This morning I lowered the U.S. Flag at our office to half-staff for the day; the third such lowering in three weeks. The Governor of Michigan orders all flags within the state to be flown at half-staff to honor Michigan service people who are killed on active duty and/or while in a combat zone. Many of these deaths take place in Kandahar province, Afghanistan.
Last week, President Obama succumbed to public pressure and announced a speed-up of the plan to bring troops home from Afghanistan. Believe me, I very much want our troops home and out of harms way from what I believe to be an unattainable objective in Afghanistan. However, that withdrawal must be done with our military objective and the safety of our personnel at the forefront of planning. Mr Obama has chosen to ignore the advice of the military commanders right up to the Secretary of Defense, who say his plan is too much, too soon, and risks losing much of what has been accomplished so far.
As a Vietnam-era vet, I'm reminded of that war and how politics played a huge role in the actions that resulted in nearly 60,000 American deaths. Shame on you, Mr President, for using Afghanistan to garner public favor with your next election less than 18 months away. It stinks of political gain at the expense of American lives and mission failure.
Elsewhere in the War on Terror front, the TSA is now subjecting 95-year-old, leukemia-stricken, frail grandmothers to strip search. Have they lost their freaking minds? This is yet another outrage that should wake-up those responsible for TSA procedures that the agency is totally out of control. Were Mrs Weber my grandmother I imagine I'd be in jail this morning. This is utter nonsense and if allowed to continue we may as well admit it...the terrorists have won.
Give us back our freedom; I'll take my chances that a cancer-ridden 95-yr-old won't bomb or hijack the flight.
Well, with all due respect, you say Obama is doing this for political gain at the "expense of American lives and mission failure". First I am curious, don't most of the soldiers get killed while in Afghanistan? Wouldn't removing them from the situation be the best way to keep them out of harms way? And, exactly what is the "Mission"? This war has been going on almost twice as long as World War Two, but I have yet to understand what our "Mission" is? To my knowledge, it has never been definitively explained, and what has been explained has been an unobtainable goal, at best. Obama did promise to stop these senseless wars during the election, in that respect he is fulfilling the will of the American people, who by the way, overwhelmingly want to see these wars end.
ReplyDeleteAlso, these wars have been a Huge drain on out economy, into the trillions of dollars. Because of this our economy is floundering. Yet many agree we need continue these endless, very expensive wars? Oddly these same folks seem to also agree that we need to continue with lower taxes? This while two wars are going on? During the World Wars Americans from every walk of life sacrificed many things to support the effort. Today, no one is giving the support wars like this require, and the sacrifice is coming mainly in the form of our soldiers lives. I say, bring them home.... At the very least, if you are for these wars, you should be in favor of higher taxes in order to support them.... but I don't hear too many suggesting that.... just sayin.
That IS the question: what is the mission? What the hell was the mission in 'Nam? My concern is that Obama's timetable will put our other soldiers in even greater danger. I don't want that to happen. Bring 'em home, absolutely, but make sure it happens with the best planning possible.
ReplyDeleteI cannot accept the idea Obama did this to fulfill a campaign promise. Bringing the added "surge" troops home only puts personnel levels back to where they were when he took office.
I agree that our floundering economy can no longer support these wars, and the dozens of other "conflicts" we think we need to be involved in, no matter what the tax rates are. Our staggering debt from military actions AND---even more so---from attempting to be all things to all citizens from cradle to grave will bury us economically. It's coming our way while the nation's leaders debate the Debt Ceiling and what constitutes a "tax cut". Gimme a break.