Tuesday, 19Sep06
Highlights: long day of classes… balancing perceptions & our purpose for being here. Pizza hut dinner
Whew! Today was hot… which made sitting through 8 hours of class,,, challenging for everyone; especially after lunch. We went out & bought 3 fans yesterday.
Just like yesterday, the most interesting parts of class, for me, were the question-answer periods. We have a lively group, so there are always tough but good questions coming up.
One of the most interesting questions today,,, and a difficult bridge to cross, was this one: “Why should Indonesia care as much about Terrorism as America does?”
The point was that poverty, corruption, lack of education & development… those are issues that affect ALL Indonesians,,, Terrorism has affected maybe 5% of the people here. Bali & Jakarta. That’s it. Good point! It’s an issue that the American government is much more concerned about than many Indonesians are,,, and there’s a feeling that the American government sometimes pushes it’s interests down the throat of other countries, as if we all should be equally concerned about the same things.
As mid-grade officers,,, none of whom having inside connections to the psyche of our political leadership,,, I think we did ok fielding some of these. It’s the interesting conversation that makes this class honest & worth being here… I think for both sides.
Highlights: long day of classes… balancing perceptions & our purpose for being here. Pizza hut dinner
Whew! Today was hot… which made sitting through 8 hours of class,,, challenging for everyone; especially after lunch. We went out & bought 3 fans yesterday.
Just like yesterday, the most interesting parts of class, for me, were the question-answer periods. We have a lively group, so there are always tough but good questions coming up.
One of the most interesting questions today,,, and a difficult bridge to cross, was this one: “Why should Indonesia care as much about Terrorism as America does?”
The point was that poverty, corruption, lack of education & development… those are issues that affect ALL Indonesians,,, Terrorism has affected maybe 5% of the people here. Bali & Jakarta. That’s it. Good point! It’s an issue that the American government is much more concerned about than many Indonesians are,,, and there’s a feeling that the American government sometimes pushes it’s interests down the throat of other countries, as if we all should be equally concerned about the same things.
As mid-grade officers,,, none of whom having inside connections to the psyche of our political leadership,,, I think we did ok fielding some of these. It’s the interesting conversation that makes this class honest & worth being here… I think for both sides.
posted by jonathan adventures at 7:19 PM
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