And so the inevitable has happened: a kiwi soldier has been killed in Afghanistan. I hope John Key is happy. The government's sycophantic policy of sucking up to the United States has led directly to this person's death. While he didn't pull the trigger himself, he murdered this soldier by his policy decisions, and we should hold him politically accountable for it.
And why did they die? To prop up a corrupt government whose policies include theocracy, legalised spousal rape, unfair trials and the death penalty. None of those things are worth fighting for, let alone dying for. Neither is John Key's desire to be "in" with the US. If he wants people to die for that, then maybe he should go do it himself.
Key says this death is not a reason to get out of Afghanistan. He's right in a sense, in that we should never have been there in the first place. But at the same time, this death should cause us to reconsider whether sending young people overseas to protect an immoral government is worth it. And if we decide its not, we should get out tomorrow, before someone else dies for this mistake.
