Tuesday night, President Barack Obama announced his decision to increase troops levels in Afghanistan by 30,000. This decision, although predictable, will be remembered as one of the biggest mistakes of the Obama administration. There is no number of troops that will win an occupation. The situation in Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan is not a war. We are occupying a country that has little central government and fighting an elusive arbitrary threat. There is a reason all of Europe has no interest in helping in this fight; it is an unwinnable imperialistic endeavor, and it is unwinnable by design. Yet we continue to waste hundreds of billions of China's dollars and thousands of lives to "win the war in Afghanistan." Can someone please tell me what the prize is if we win?
An increase in troop levels in Afghanistan will just push whomever it is they claim to be fighting to some other place, and then we'll have to start new wars there. Obama mentioned in his speech, "I make this decision because I am convinced that our security is at stake in Afghanistan and Pakistan." He's already alluding to yet another country we may have to invade to "protect us."
This fallacy that we're hunting Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda to protect us from terrorism is the biggest lie America has ever been told. If we wanted to find bin Laden we could have, but our military has no intention of ever finding bin Laden or of eliminating Al-Qaeda. Bin Laden provides the military with something that will keep them in business for years, the eternal boogeyman that is always so close to capture, but somehow avoids the most powerful military in the world on camelback. This escalation has everything to do with our imperialistic intent to dominate the Middle East in order to secure our position in a region that exports large amounts of oil. China needs vast amounts of oil to grow and we owe China a lot of money. If we can repay some of our debts to China by selling them oil, we can build wealth for our major corporations at the expense of the American people that have to finance this bloodbath.
This escalation is a complete disgrace for the Democratic party. They have complete control and yet continue to fund war perpetually. Do the Democrats stand for anything at all? Health care is too expensive, but death and destruction? No problem! We can't seem to get the votes for environmental legislation, but we have no problem blowing up mountains and trees halfway around the world. Every time we take out more debt for war, that's money that cannot go towards education. To put it more explicitly; every time we increase our war efforts, teachers are fired, schools closed down and financial aid becomes harder to acquire.
The Republican hypocrisy is in full effect as well. We hear so many politicians from the right scream about our national debt, how health care will bankrupt our country and that our reliance on loans from China will destroy us. But now their only criticism is that Obama should not have picked a date for withdrawal, and instead allowed this war to go on forever. We complain about debt, yet when it comes to killing people, it's a small price to pay for glory.
Enough is enough with nation building halfway around the world. Enough is enough with both of these groups of liars. This debt is directly affecting every state's ability to pay for things like education. Will we wait until every state ends up like California with a 32 percent increase in tuition? Will we wait for our VA services to be completely overwhelmed with young people coming back fractured by PTSD? Will we all simply watch the foundations of our country be sold hook, line and sinker right in front of our faces?
Or will you - yes you - finally see the system for what it is and join the anti-war activists that have been speaking out against this insanity for almost a decade now. Will you finally get over the two-party system that is really only one big party for the rich? Will you finally get off the couch, unplug the iPod and do something? The answer to that question will dictate the world in which your children will live.
Be the first to comment on this article!