The conservative columnist George Will, who is also seen on This Week with George Stephanopoulous on ABC every Sunday morning, has today come out in the Washington Post with a piece of advice for President Obama: Get out of the war in Afghanistan, as it is unwinnable.
This is an excellent piece of advice on the part of Will, who although I don’t often agree with him, is obviously an intelligent, perceptive conservative who occasionally speaks wisdom.
The war has become very unpopular with the American people, with a majority now saying to get out as soon as possible. The loss of more Americans in August and July than previous months is a warning sign that we are being dragged into a long term war that undermines our ability to deal with domestic problems and to cut the growth in government spending.
It is time to recognize that the only way to deal with the Taliban is to use air power and intelligence gathering, not ground troops in that country which has been the graveyard in the past for the British and the Soviets.
President Obama, you have enough to deal with, so do not allow any military pressure or Republican hawkishness to sucker you into a war that is rapidly becoming another Vietnam. It is time to face reality and LEAVE Afghanistan!
Progressive Professor,
I am with you. I also believe that we need out of the Middle East but I fear the cards are stacked against us.
1)Obama preaches against the handling of the Iraq war. To other more private groups, Obama advocates military strikes on new middle eastern countries. Obama has aligned himself with several
lobbying firms and nongovernmental organizations who seek further US militarization of the world. In several speeches and essays, Obama makes his foreign policy goals clear – and he is not anti-war.
2)Obama differs from his colleagues in that he does not believe nuclear weapons should be used –a small concession for an ambitious military operation. This policy still backs preemptive
strikes and the further militarization of the middle east, all at the expense of US resources.
3)Obama outlines his ambitious geopolitical plans in a recent essay for Foreign Affairs
magazine. Foreign Affairs is published by the Council on Foreign Relations, which describes itself as a non-partisan group of which he
is a member. The organization seeks to centralize both political power and market power to craft legislation outside the checks and balances of democracy.
The CFR membership extends much wider than the public is aware of. 90% of obamas cabnet are members…as are most of the presidents we have been critical of in other threads. As if the fact that Obama is a member (and most/all of those around him are also)is not enough….take a look at those who also belong:
Dick Cheney
John Kerry
Bill Clinton
Al Gore
Ronald Reagan
George H. W. Bush
Gerald Ford
Richard Nixon
John, David &
Nelson Rockefeller
Condolezza Rice
Paul Wolfowitz
Alan Greenspan
Colon Powell
Henry Kissinger
This goes across part lines. Its membership list
is a who’s who of Washington and Wall St. elite going back nearly a century. It should not be surprising that most presidential candidates in the 2008 election are CFR members. Candidates do notadvertise their CFR membership to the public. They pose as“liberals†and “conservatives†to control all aspects of the debate. The CFR stacked the deck for the 2008 election with
several members in the race from both sides of the isle:
Democrat CFR
Candidates:
Barack Obama
Hillary Clinton
John Edwards
Chris Dodd
Bill Richardson
Republican CFR
Candidates:
Mitt Romney
Rudy Giuliani
John McCain
Fred Thompson
Newt Gingrich
Although many politicians hold membership, It must be noted that the Council on Foreign Relations is a non-governmental organization. The CFR’s membership is a union of politicians, bankers, and scholars, with several large businesses holding additional corporate memberships. Corporate members include:
Halliburton of
Dubai
British Petroleum
Dutch Royal Shell
Exxon Mobile
General Electric
(NBC)
Chevron
Lockheed Martin
Merck
Pharmaceuticals
News Corp (FOX)
Bloomberg
IBM
Time Warner
JP Morgan/ Chase
Manhattan
& several other
major financial institutions
So, the cards were delt a long time ago. Sadly, Professor (and those reading) we won’t be leaving the middle east -or- abandoning the imperial mindset -or- eliminating the true ruler of this country (major corporations and the military industrial complex)for a long, long time.
When you have everyone in your pocket….does our vote really count? I recall Obama stating he would get us out of Afghanistan and Iraq. I just don’t see it happening….although your logic seems right on the money. But, then again, when has common-sense been a term used when talking about our government?
I thought about putting the bumper-sticker “Stop these endless wars!” on my car. But, who, I wondered, would read it who could make a difference -or- had not already sold their soul to reach the higher levels of public service?
I hope Obama proves me wrong. I voted for him. However, he is surrounded by men who’s values differ greatly from the freshness and frankness I heard during the campaign. The actions I have seen to this point….look similar to those we cast out. 🙁
http://www.cfr.org/