Unlike Dick Cheney’s absurd assessment, I appreciate the length of time it took to come to this decision. President Obama listened to many opinions and made a decision. His decision was to send 30,000 more troops in to Afghanistan to “win” this war. With the Generals praise of the President, I think it would be safe to say that he listened to their expertise and made his decision based on their knowledge. That’s shows sound judgment when it comes to winning a war. And it has pissed off both the right and the left so it sounds good to me.
But after further review I didn’t see a good out come in Afghanistan. This is the third poorest country in the world so you can’t expect the inhabitants to be educated enough to govern themselves. Even though the Democrats are good at throwing money at a problem this will not work here. So what do they mean when they say “win” and how do we “win”? These are the questions that nobody has an answer to. Even if we are successful at pushing the Taliban and Al Qaeda out, then what? We can’t educate the whole country, we can’t build their infrastructure, and we can’t even train them to build an army. So how long will it take to “win” and after we are gone then what? Some other group will come in use fear and take over. Say old story just different oppressors.
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The sticking point on this "war" is that there is no real win here. There is no point in what we are doing other than trying to force our way to another Mideast ally. Hundreds or thousands of American lives will be lost and billions of dollars will be wasted and for what? What are the conditions that constitute a win in Afghanistan?
ReplyDeleteLets say that after years of war and billions of dollars lost we finally establish a solid government that provides for its people. We help establish the ability to defend itself. We create an economy that doesn’t revolve around illegal substances. Would that be considered a win? Is that the time to get out? Many would say yes. But lets say that all of that happens and the new democratically elected government in Afghanistan decides to side with Iran and Syria in Mideast affairs and considers the US an enemy. What happens then? Do we reinvade to teach them a lesson?
Lets not forget that this war had been fought before. The Soviet Union came into Afghanistan in 1979 to assist the failing government. They were there for ten years fighting against forces that were armed by the US. Finally they left in failure, we left as well, and Afghanistan degenerated into the mess that it is today. Why does anyone think that this time will be different. Do we expect to have a permanent military force in the country? How do we expect to win over anyone with this strategy? How difficult will it be for Al-Qaeda to recruit angry young men when they see an American with an assault rifle on every corner?
The country is a mess, the region is a mess. There is no upside to this whole deal. I was hoping that a less hawkish administration would see the light and not commit more lives and money to this disgusting imperialistic measure, but they have. sigh. I hope one day we truly elect a leader. Someone who is less interested in poll numbers and more interested in the best interests of the country. They might not get reelected, but it would be a great four years.