A few weeks ago, on October 7th, we marked the eighth anniversary of our engagement in Iraq. I wonder how many people celebrated? Along the way we marked over 1,000 deaths of coalition forces, countless Taliban fighters, and the ultimate victims: Afghani civilians. It is a war which the public of United States, Afghanistan, and probably the rest of the world is against. At this point, I don’t think many people even remember why we’re fighting there in the first place.
I don’t think we’ll fully comprehend the impact 9/11 had on our society. It scared us, made us feel very vulnerable and very mortal. We realized the oceans that wash our shores aren’t so wide as to fully insulate us from the strife that plagues the rest of the world. We are very lucky in that respect. While we have had terrorist attacks against our country, few American civilians have lived through war. The last time we had a war within United States was over 130 years ago. Aside from those soldiers who served in World War II, Korea, Vietnam, and other US conflicts, no one really knows what war is. Europe knows war. They remember well the destruction and loss of life that resulted from Hitlers ambitions to rule the world. Unfortunately, we are not as wise. And even more, unfortunately, we had men in power who capitalized on our feelings of fear and vulnerability after 9/11. The public was rallied to war. Some wanted revenge, others wanted terrorist wiped out to ensure safety, and few believed that we were going there for humanitarian reasons. I doubt any of those were real reasons for war. In reality, we either wanted another base in the region or we just wanted the resources the country had to offer.
Well, eight years have gone by. We’re still greeted every morning by stories announcing more and more casualties. Roadside bombs, ambushes by militants, helicopter crashes.. in the end it still the same. Another mother loses a son, another wife loses a husband, another child loses a father. And I’m not even talking about the masses of innocent men, women, and children that live in Afghanistan, and wake up to that world every day. Aside from the warlords and drug kings, and others who stand to profit from United States occupation, is there anyone in that country who wants us there?
I believed that Obama would pull us out of Afghanistan.. however, it starting to look like a lost dream. There is talk that the situation is deteriorating. There is talk that U.S. withdrawal might lead to a civil war. It seems that almost every day we hear calls for more troops. Obama keeps indicating he will take more and more time to decide what to do in Afghanistan. Is he just taking his time to make a prudent, best possible decision.. or is he just trying to find a reason to keep United States in Afghanistan. Sounds like maybe we should dig in for a long stretch and be ready for the Afghan War to be another hot issue come the next Presidential election. Or maybe, we should just leave.
I don’t understand why this is such a tough decision for him. What is he looking at when making that decision? The United States public is against the war. U.S. officials in Afghanistan are against the war. Nearly everyone in Afghanistan is against our presence there.. so what could our leaders possibly see as a reason to stay in that country? Are they really that dedicated to fighting terrorism? Or do they want the natural resources, a few more military bases from which they can launch bombers? Or do they just need another war to control the public.. like in George Orwell’s 1984?
