The last years of the Bush administration saw frequent protests against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Unlike Vietnam, the anger was not misdirected toward soldiers, but toward the leaders that keep sending our youth to war.
The result of all that protesting was the election of Barack Obama as the 44th president of the United States and a Democratic Party super majority in both houses of Congress. Voters gave them a green light to do what they campaigned for. But here we are, 18 months after Obama’s inauguration and I ask you, is he a bold-faced liar?
Presidential candidate Barack Obama on July 3, 2008 said:
“I have seen no information that contradicts the notion that we can bring our troops out safely at a pace of one to two brigades a month, and, again, that pace translates into having our combat troops out in 16 months' time.”
As of today, July 21, 2010 our troops are not home yet, and we still have almost 80,000 combat troops in Iraq. Moving them from Iraq to Afghanistan and attacking Pakistan is not what we had in mind when we voted. Can you believe we have been at war in Afghanistan longer than Vietnam and have no massive anti-war demonstration in Washington? How could this be? I have not heard a word of protest from our “fair and balanced” ABC, NBC, CBS and CNN networks. Just to make things clear, changing the name from “combat troops” to “peace keepers” or sending them to Afghanistan is not the same as “bring our troops out safely.”
You would think the Democrats would expect more from the Nobel Peace Prize winning president when it comes to ending war. Let's face it, he won that prize after being in office for only 12 days so I know I am not the only person that expected more from him since he is now in the company of other famous winners like Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King Jr. Yitzhak Rabin gave his life for peace after being killed by his own people, but the peace still remains between Egypt and Israel. Mother Teresa, who spent a lifetime caring for the people that no one cared about, earned that honor working with lepers.
So, here we are, 18 months later and we are still at war with no end in sight. And we still face going to war against North Korea and Iran. Any of you that have read my column before know that I am OK with war as long as it's quick and profitable for America. “Shock and awe” then go home with treasure, but that is not what we have now. Today we have perpetual war and the war machine is running us. I am not the only one that believes the American people could really use another trillion dollars right now. Let's put Americans first.
The founding fathers told us to try and stay out of foreign entanglements. The historically-proven American method of assimilation works better than peace keeping. Invading other countries and occupying them is un-American. Before these wars, we ruled the world by selling them Big Macs, and building Wal-Marts to enslave them with the American dream.
I hate to point out the obvious, but Afghanistan and Iraq did not attack America. The Taliban and Hamas don't kill as many American civilians as the Mexican narco-terrorists do today, yet we're in Iraq? Our immigration problem is because Mexicans are fleeing from terrorists. Why is freedom in Iraq more important than next door in Mexico?
Some have told me that if we pull out, the terrorists will come and get us. After 10 years of brutal Soviet occupation, the Afghani people went back to killing each other and never drove next door to the Soviet Union to commit one act of terrorism. The Soviets did not care about hearts and minds and had a toy factory that made explosives designed to kill children! What makes you think this time around they would travel half-way around the world when they would not even drive across a border? If this is truly a war on terrorism, we need to focus on eradicating terrorist cells, not “liberating” countries.
We must make sure we pay attention to what our leaders say and do. Do not trust our media or anyone else to tell you what is happening. Look at the source information and confirm the information for yourself. We can not keep letting our leaders lie to us because they claim to support some pet issue you like. If you elect a leader that claims to support a woman’s right to choose, because that is important to you, then have them propose a law instead of hiding behind Roe v. Wade.
It does not matter if it is local, state or federal politics. You have to take the time to learn the facts or they will take advantage of you. When your elected official lies to you repeatedly, you must tell them and their supporters that this is not acceptable. I don't care if they are a Democrat or a Republican, when they make a campaign promise and do the opposite, we cannot encourage that behavior with silence.
David Alsabery is an anti-war Republican and all around nice guy. He can be reached at alsabery@gmail.com.
