Mission Not Accomplished

Thoughts on Obama's escalation of the Afghan war.

The main message from our President last night is that this country is going to be in Afghanistan for a long, long time. Pundits are worried about Obama setting a deadline to begin bringing the troops home. However the key word here is “begin.” The other part of the message was the “begin” will start if and when the natives can handle the situation on their own.

This is the second troop escalation that Obama has authorized. Shortly after taking office he sent in the troops. This second surge will bring troop count to over 100,000. That's way more than the Bush-Cheney cabal thought we needed to win in the first place. Bush-Cheney was wrong on so many levels that I'm not even going to go there. But by Obama's reasoning last night, we need to escalate in order to draw down.

This Obama reasoning is merely a re-statement of Bushco's “go shopping” rationale to get us out of the deepening recession. Obama is now telling us that we need to make a similar move in order to bring our troops home and to end this thing.

Yet, in order for us to draw down our troops, the Afghan and Pakistani governments have to get themselves together and actually begin to govern and protect their people. This would seem to be an indication that we are not going to prop up any more corrupt leaders who screw over their people while pocketing American money.

Oh, and by the way, this is going to cost us another 30-billion dollars. In other words, we've got to spend some, to get some. All of these echoes of Bushco, make me very uneasy. The speech to sell the principle was much, much better. However the principle being sold was basically SOSDD (same old shit different day) -Bush Doctrine, to put a name on it.

The Bush Doctrine basically says we, as a country have a right to start wars, if we think another country is going to do something to us-not after they make moves, but after they think about it and before they follow through with any plan to harm us. We have the right to “preempt their plans and hit them first.

Here in the ghetto, that's called a sucker punch. We no longer counter punch, you know, never hit someone unless they hit you first. That's the way we're all taught, usually. The Bush Doctrine changed the rules and Obama seems content to go along with the status quo. Obama shows no inclination to dismantle the imperial presidency created by Bush. He seems comfortable allowing the freedom-stealing Patriot Act to stand. He hasn't even mentioned getting rid of the Military Commissions Law of 2006, which makes it easier to use American troops on American soil against American citizens.

Now the Nobel peace laureate is escalating a war albeit with the best of intentions, he says.

The plan says he is sending in the Marines first. Well, I hope this is an indication that he is really letting the dogs out to do what they do, what they train for-take out the enemy, Al Quaeda and the Taliban. If there are less than 100 Al Quaeda still there, then a Marine Battalion or two should be able to kill a 100 or so enemy.

I'm not happy about this either because my nephew and the nephew of a close friend are in the Second Battalion Marines at Camp La Jeune. They've already been to Iraq a few times. My nephew and my friend's nephew, did not come home whole like they went. But as long as they can walk, they will be sent back, and I don't like that, personally. They volunteered, so they do what they do. That doesn't mean I have to like it.

I wanted Obama to plot a new course last night. I wanted him to change directions. He had the chance to do that, but he chose to claim the war and attempt to do something. I can't say something different, because it's not. Not really.

We're still living Bushco policies and I know that somewhere in Texas, Dubya is laughing his ass off.