How Can Orphans Be "Our Best Weapons Against Terror"?

Long-term history teaches that war in Afghanistan will not be fast or easy. Recent history teaches that there will be no lasting success in Afghanistan without rebuilding the nation. When the Soviets left, the world turned its back on Afghanistan, allowing it to fall to the Taliban and become a global haven for terrorists. In 2002, having routed the Taliban, we again largely ignored nation building, allowing the current Taliban comeback. So far this year, over 220 US soldiers have died in Afghanistan, more than in the first 4 years of the war combined.  (http://icasualties.org/oef/)

We are thus left with two interdependent goals in Afghanistan: Rebuild the nation, and keep it from again becoming a terror haven.

Nation building is essentially about winning (and keeping) the hearts and minds of Afghan people. These orphans are among many needy people and worthy causes in Afghanistan and I never want to take aid away from anyone else. But these kids may provide one of the best returns on your donation for a number of reasons: 

●. Many have already lost their parents to extremism, war or some other avoidable pestilence-- if anyone longs for a changed Afghanistan, they do;

●. These children, girls and boys alike, are receiving a reasonably good education;

●. They are being brought up in a relatively tolerant and non-fundamentalist part of Afghanistan;

●. Due to the relative stability of their region, donations will not find their way into the hands of the Taliban, as in some other parts of the nation.

●. Children are the future leaders of Afghanistan.
●.100% of what you give goes directly to the children--we pay any expenses ourselves.

Two years ago, I just thought it would be cool to fly presents out to these orphans so that when they thought of the US, they would think of hope and friendship. Now I think that we may actually need these orphans more than they need us.
--W.