Obama and Afghanistan
On a side note, I keep getting spammed by some Russian mail order bride company. I don't know why. Most of them show up on the "Call Me Ishmael" post. So I've changed the comment moderation settings - for posts over two weeks old, your comments will be moderated. I think that will cut off teh flow of Call Me Ishmael mail order crap. If you want a Russian mail order bride, I have no interest in providing any assistance in the process.
My eight-year-old son Corbin is disturbed very much by war. For as long as he’s had memory, this nation has been at war in response to the attacks of September 11, 2001. Not long ago, he asked his parents whether or not wars ever end.
That’s a question that President Obama inappropriately answered the other night.
It’s been said before, and it needs to be said again: no one wants war. But simply pulling troops out before the job is done doesn’t bring peace. All it does is return us to a time when the other side was the only one fighting. Afghanistan, for years, was a failed state ruled by a brutal regime that aided and harbored the terrorists who struck us on 9/11. If we leave Afghanistan now, we’ll allow it to return to that condition and create a breeding ground for more assaults on America.
We can’t let that happen.
For part of President Obama’s speech, it seemed as if he understood that. He was making the case for committing additional troops to the area, which is a hard sell to a war-weary nation. But his commitment was halfhearted, because he promised to have all the troops out of Afghanistan by 2013.
This is the worst of all possible worlds.
The deadline sends a terrible message to our enemies. It lets them know that all they have to do is wait us out for the next three years, and then, it’s business as usual. It says that America can be outlasted, and that our commitment to freedom only goes so far.
Of course, many Democrats are upset that he’s willing to continue military action at all. So, in order to appease them, he’s set a deadline for the war to be over, whether or not it actually is. I can’t judge the president’s motives, but I think it would be abhorrent to make life-and-death decisions about putting our troops in harms way based on political calculation. Rightly or wrongly, this deadline for troop withdrawal creates that impression, and it does nothing to boost the morale and confidence of those brave men and women who stand ready to make the ultimate sacrifice on our behalf.
Still, President Obama is our Commander-in-Chief, and I consider it my duty to support him on this. I have every confidence that we can win this conflict if we have the political will to do so.
It’s a good thing nobody set a deadline for the end of World War II.
My eight-year-old son Corbin is disturbed very much by war. For as long as he’s had memory, this nation has been at war in response to the attacks of September 11, 2001. Not long ago, he asked his parents whether or not wars ever end.
That’s a question that President Obama inappropriately answered the other night.
It’s been said before, and it needs to be said again: no one wants war. But simply pulling troops out before the job is done doesn’t bring peace. All it does is return us to a time when the other side was the only one fighting. Afghanistan, for years, was a failed state ruled by a brutal regime that aided and harbored the terrorists who struck us on 9/11. If we leave Afghanistan now, we’ll allow it to return to that condition and create a breeding ground for more assaults on America.
We can’t let that happen.
For part of President Obama’s speech, it seemed as if he understood that. He was making the case for committing additional troops to the area, which is a hard sell to a war-weary nation. But his commitment was halfhearted, because he promised to have all the troops out of Afghanistan by 2013.
This is the worst of all possible worlds.
The deadline sends a terrible message to our enemies. It lets them know that all they have to do is wait us out for the next three years, and then, it’s business as usual. It says that America can be outlasted, and that our commitment to freedom only goes so far.
Of course, many Democrats are upset that he’s willing to continue military action at all. So, in order to appease them, he’s set a deadline for the war to be over, whether or not it actually is. I can’t judge the president’s motives, but I think it would be abhorrent to make life-and-death decisions about putting our troops in harms way based on political calculation. Rightly or wrongly, this deadline for troop withdrawal creates that impression, and it does nothing to boost the morale and confidence of those brave men and women who stand ready to make the ultimate sacrifice on our behalf.
Still, President Obama is our Commander-in-Chief, and I consider it my duty to support him on this. I have every confidence that we can win this conflict if we have the political will to do so.
It’s a good thing nobody set a deadline for the end of World War II.
posted by Elder Samuel Bennett | 10:28 AM
7 Comments:
What, no post on ClimatGate?
It also puts Obama in an unenviable position if 2013 comes and no troops get sent home. I don't think it's a coincidence that he put the deadline for a year AFTER his re-election.
ClimateGate post is a'comin'.
Heather, you're absolutely right.
Please note: No kittens were injured in this blog.
That is all, or not.
But 2013? Isn't the world going to end in 2012? (Joke...)
P.S. ClimatGate is a step towards a global-warming free existance.
Subscribe to mah Russian mail order! (Another joke...)
While I agree that setting a date for removing troops was a bad idea, is it not possible for our military, the best fighting machine in the world, to get the job done in 3-4 years? Didn't Obama consult with the leading generals of the army and agree on a sufficient number of additional troops to get the job done?
WWII only lasted six years. Afghanistan has lasted eight years. And it's not true that "no one wants war". Defense contractors want war. War profiteers want war. Hawks want war. The State wants war because it creates a permanent state of emergency that keeps the population cowed.
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