Authentic information is particularly important for children and young people – letters to the editor

To: “Who are the Taliban?” Explain it to me by Frank Zimmermann (Politics, August 16)

It is certainly not always easy to explain events in children’s language. The democratic intentions of the United States in 2001 by the United States that you cite are historically incorrect. The events at that time and the facts should be known. The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 were the occasion and the initial spark for a long-planned invasion of Afghanistan by the US Army and the Bush administration.

The fight against terror was a declared goal. Strategic goals to develop Afghanistan into a military bridgehead and to secure markets and raw materials in this region of the world in the long term were disguised with democratic intentions. Today after the debacle, the US admits that democracy was not a goal. If the Taliban are so cruel, why is the US pulling troops headlong? We have no sympathy for the Taliban. Enlightened young people may wonder why the Taliban were financed and armed with weapons for many years by the US. True to the motto: “The enemy of my opponent is my friend”.

Authentic and verifiable information is particularly important for children and young people, especially when it comes to questions of war and peace. This includes open admission of mistakes and catastrophic misjudgments. Many humiliations, not least high civilian casualties and numerous war crimes committed by the US Army, should be addressed especially towards children and young people. A method that can open the way to learn from history. The children and their needs and interests are not served if they are confronted with half stories or withholding facts.

That can damage credibility and trust. After the disaster of many war missions, the question arises as to what alternatives there are to military war missions supposedly without alternatives. There are these alternatives. Peace researchers, peace institutes, churches and people from the peace movement offer alternatives. The “Rethinking Security” initiative of the Evangelical Church in Baden should be mentioned here. Silke and Max Heinke, Freiburg

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