WHAT IS THE MISSION? HOW DO WE DEFINE SUCCESS?
By Daniel at 2 December, 2009, 12:26 am
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DOES ANYONE BELIEVE THAT AFGHANISTAN — with no civic institutions, with no sexual equality, with endemic corruption at EVERY LEVEL of government (starting with Mr. Karzai himself!), with death, extreme poverty, lack of clean water and any semblance of healthcare — that with all this misery, not to mention a POPULATION OF PEOPLE, MANY OF WHOM HAVE GUNS, SHOULDER-FIRED ROCKETS, and IMPROVISED IUD’s … DOES ANYONE SERIOUSLY BELIEVE THAT WE CAN “WIN” SUCH A WAR/POLICE ACTION/OCCUPATION??!
This is bull-cocka.
Let the Afghans figure out their own future. Take U.S. troops and military assets and decimate the mountain regions where we think Osama might still be lurking … and take everyone else OUT now.
There is no honor in this conflict. We are fighting a battle with no definitive goals … and “establishing Democracy” when the U.S.-installed “president” has no power outside of Kabul (that’s 99% of the country I’m talking about) and is as CORRUPT AS THEY COME.
REALLY, WHAT ARE WE DOING THERE?
And why is this topic justified to some (ie: Mark Bazemore) to distract from the larger issues of likelihood for success … instead, just going off on the same nutcake arguments that really boil down to the fact that Obama doesn’t “look” like Mark Bazemore … all this “socialism” stuff cast at Obama is just a “gentlemanly” way of shifting the discussion slightly from what he REALLY wants to say but can’t … that Obama is, as a black, highly educated man, “different” than Bazemore … and Bazemore just can’t reconcile it.
Me? I’m disgusted with Obama for other reasons, which I feel are substantive. GM, Chrysler bailouts … while started under Bush’s watch, these now are direct policy outcome of Team Obama … and I utterly reject them.
I reject the logic behind Cash for Clunkers, and the continuation of the first-time home buyers tax credit. I reject that Obama hasn’t used his tremendous platform to call for some reasonable level of NATIONAL sacrifice and personal accountability when men and women are sacrificing THEIR LIVES in Iraq and Afghanistan … that he’s allowed (with considerable help from WSJ, too … talk about strange bedfellows!) discussion instead to focus on compensation for the top-25 officers and executives at a handful of companies that continue to receive MASSIVE government assistance to remain solvent. I could go on-and-on …
This is just a continuation of the illogic that drove us to virtually abandon our focus on the 9-11 perpetrators and had us go full-throttle into a country that had never attacked America and frankly to anyone who was objective, had no capability to do so. Not that the early efforts in Afghanistan were any textbook example of resounding success (but what invader has ever had an easy time of it in that desolate, Godforsaken wasteland?! More reason to stay focused on it, which we didn’t do …), but at least we ran Mullah Omar out of “leadership” and had Osama Bin Laden living off cockroaches in some mountain cave … but, if the mission isn’t to get the head of Osama mounted on a wall at the 9-11 Memorial (wherever and whenever the incompetents in NYC can get that pulled together!), then WHAT ARE WE DOING THERE?
- William Brown
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