Afghanistan

I'm torn about what to support or oppose when it comes to the Afghanistan war.

One, I don't want Al Qaeda and the Taliban to win anything. If we're out of there, which we eventually have to be anyway, it'll give them an open field for whatever they want to do. The Taliban will definitely be back in full force, oppressing the people. But I don't know what's going on now. Maybe they already are.

Two, once we're gone, we're gone. It'll be too late to get anything accomplished for good. It's just too bad it seems like we haven't accomplished much. Maybe we have. What do I know? It seems like if we're there from 2001 to 2009 we ought to have accomplished a lot. That's longer than World War II.

It's hard for me to believe that we can't win if we set our mind to it, whatever "winning" actually means. Yes, it's a tough country, they say. But what about the other side? They're not Superman, are they? If we can't beat a few (however many) rebels in one little country, how in the world would we ever be able to handle the Nazis again?

President Obama's going to have a plan, which sounds like more troops. It's not a popular thing for those on the left. But it's a popular thing for those on the right. That right there, the fact that the Republicans are for it, might automatically mean it's the wrong thing to do. So that's a point against it. Leaving me in a quandary.

I guess at this point I'm going to trust that the president has weighed the options and is making the best decision based on the information he has. He has it, not me. He's in charge, not me. So, go for whatever he feels is best. That's where I'm going to end up.

Get a definite plan, a definite goal, do what we can to accomplish it, then get out. Just don't get us in so deep that we can never get out.

What's This? The Generals And Sarah Palin

What's this? I'm hearing something about active duty generals in Afghanistan brewing up some dissension from President Obama's policies. Agitating for certain a certain level of troop increase, etc.

What happened to the unquestioned commander-in-chief concept we had in the Bush years? Which I would agree with, actually, when it comes to the soldiers. You got something to say against the commander-in-chief, shut up. Or wait till you retire, then spill your guts.

And what's this? I'm hearing that Sarah Palin went to Hong Kong and was badmouthing President Obama to a bunch of communists. Can this be right? Do we not have a policy that "politics stops at the water's edge" and that you don't badmouth our government overseas?

I seem to remember something about the Dixie Chicks -- who aren't even government (or ex-government) officials -- saying some little thing about President Bush while overseas and getting a lot of lumps for it.

So what? Palin can just get away with it. Why is that? Is it the airhead discount she's entitled to?

The Lengthy Afghanistan War

There's a poll that says people are turned off on the Afghanistan war.

Maybe they're just now realizing we're still over there, doing what? The little light clicked over my head the other day too when there was a report about the war on TV. I asked out loud, "We haven't won that war yet? What's going on?"

Why are these wars endless? It makes you wonder how World War II ever managed to be wrapped up so speedily. Wars these days are like highway construction. A guy goes on the crew right out of high school and he's 65 and retiring before they get the road open.

The Iraq war has been a stumper for me. The Iraqis had no army beyond the first day, no navy, no air force, no coast guard, no nothing. And we've been over there since 2003! Hitler had an army, a navy, an air force, and we beat him in less time. Hitler! Whose name is synonymous with the baddest ass ever! He was evil, I'll give him that. He just didn't know how to pace it.

We're fighting these wars -- I'm convinced of it -- just to keep the military contractors happy. It's all wink-wink, put in another division.

It is up to D.B. Kundalini to end the war

OK, I hereby end it. Done.

The headline is the headline of an email I got, putting the ending of the war right in my personal lap. I like that, being a man of responsibility and action. I really don't mind. If it is up to me, I will end it, and herewith do end it.

But then the body of the letter isn't specifically on my personal power to accomplish this task. It says, "Our leaders in Washington aren't going to end the War in Iraq unless we make them." So there's a "we" that need to make the "leaders" end the War.

Then it goes on to tell me that knocking on 5 doors or 50 will have something to do with this.

Signed, Democracy for America.