Afghanistan...a seemingly endless war in the midst of a strategically placed wasteland of poppy fields, smuggling routes and prime pipeline real estate. That's what the war there is really all about, not the imminent threat of terrorists rising like a dark shadow over America because they will have a "safe haven" there to plan their misdeeds. I feel compelled to offer up this footnote to Mr. Obama, just as I offered it to the former Commander in Chief. Terrorists do not need trackless wastelands and inaccessible mountain hideouts to plot and plan their attacks. A hotel room in Karachi will do just fine.
So what is the vital interest President Obama mentions that compels us to extend the war there another 18 months? I can't find one, unless the control of the poppy fields and pipeline projects is still the trump card, or the need to have strong U.S. military presence in Central Asia for purposes of power projection in oil rich regions.
Face it... What we have here is just another surge and purge strategy that will have little or no impact on the long term viability of Afghanistan as a Western controlled or friendly state. The Taliban will wait it out and get back to business as usual after we leave...if we ever do leave. We have been there since 2001--eight years that will soon extend to a decade of military involvement. After all our effort there we still need 30,000 more troops? (That's two full divisions, or 20% of our standing land army of 10 divisions).
Again we get the grossly misguided notion that the vital threat to the US is some nefarious Taliban plotting in the hills. Does anyone in the White House read? The gravest threat to the nation lies not in Afghanistan, but in the plush halls of the Federal Reserve and all the other corrupt financial institutions that have driven the nation into a tar pit of insolvency.
Give me 30,000 federal prosecutors to root out the shady securities and derivatives deals, the fradulent real estate lending schemes, the quiet flow of billions from the public trust to pay off the losses of fat cat "investors." The banking system has done more harm to this nation than 1000 Osama Bin Ladins. We have no vital interest in Afghanistan, but fail to see how desperately we need reform and a purge of the corruption right here at home.
President Obama is misguided. Change.gov has become "same as the above." We have seen no real change from Obama, just a continuation of the Fed and Treasury dominated economic policy, and a sad continuation of the Bush war policy, invoking 9/11, and high sounding words about "freedom" and "our values" from an eloquent president that has done nothing but watch his approval rating drop along with the value of the U.S. dollar. (Down 22% since March of this year!)
"There is a time in the affairs of men which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune." Sadly, Obama could have brought real change to our nation, but he missed his moment and remained content to drift languidly along with the tide.
I want my vote back.
So what is the vital interest President Obama mentions that compels us to extend the war there another 18 months? I can't find one, unless the control of the poppy fields and pipeline projects is still the trump card, or the need to have strong U.S. military presence in Central Asia for purposes of power projection in oil rich regions.
Face it... What we have here is just another surge and purge strategy that will have little or no impact on the long term viability of Afghanistan as a Western controlled or friendly state. The Taliban will wait it out and get back to business as usual after we leave...if we ever do leave. We have been there since 2001--eight years that will soon extend to a decade of military involvement. After all our effort there we still need 30,000 more troops? (That's two full divisions, or 20% of our standing land army of 10 divisions).
Again we get the grossly misguided notion that the vital threat to the US is some nefarious Taliban plotting in the hills. Does anyone in the White House read? The gravest threat to the nation lies not in Afghanistan, but in the plush halls of the Federal Reserve and all the other corrupt financial institutions that have driven the nation into a tar pit of insolvency.
Give me 30,000 federal prosecutors to root out the shady securities and derivatives deals, the fradulent real estate lending schemes, the quiet flow of billions from the public trust to pay off the losses of fat cat "investors." The banking system has done more harm to this nation than 1000 Osama Bin Ladins. We have no vital interest in Afghanistan, but fail to see how desperately we need reform and a purge of the corruption right here at home.
President Obama is misguided. Change.gov has become "same as the above." We have seen no real change from Obama, just a continuation of the Fed and Treasury dominated economic policy, and a sad continuation of the Bush war policy, invoking 9/11, and high sounding words about "freedom" and "our values" from an eloquent president that has done nothing but watch his approval rating drop along with the value of the U.S. dollar. (Down 22% since March of this year!)
"There is a time in the affairs of men which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune." Sadly, Obama could have brought real change to our nation, but he missed his moment and remained content to drift languidly along with the tide.
I want my vote back.
