Can we police the entire world?
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Free Press Contributor on Oct 26th, 2011 and filed under
<
http://haysfreepress.com/archives/category/opinion/jack-linden> Jack
Linden, <
http://haysfreepress.com/archives/category/opinion> Opinion.
Letters from Linden
by JACK LINDEN
When it came to the wars begun by George W. Bush, I was an outspoken critic.
I understood the retaliation against the Taliban and al Qaeda were a
justified reaction to the attack on the United States. However, I did not
and do not condone the continuing war in Afghanistan. Neither the Bush nor
the Obama administration has justified the continuation of loss of life,
injuries and resources for continuing this war.
We cannot justify expenditures of human and financial resources in a country
that was tribal at best - and familial in structure. A functioning central,
civil government was and is impossible to sustain in Afghanistan. If our
goal was to wipe out a home for al Qaeda, we have done that. We cannot
commit to creating a functioning government, and to assume we can is a
figment of someone's imagination.
The war in Iraq is even more insidious. The justification for beginning the
war was built on a lie. We seem to forget that when asked about the reason
for the war, the undersecretary of defense said that among the options to be
presented to the public, only the allegation of weapons of mass destruction
would be acceptable to the American public. That was seven years ago; we are
still there.
We Americans have accepted so much since the September 2001 attack. We have
allowed the government to impose restrictions on our liberties. We have
panicked to the point of accepting about anything in the name of fighting
terrorism. The idiotic idea that we can stop terrorism completely is exactly
that - an idiotic idea.
While I have condemned the Bush administration, I must also condemn the
actions and non-actions of the Obama administration. President Barack Obama
has out-Bushed in many ways. I realize that some of his pledges have been
stopped by the Congress but some have not. If we truly believe in American
justice and its system, we would have closed the prison at Guantanamo Bay
and tried all of the accused in our courts of law. Congress stopped
President Obama from closing Guantanamo, but I think he did not try hard
enough to fulfill his pledge.
I agree that the president is bringing some troops home from both
Afghanistan and Iraq. But, he has not given us a legitimate reason for
keeping some there. Can he really justify spending almost two billion
dollars a week in those wars? Can he justify rebuilding there? That is what
we are doing in Iraq and in Afghanistan. Those monies are needed here at
home.
Not only has the president continued the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, he
has expanded them into other countries. We know now that drones are being
used in Pakistan. We also know that we have used ground troops there as
well. Was it justifiable to use troops to capture and kill Osama bin Laden
in Pakistan?
While many may justify using force against al Qaeda hideouts in Pakistan to
pursue the war in Afghanistan, how do we justify using drones to kill people
in Yemen? Do we need to send troops to Somalia? Has the congress approved
the sending of 100 troops to Uganda? Where in the world is there now that a
president can't send troops?
Yes, President Obama, there is terror in the world and there are terrorists
advocating it. You, who have studied law, should have learned that you can
not destroy an idea. You do not need an army to combat terrorist threats
against the United States. The U.S. can no longer police the entire world.
We voted for change and while you have tried to change the politics of the
United States, you have continued and expanded the war policies of the past
administration. It is time you changed that.
Read more at the Hays Free Press
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Received on Wed Oct 26 2011 - 13:57:38 EDT