MoveOn.org, Code PINK, Progressive Democrats, etc., all seem to want me to protest the sending of troops into Afghanistan, and call for the complete pulling out of troops. They want me to engage in protests if Obama decides to okay the troop surge. I'm not sure it's a good idea to do any of these things.
Afghanistan is where we should have been in the first place. I want all of our troops out of Iraq, without question or hesitation. But Afghanistan is a different issue. Call me old-fashioned and bloodthirsty, but I still want Bin Laden's head on a stick.
But I am now a military spouse, and I understand the sacrifice our men and women in uniform and their families make in order to perform orders handed down by our government. I don't want to see more injuries and loss of lives as a result of another war. But we're having these things happen day after day after day in Afghanistan and the military is telling us it's because they don't have enough troops there for security efforts to be effective.
Now if I were president, I would remove all troops from Afghanistan and send a team of CIA special operatives into the area to find and capture/kill Bin Laden and bring his body back to the US. This would be done in secret, of course - the plan only coming to public knowledge once the capture was successful. I am a big fan of targeting the specific enemy rather than an entire group of people who may or may not be marginally related to that enemy. I think it sends a better message about use of power for justice than bombing entire cities and villages full of innocent people.
But maybe I've seen too many spy movies.
What do you guys think? Where do you stand on this issue? Should we send more troops or call for a complete withdrawal?
2 comments:
"you fell victim to one of the classic blunders. The best known is "never get involved in a land war in Asia"..."
My dad likes to tell a story about Oppenheimer and Kennedy carving up a world map "democratic" and "fight for democracy. In the end, one of the only countries not in either category- Afghanistan. On the principle that those folks be crazy. Or rather, treating the amalgamation of tribes as one governable unit is utter folly. I think we'll have better luck with diplomatic alliance with Pakistan than military action in Afghanistan. Not that that's easy, either.
And while I see no reason to spare Bin Laden if we had him in hand already, I think wanting his head on a stick is beside the point. alQaida will still be around, Afghanistan will be a breeding ground for terrorists, and Pakistan (and their nukes) will still be on very shaky ground.
There is absolutely no reason whatsoever to think that Osama Bin Laden--if he is even alive--is in Afghanistan.
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