This is funny, and this guy has been selling these drink coasters for a bit. Check out the site if you want to see more. –Matt
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Matt Weems
Illustrator & Armchair Statesman
Late in 2001, our soldiers began operations in Afghanistan. The public saw the Taliban as terrorists who abused women and deserved any punishment they got. The invasion would avenge our dead, save Afghans from the Mullahs, and democratize a South Asian nation, all in one blow. I was worried by the ignorance of the general public, including myself. Worse, the Administration seemed no better informed than we were.
A lesson from Vietnam was that ignorance can fritter away a powerful army for nothing. The pentagon had intelligence and plans on the shelf for invading Iran and Iraq, but we had left Afghanistan to the Pakistanis after the Soviets departed in 1989. If we were being led by the blind, the least I could do was teach myself to see. I consumed information. I read the BBC and the New York Times. I read Steve Coll, Christopher Kremmer, Barnette Rubin, Abdul Rashid, Peter Hopkirk, Gary Schroen, Robin Moore (who is a simple soul), and more. The coasters and website use the stories of key players as a framework to present what I learned. They inform the public and protect furniture from discoloration.
