This blogger has been blogging about the wars in IRAQ and AFGHANISTAN for almost two years now and more than 300,000 people have visited my blog.
I have seen a lot and learned a lot about both conflicts.
President Obama is faced with a major decision regarding sending upwards of 40,000 more US men and women into Afghanistan.
The Republicans and all the talking heads on radio and TV want Obama to send the troops that Gen. Stanley McChrstal wants to wage the war against the Taliban.
The truth of the matter is the Republicans want more troops sent to Afghanistan so they can then say the Afghanistan war is "Obama's war."
History has always been a great teacher and when you look back at the history of wars in Afghanistan you will find Alexander The Great could not defeat the Afghans. The Britsh and Russians tried, but were also doomed to failure.
The argument put forth by the Republicans is that it is in the interest of United States security to bring down the Taliban in Afghanistan.
But is it really?
There is no such things as "winning" in Afghanistan because the country is divided into scores of tribal groups without any one group in charge of the destiny of Afghanistan.
The government of Afghanistan is in shambles and this week we learned the President of Afghanistan, Harmid Karzai's brother, is a war lord and in charge of the opium trade in Afghanistan.
Are we supposed to send our young soldiers and Marines into Afghanistan to try and beat the Taliban when in the end all we are doing is propping up the opium trade and Karzai's brother and his drug cartel?
Some military observers say it would take 10 or more years to defeat the Taliban and in the course of the battle thousands of US troops would be killed and injured.
The reason the Bush administration invaded Afghanistan was to find and kill Osama bin Laden, but that was nearly eight years ago and most people feel he has slipped across the border into Pakistan and is hiding out in the rugged mountains of that country.
The other argument the Republicans present is Afghanistan could become a training ground for Al Queda, but Al Queda is now spread out all across the mid-East and Europe and even have cells here in the United States.
The terrain of Afghanistan is a brutal place to fight a war. It is all mountains and caves and to add to the misery winter is coming to the country and our troops will be bogged down in freezing weather much like the German Army was when they tried to take Russia during World War II.
President Obama may have made a campaign pledge to continue the war in Afghanistan, but nowhere is it written he can't change his mind and decide the sacrifice of thousands of young Americans is not worth it.
President Obama: Get out NOW.
You will take some heat from the Republicans, but so what. Most of them don't have a family member in the military and they haven't got a dog in the fight.
Editorial comment by BILL CORCORAN, editor, CORKSPHERE: http://corksphere.blogspot.com
Email: corkcol@aol.com
Saturday, October 31, 2009
MEMO TO PRESIDENT OBAMA: AFGHANISTAN IS NOT WORTH THE LIFE OF ONE MORE AMERICAN: GET OUT NOW
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2 comments:
Rather than "Get out NOW!" I submit that what the president and congress retain as a moral obligation to themselves and the country is to explain the need to send more troops, to provide General McChrystal with the resources he requests is so dire that re-institution of the military draft for all Americans, age 18 to 40, who have not yet served, regardless of current employment, educational, marital, parental, or other status. (Those who have been adjudged by a court of appropriate jurisdiction to be mentally incompetent and those who have been diagnosed as physically unfit may be excused. However said excusal must be reviewed semiannually.) Additionally, the cited need and the financial provisions for meeting said need must be paid for within the current budget, or by amendment to said budget, via whatever additional tax increases may be necessary, as forecast by the CBO (Congressinal Budget Office.)
Voltaire's Volt: Excellent suggestion. I have long believed that if we are going to the world's policeman then EVERYONE who is military age should serve in the military for at least two years. No exceptions for school or anything else.
Thanks for writing.
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