Positive portrayal

Congratulations, Spokesman-Review! For once you, along with a few others, have shown the positive side of our nation’s presence in a foreign country. The article “In face of war, a fresh tactic crops up” demonstrates that we can enable a foreign people to produce more from their labors.

The article overcomes the stereotypical combat reporting. For once, we were reminded that our military is more than guns, bullets and bombs. The real military is made up of farmers, lawyers, kids from down the street, doctors, and yes, even a few reporters.

The farmers, like Master Sgt. Colin Jones, have an effect that is more than the “hearts and minds” efforts of Vietnam. Strange as it seems, they can be placed into a very unique, military-uniformed Peace Corps. Teaching farmers to be more productive, in a nation that seemingly knows only primitive methods, will tender a result far beyond the farmland. It is an activity like this that offers hope in the very face of carnage, bloodshed and death.

It is here that we should remind ourselves that it is the innocent local populace that suffers as well. Efforts like the Agribusiness Development Teams can prove to be very beneficial for us and the Afghan farmers. Still, the printing of the article is the crux of this journalistic effort. Admittedly, the article originated from the Los Angeles Times. In the slightest of ways, it may signal a change from the usual “left coast” diatribe.

John “J.D.” Searle

Spokane