Afghanistan War

Barack Obama, Nobel Peace Prize Winner, Distinguishes Himself In Acceptance Speech!

Ronald 3 Comments

As usual, Barack Obama distinguished and dignified himself in his acceptance speech today for the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway.

He conceded that he had fewer accomplishments and credentials to win the prize, so he acted appropriately humble.

At the same time, he made it clear that war is sometimes necessary when there is evil in the world, such as Hitler in the 1930s and 1940s and Al Qaeda terrorism today.

He therefore defended his decision to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan, basing it on necessity, not on the basis of choice, but facing reality.

He handled himself in his speech and in his other public gatherings in a way that reflected well on his country.

We should all be very proud of him, and be assured that even if many do not think he deserved the Nobel Peace Prize now, he will be seen in history as having richly earned it by his actions in office during his Presidency!

The Obscenity Of Our Wars In Afghanistan And Iraq: One Percent Of Americans Sacrificing

Ronald 2 Comments

Bob Herbert, an Op-Ed columnist for the NY Times, makes an excellent case for the obscenity of our wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

He points out that less than one percent of our population is in the military, and that the same small percentage keeps on sacrificing by having numerous tours of duty in one or the other nation, with most Americans not giving it a thought, and not contributing anything to the war effort except making patriotic statements that they back the men and women who are there and want them to have all of the military equipment they need to fight for us.

But without a draft, and the stubborn unwillingness to pay more taxes, and with our government not requiring any kind of sacrifice by 99 percent of the American people, it means we as a nation are immune to what war means–the fact that many military people either die, or return with major physical and mental problems from their combat tours, while we go on our merry way living the American dream, without any commitment at all to our country, except to make money and practice materialism and greed as a motivator.

We are fighting wars with the equivalent of a small group of dedicated Americans who care about their country and its security, while most of the country has no concern because there is no draft and no tax burden.

One way to make Americans realize what we are doing overseas would be to reinstitute the draft or impose a war tax. If nothing else, having young Americans serve in the Peace Corps or start a new Civilian Conservation Corps as alternatives would make the American people begin to appreciate their responsibility to the nation and remind us of the nation that would not be what it is now without the massive sacrifices of past generations.

President Obama’s “Plot” Against Christmas And Charlie Brown!

Ronald 2 Comments

The mayor of Arlington, Tennessee, has become controversial over his outrageous, ridiculous accusation that President Obama, by having given his nationally televised speech from West Point last Tuesday on the war in Afghanistan, pre-empted “Charlie Brown’s Christmas” on television as part of a “Muslim conspiracy” against Christmas!

Mayor Russell Wiseman obviously has an inappropriate last name, as he calls Obama a Muslim, and sees his speech timing as related to his supposed Muslim faith.

As it is, any Presidential speech pre-empts shows on television, but “Charlie Brown’s Christmas” is being shown two more times before Christmas, has been aired every Christmas on television, and is also available on DVD.

For a mayor of a small town or any community to make such an insane statement, and to top it off, on Facebook, shows how low we have fallen in the quality of officeholders that small towns elect. Do they really know the quality of who they elect, or is this a commentary on small towns?

But then again, Sarah Palin was Mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, a small town, and look how far she has gone! 🙂

NY Times Columnist Tom Friedman And Obama’s Afghan Policy

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NY Times columnist Tom Friedman is a thoughtful, insightful man, who is often seen as very perceptive.

Therefore, what he says about President Obama’s Afghan War policy is something to reflect upon.

He compares what Obama is doing to an unemployed couple in the United States adopting a “special needs” child. Obviously, it is hard to make sense of such an action.

Friedman makes clear his belief that we have so much to do at home, and so little in resources to do it, and are creating an unsustainable national debt. Also, Afghanistan, the poorest non African country in the world, is so corrupt and has such an inept government that we cannot expect that country to be self sustaining, so how can we expect to leave that nation beginning in mid 2011?

Friedman wonders how we can build a decent government that Afghans will want to fight for. He sees doom ahead, with a heavy loss of American lives and an unsustainable increase in the national debt.

This wise man must be paid attention to, and it certainly sobers the author and many other thoughtful doubters of this war strategy of our President, who means well, but is likely leading us down the wrong path!

Barack Obama Wins Public Support For His Afghanistan Policy

Ronald 1 Comment

While there are many Americans who are disappointed that President Obama has decided to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan, including the author, it turns out his arguments for that escalation have won him public support, according to a CNN poll.

Obama said America’s safety and security are at stake, and 64 percent in the poll agree. Also, 63 percent agree that being involved in Afghanistan is morally justified.

This is a very different reaction than when George W. Bush escalated the war in Iraq via a “surge” in 2007, with that war always being seen as not justified morally and based on false premises.

The war in Afghanistan was poorly handled because of the war in Iraq, and therefore, it seems that Americans are willing to give President Obama more time to make the war a worthwhile intervention.

But with a deadline of starting to withdraw in July 2011, the support for the war might not continue long term. For now, though, Obama has gained time and broad support, but again with skepticism and sadness by many, including the author. We can only hope for the best, but expect the worst might come–a long, drawn out war with heavy casualties for many years!

