President Obama must understand that foreign wars are the undoing of U.S. Presidents and most domestic agendas. If he hopes to concentrate on getting us out of this deep recession, he cannot spend any more time in Iraq and in particular, enlarge or continue our dead-end involvement in Afghanistan. Perhaps he’s trying to find a way to break the news to the U.S. Military and the American people that we must give up a no-win fight set back in the 14th Century for a greater and winnable one that our country faces in the 21st.
Afghanistan has chosen its future and we should not bother with it anymore. It has chosen a backwards, corrupt, evil, and dead-end approach that mixes a toxic blend of drug trafficking, warlords, ethnic rivalries, fixed elections, religious zealotry, and blowing up civilians. It is no wonder that the Taliban with Al Qaida are again in control of over half of that country.
Rather than wasting more human lives and billions of dollars trying to move a country forward 7 centuries, we need to promptly leave. The stolen election and fraudulent run-off gives us the best reason to abandon Afghan President Karzai to his own devices. All Afghans know we will eventually leave, so they are both patient yet highly destructive to themselves. We should leave now on our own terms because it will never get any better in Afghanistan than it is now.
Unless this Administration and the Democratic Congress make significant progress in getting Americans back to work in meaningful jobs creating a better and more competitive country within the next 1 to 3 years, the U.S. will continue its steady slide to political, economic, social and even military oblivion. Most Americans and I personally do not care the least about what the hell happens in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, and the whole insane Middle East.
Our only real but still difficult friend there is Israel – our de-facto 51st State and the only pluralistic, modern democracy with a functioning high-tech economy in that region worth preserving. However we jointly need to figure out how they can live with the Palestinians in a single or two-state solution. Endless engagement with many Middle Eastern countries requires both sides to participate. Since our efforts have led to multiple rejections, it’s time to move on.
Many Republicans, including the perpetually wrong and biggest loser of the 2008 Presidential Contest, Senator John McCain, are calling for all-out war in Afghanistan, and then Iran, and who knows where else. Republicans know the best way to derail any new domestic policies and spending programs is to consume the Federal Budget in more War – preferably endless war. That will upend the 2006 and 2008 election results completely and they will return to power – not to remake the U.S. domestically, but to pursue fantasies of empire that will all end badly.
President Obama does have the American people on his side. Poll after poll indicates the public’s complete distaste for the Iraqi and Afghanistan misadventures of the prior Republican Administration and Congress.
Pulling out is not to be considered as defeat and our soldiers did not die or were wounded in vain. We did all we could to permit the Iraqi and Afghanistan people, their governments, and their wealthy and politically-connected individuals and groups, to decide upon their new national fates. Just because they have done such poor jobs of managing their internal affairs does not reflect badly on our own valiant soldiers and good-intentioned efforts at nation-building. In the final analysis, Iraq and Afghanistan are for the Iraqis and Afghans to decide – and no amount of American troops and weapons, nor all the financial, social and educational assistance, will make any difference if those people wish to go another way.
However, President Obama does not have the luxury of time to spend more American lives and treasury trying to remake parts of the world if certain countries and societies are deeply opposed to any changes. There are actually many other nations, advanced, developing and even poor, that still want to work with the U.S. on many environmental, food source, immigration, healthcare, education and climate change issues. That is where the U.S. focus must be – where we can collectively achieve worthwhile goals.
Those nations that wish to live in the past and embrace extreme religious, political, economic and social solutions should simply be ignored unless they pose a danger to our citizens, cities, and global allies. We can only confront them with the truth, constant vigilance, and targeted short-term massive military force. We can only involve ourselves in the internal affairs of other nations after we have accurately detected those military, terrorist, economic, environmental and political threats to our nation’s best interests.
I would criticize President Obama and the Democratic Congress on “dithering” with respect to addressing unemployment, enacting strong financial and banking regulations, and completing new legislation with respect to climate change, sustainable energy development, and rebuilding our nation’s schools and transportation infrastructure. They should completely ignore the bitter, meritless and moronic critiques and essentially “wrong” ideas from the political “right” about all our domestic and foreign policies. If we have to go to war anyplace, it is with our serious domestic problems, not with essentially useless countries and societies that will only negatively impact our country the longer we are involved with them.
National Elections have consequences. Conservatives and Republicans were completely repudiated in 2006 and especially 2008 after their domestic and foreign policies were wholly discredited by reality. Their really bad advice and backwards ideas are completely useless, worthless, wrong, and calculated only to damage the U.S. for their short-term political gain. If Democrats waste any more limited time and energy trying to placate this discredited minority and other extreme right-wing-nuts, and yet ignore the majority of Americans, they will quickly lose the next two Federal elections in 2010 and 2012.
Time waits for no one and life is too short to waste time debating losers when so much is at stake for the future of the U.S. If Democrats do not promptly implement many new progressive and liberal policies, they may never have another chance to do so. You certainly do not solidify or expand your base by being timid and negotiating with yourself to water down legislation.
The irrelevant results of the parochial gubernatorial elections in Virginia and New Jersey, along with the special Congressional election in upstate New York, should be completely ignored as they are not any harbingers for 2010 or 2012 or meaningful referenda on your current Administration. President Obama, let’s get out of Afghanistan completely and immediately so you can start addressing the many issues for which you were originally elected.
Marc Pascal