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Saturday, Sept. 12, 2009 | 2:03 a.m.
The cartoon by Jimmy Margulies in Tuesday’s Las Vegas Sun says it all. It depicts maps of Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan, with a caption below: “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over — and expecting a different result.” A very sad but true observation.
Since World War II, America has been involved in numerous undeclared wars, which have resulted in no-win situations at a horrendous price in thousands of lives and a humongous economic disaster. No matter that we have entangled ourselves with some countries that haven’t the slightest notion what freedom and a republican form of government is all about.
“Peace at whatever the cost” seems to have been the motto all these years — both Democratic and Republican administrations combined efforts with the United Nations to be the self-appointed policemen of the world.
Vietnam was an unmitigated disaster, as was the unwinnable war launched by the Soviet Union against Afghanistan in the ’80s. The frozen weather and mountainous terrain, along with dedicated Afghan soldiers, made for a failed and costly endeavor for the mighty Soviet army, which finally decided to leave.
Our involvement in Afghanistan after the 9/11 terrorist attacks was, at the time, a seemingly worthwhile effort to go after the leaders of the criminal gang al-Qaida. But as we have experienced in other no-win, undeclared wars, this quagmire has also been a costly entanglement.
It is the president’s sole responsibility to serve as the commander in chief of our military forces, and to defend Americans from potential enemies. But it is the responsibility of Congress to call for a declaration of war, as stated by the U.S. Constitution.
It is time to get back to basics: to reacquaint all Americans with the greatest document ever devised by man and the proper role of government in a free society.
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Why is Obama sending our troops into battle with on hand tied behind there back.
Obama should quit the battle that he does not support.
If the troop are in a gun battle they have to retreat if the bad guy go into a house.
To supervise future interrogations, the administration is creating something called a High Value Detainee Interrogation Group. Interrogation techniques will be limited to those in the Army Field Manual or that are "noncoercive," which is more constrained than a big-city police department. Authority is being moved from the CIA to a FBI group run directly by the Whitehouse.
Eight years after we entered Afghanistan we are losing a war that we initially were winning. We are now at a cross roads and have to make a major decision.Do we withdraw and allow the Taliban to again take over, and al Qaeda to re enter and operate with impunity?The democrats do not have a stomach for war, and this administration is more concerned about civilian lives and detainee rights than they are about killing the Taliban and al Qaeda. We would never have won WWII with that strategy and rules of engagement. We are on the wrong path, and the American people have just been through a gut twisting economic recession that is still in progress, and which may have ruined our longer term enonomic future due to trillions of dollars in wasteful government expenditures. Winning wars requires national commitment and money. Both are on the wane in America. In my opinion it would be a tragedy to withdraw from the scourge in Afghanistan, the birth place of 9/11, and future devastating possible attacks on American soil. But without the national will to remain, and policies that support our troops, we will quite possibly will be forced to retreat, only to return on another day after another atrocity, possibly even worse than 9/11.Unfortunately the writing seems to be on the wall. We have a weak administration overtaken by a devastating domestic agenda at a time when America is weak spirited and has no stomach for defending itself in far away places,regardless of the ultimate consequences.
I don't think Congress could declare anything but raises for themselves...
So the whiny lib koolaid drinkers pushed for Bush's impeachment because the Iraq war was unconstitutional.
Do they call for Obama's impeachment for conducting an unconstitutional war in Afghanistan?
Nope...because it is ALL ABOUT POLITICS.
Houstonjac: Future attacks on America can be orchestrated from anywhere on the planet and not just a cave in Afghanistan. The intent of invading the country was to capture or kill bin Laden, which has proven to be impossible. A now corrupt government, which is undermined by the drug trafficking of president Hamid Karzai's brother insures that it is a war that can never be won. This is now a war that although originally there was a major victory at hand, now is turning into a death trap for out troops.
Remembering that the Taliban eradicated the poppy production in 2001, and not using fighting the drug trade as a reason to stay there, please tell us what does "winning" in Afghanistan mean today and why it is in America's interests?
Gordon: Tell me why losing the war in Afghanistan, and the return of the Taliban and al Qaeda to its sanctuary are in America's interests. Been there --seen that. That's insanity! Killing bin Laden was not the objective of the invasion of Afghanistan. Ridding the country of the Taliban and al Qaeda was the main purpose--their demise was the reason. Killing the brain center and the central al Qaeda command was important to disrupting the
ability of al Qaeda to launch more attacks. The "orchestrated" anywhwere theory does not hold water when the brain center is dead. You have bought into the anti war rhetoric.
Houstonjac: I have no problem continuing to pursue bin Laden.
What does "winning" in Afghanistan mean today and why it is in America's interests? Are we now fighting for rights for women? Democracy? Nation building?
Countries like Afghanistan need to determine their own destiny. Should we be fighting in every country that mistreats their people, or just the ones with oil? I like a good war as much as the next guy. Defining a "good war" seems to be our problem. The blood of American's should not be shed so unwisely.
Afghanistan has no oil.
They make up for it by in the mistreatment of their people. Plenty of oil in Africa and the people are killed for sport there. I wonder what we're missing in our assessment on that continent. There are plenty of candidates for regime change there. I'd vote for that.
What none of the readers have recognized is that these no-win, undeclared wars have always been instigated by the same group that is above and behind our government, as explained in the book "The Shadows of Power," available at http://www.shopjbs.org/index.php/shadows.... Knowledge of the facts in this book will give the reader a real understanding of the overarching cause of these otherwise seemingly illogical events.
The purpose of these wars is to move the United States, step-by-step, into a global tyranny.
"The purpose of these wars is to move the United States, step-by-step, into a global tyranny."
Sounds like something Bin Laden would say...