Barack Obama’s War In Afghanistan

Ronald 2 Comments

President Obama gave a passionate, well crafted speech tonight, announcing 30,000 more troops going to Afghanistan in the next six months, with the beginning of withdrawal in 18 months, and the expectation that we would leave Afghanistan by 2012. He told us that the war was essential to overcome the threat of Al Qaeda and the Taliban, and that the NATO partners would provide extra troops to supplement the American war effort. He also told the nation that we had to work on domestic problems at the same time as prosecuting the war, and that we had to manage the war expenses in a way that would avoid a negative effect on our government spending and deficit.

While Obama seemed committed to what he was saying, I came away with the feeling that what he wanted to accomplish was delusional. How can we know that the war will begin to end in 18 months; that we can control the war spending caused by this escalation; that we can pursue domestic reform AND the war in the midst of the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression; that we can rely on NATO nations to give major support to the war effort; and that we can expect Afghanistan, with no history of democracy or stability, to be safe and secure enough that it can manage its own internal affairs without a long range commitment of men and treasure by the United States?

Obama means to do well, but he will find that his own party and progressives and liberals around the country will turn against him, and will likely make it impossible for him to accomplish the great goals he campaigned on. Meanwhile, the opposition will, on the surface, support his war measures, but continue to boycott and blockade any effort at making changes domestically.

Unfortunately, Barack Obama has made a pact with the Republican critics and the defense establishment and the corporations and has disappointed his loyal supporters, who had they known what would now happen, would not have come out in droves to support his candidacy. Some would say the President has made a pact with the “devil”, and that he will not reap any benefit, but only heartache by his decision to escalate in Afghanistan.

Just wait to the likely failure of his Afghanistan plans, and the possibility that sometime down the road he will realize the errors of his ways, and then the so called “supporters” will unleash their full fury at him, and he will no longer have his true supporters there to cover his back.

President Obama has made a grevious error, and we can only hope that somehow, in the long run, we who oppose what he is doing, will either see him accept responsibility and change policy, or that we will admit we were wrong, and that, miraculously, he was proven right!

The Continued Dominance Of The Military-Industrial Complex

Ronald 1 Comment

As we await President Obama’s Afghanistan War speech at the US Military Academy at West Point, New York, tonight, where he is expected to call for 30,000 more troops to be sent, I am saddened by the news of what he plans to say.

Obama was elected to promote “Change”, and his progressive and liberal supporters really thought we were going down a different road in foreign policy, that we had learned that we cannot be the world’s policeman, that we cannot sacrifice our young men and women to endless war that has no solution.

Afghanistan was the graveyard for the Soviet Union, the British Empire, Alexander the Great, and Attila the Hun. It is a forbidden country, landlocked, with inability to have a stable central government, living in many ways in the 14th century. It is the ultimate nightmare, and for the President to believe that we can move in and start leaving in two years seems to me to be totally delusional.

For quite a while, while three months of meetings went on at the White House of his top advisers, it seemed as if Obama had learned the message that this is a war the American people don’t want, and that many intelligent people see as unwinable.

Now it seems that Obama has betrayed the people who elected him, and is more concerned about what the Republican opposition says, as if the GOP is there to help him succeed. They have no interest in helping him, as they want him to fail, and they are now relishing the split in his coalition.

IF Obama says what we expect him to say in two hours, then the American people, and the poor souls who are sent to Afghanistan to die and be seriously wounded are the losers!

Who are the winners? The enemies of everything Obama wished to do in domestic affairs, the conservatives and their mean spirited Republican allies, are the victors.

But also, what President Eisenhower called “the military-industrial complex” is the ultimate winner! They have captured yet another American President who does not see that constant war and intervention overseas does not help America’s interests and future, but actually condemns us long term to bankruptcy and social disintegration, as we will be unable to accomplish essential domestic change. The rich will get richer, the poor will get poorer, the middle class will be knocked down to just above the poverty level, and the corporations will become ever more powerful and corrupt at our expense.

And finally, the generals, who have no interest but their own personal success, who have no threats to their lives as they send others to war, will gain ever increasing influence over the civilian branch of government!

This will make many Americans so disgusted, that they will not ever vote again or participate as citizens in our country, and our democracy, or what remains of it, will be permanently scarred beyond recognition!

This is a tragedy that calls for much weeping and a sense of sadness of what has occurred to our country!

President Obama, no matter what you say tonight, have the courage and determination to reverse course once you see that your well laid plans are going awry! Admit mistakes and bring the troops home as soon as possible, PLEASE! 🙁

The Hypocrisy Of Republicans On The Proposed “War Tax”

Ronald 10 Comments

The Republican party is very effective at attacking President Obama and the Democrats on deficit spending and a growing national debt, conveniently having amnesia about the fact that the majority of the national debt occurred under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush.

They are ready to condemn “wild” government spending on a health care plan that we “cannot afford”. But at the same time, when the suggestion is made that if we are to escalate our involvement in Afghanistan, that maybe we should have the American people pay a “war tax”, as we always paid during every past war except those under the second President Bush, then suddenly their answer is “NO WAY!”

If it is so important that we continue to make a commitment to Afghanistan for many years, then why not expect that the sacrifice of the American people, who face no draft but have a responsibility to those who fight for us, should be to pay for the cost of the war, rather than hand it on to our children and grandchildren?

In the past, while maybe many citizens were unhappy over paying higher taxes during our various wars, they did so with a sense of patriotism and loyalty to the cause of freedom. Why cannot we expect that same level of commitment from the American people now?

Again, the GOP is quick to send our sons and daughters over to fight for us, but not to demand from the people that they do their fair share in the war effort! In other words, this is total hypocrisy!