the future of our anti-terrorism efforts and training missions here after 2014. Coalition partners await the outcome of the U.S.- Afghan agreement to decide their own commitments. Negotiations with the Taliban continue in fi ts and starts. And on Oct. 6 Afghan presidential candidates registered for a democratic transition of power, a fi rst in Afghan history. Also on Oct. 6 four U.S. soldiers, including a 24-year-old from Philomath, were killed by an IED in Kandahar province, bringing the number of coalition forces killed to 3,390. The next day, reviewing the effort in Afghanistan, President Karzai declared that on the security front, “the entire NATO exercise was one that caused Afghanistan a lot of suffering, a lot of loss of life and no gains because the country is not secure.” While Karzai’s comments may offend those who have sacrifi ced so much, at least he recognizes the challenges facing his country. Back in the U.S., where a bitter standoff that began with a senator reading from Green Eggs and Ham during a 21-hour call for a government shutdown that continues, it seems this war is forgotten. Progress in Afghanistan is always diffi cult, but now it seems nearly impossible. In ideal circumstances, signifi cant development requires steady effort, reliable engagement with Afghan leaders, continuous coordination with coalition partners, unending outreach, countless cups of Afghan chai and, in Herat where the coalition is Italian-led, many cappuccinos. The shutdown has pushed us much further from the ideal. For instance, consider an ongoing development project that required travel to Kabul to meet with Afghan Minister of Water and Power Ismail Khan. Khan’s political career began as a junior offi cer in the communist government. Sent to Herat to suppress popular protests in March 1979, he instead ordered the Army’s weapons to be distributed to the crowds. They proceeded to storm 4 October 17, 2013 • eugeneweekly.com city government buildings and executed a garrison of Soviet advisers and their families, putting severed heads on sticks that were then paraded through downtown Herat. The action marked the beginning of the Afghan war against KLONOSKI, SECOND FROM LEFT, STANDS NEXT TO ISMAIL KHAN the Russians and resulted in the eventual Russian carpet-bombing of Herat. Fortunately, the plane eventually landed safely and Khan led the resistance in the west for more than no one was hurt. Thinking about the trip later, I realized two decades, against the Russians then the Taliban. that the airborne experience was less frustrating than His political domination of western Afghanistan is sitting opposite Khan. At least in the air I could see near absolute, and his promotion to a cabinet position what was going on and could report on the enemy fi ring in Kabul failed to shake his position as its preeminent at us. The government shutdown, more destructive on warlord. He is not a man to deal with lightly. the whole than any indiscriminate fi re from insurgents, Flown to Kabul to brief Minister Khan on leaves much of the American effort aimlessly circling, development projects in western Afghanistan, I cursed waiting for the confl ict to subside, but blind to the the government shutdown that left the project expert, details of the fi ght and impotent to counteract a force a Defense Department civilian employee, behind that fails to comprehend the damage being done. in Herat because the $104 plane ticket could not be Perhaps worst of all, the shutdown even cut off the purchased. Armed Forces Network, a military rebroadcast of U.S. After I had fi nished laying out our project in his television. One cannot even seek out Oregon football Kabul offi ce, a platter of grapes, pistachios and to escape the frustrations of Central Asia. almonds alongside the requisite cup of tea in front of In Afghanistan, as the presidential election gets me, Khan inquired about the status of another project, under way, men (and some women) with antagonistic a girl’s dormitory being built for Herat University. I ethnic support bases, radically divergent national had to explain that although the project would be visions and often with violent histories (as well as completed, while the U.S. government remained shut command of large militias) are joining forces to form down, no money could be spent. election tickets, each with one presidential and two “This situation is diffi cult for those who support vice presidential candidates. Though the election will your projects, for the workers and those expecting certainly not solve all the nation’s problems, 27 tickets them to be fi nished,” he replied through a translator. have been formed to seek a popular mandate to lead. With a slight shake of his head, the cabinet minister of Among those running is Khan as a vice presidential a nation that ranks near the bottom of every governance candidate. list asked, “How long until the U.S. is working again?” If Ismail Khan, who oversaw a parade of his enemies’ heads through the streets, can accept the advantage of solving difference through building bridges with lying west after the meeting, the plane opponents and contesting policy differences through I was on aborted its descent into Herat the normal electoral process, perhaps, with so much International Airport and sharply climbed at stake and so much already sacrifi ced by so many, in altitude. As we circled over Herat, I America’s leaders ca n as well. The effort here likely looked out the plane’s window and noticed depends on it. small explosions around Camp Arena, the coalition base near the airport. As we circled, I watched as Jake Klonoski is from Eugene and has been a U.S. Navy submarine of- fi cer since 2002, serving in Italy, Bahrain, Japan, Kosovo, Afghanistan insurgents lobbed mortars toward the people with and plenty of time at sea. He left active duty in 2010 and was mobilized whom I serve. Texting on my cell phone, I reported after graduating Stanford Law School in June 2013 for service in Kabul what I could see to the base operations center. assisting in economic development and stability operations. F
