Will Obama learn from his Chicago defeat
And abandon the no-win Afghanistan marathon?
Team Obama needs — as the International Olympics Committee has just done — to be continually reminded that the rest of the world is not an American kick ball.
By Harvey Wasserman / The Rag Blog / October 4, 2009
The stunning rejection of Barack Obama’s play for the Chicago Olympics had better teach him a good lesson about escalating in Afghanistan.
Ignoring fierce grassroots resistance in Chicago itself, the Obamas flew to Copenhagen to “persuade” the International Olympic Committee to give the games to the Windy City.
Imagine yourself a member of the Olympic Committee as the almighty President of the United States and his entourage, with the world media in tow, swoops down from Olympus to tell you how to make your decision.
Are we surprised Chicago was summarily bounced?
Imagine yourself an Afghani villager as the almighty President of the United States shoots down from Olympus those murderous drones that kill your family and your neighbors, to be followed by heavily armed troops who — after eight years of brutal slaughter — now want to “help.”
Obama’s decision on Afghanistan will define the rest of his presidency — and the fate of our nation.
He can mimic Lyndon Johnson and senselessly squander American lives and treasure. He will then finish as a slumped, tragic failure (along with the rest of us).
Or he can stop, as few fallen empires have done, and seek a sane, sustainable path away from the madness that is conquest.
Congress is now turning health care reform into a shambles. It is preparing to use climate chaos as an excuse to fund nuclear power plants whose abject failure is epic.
On issue after issue, from the Cuban embargo to gay marriage to civil liberties and so much more, the Administration has caved to the right, as if the people who put them in office no longer exist.
But for the moment, all pales before Afghanistan. If Obama chooses to escalate, he will plunge us into an abyss from which there is no recovery or escape.
There are no excuses. Rarely in our history has there been a more transparent decision.
No matter what our critical issue, we are now compelled to throw all we have into preventing the national suicide that would be escalation in Afghanistan.
Team Obama needs — as the International Olympics Committee has just done — to be continually reminded that the rest of the world is not an American kick ball.
See you on the goal line.
[Harvey Wasserman’s History of the United States is at www.harveywasserman.com, as is Solartopia! Our Green-Powered Earth.]
Imagine yourself an Afghani villager as the almighty President of the United States shoots down from Olympus those murderous drones that kill your family and your neighbors, to be followed by heavily armed troops who — after eight years of brutal slaughter — now want to “help.”
This is mis-leading on so many levels. We are dealing with a enemy that does not care about civilian deaths. From my time in Iraq, I have seen many time how we go out of our way to prevent civilian deaths. Yet authors like this really do not seem to care.
Afghanistan was sanctioned by the UN, so I have to wonder. With Iraq being protested against because the UN did not sanctioned it, why is the Afghanistan operation seen as a US operation only? Does the opinion of the UN matter or not?
Also I have wondered if ending the operations in Afghanistan is just to find funds rather then if what is happening in Afganstan is really working or not.
Also one of my reads on livejournal made a good post on the heathcare issue.
http://greatgreybeast.livejournal.com/21318.html
Let’s be abundantly clear: USAF pilots and those guiding the drones from Nevada or wherever don’t give a whit about civilian death either, Spork. Make your claim, but be damn sure you include the ‘good guys’ in the same category of murderer.
U.N. mandate ran out in June it is now a NATO operation.
Really? You asked them? You seem bent on making think out to be mass murderers no matter what.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCxFVf9YIJ8&feature=player_embedded
Also the UN mandate in Afghanistan is still good. It expires 23 March 2010. The only UN mandate that expired was the one in Iraq in December 2008.
Also the Nato mandate runs out before the UN one does.
http://wwww.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/MYAI-7SK8NF?OpenDocument
Here is the a official UN letter head that shows that it was extended. It is on the very top of page four.
http://daccessdds.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N09/277/12/PDF/N0927712.pdf?OpenElement
Obama went to Copenhgen primarily to give cover for a meeting with Gen. McChrystal aboard Air Force One. That the Commander-in-Chief found it necessary to meet face-to-face with his top General is of more interest in the long term than the Olympic bid.
I agree with Wizard…..
Richard Jehn is wrong again. He said: USAF pilots and those guiding the drones from Nevada or wherever don’t give a whit about civilian death either, Spork. Make your claim, but be damn sure you include the ‘good guys’ in the same category of murderer. A great deal of effort is put into avoiding civilian casualties. But he argues that since we cannot guarantee to kill only the intended targets, we are murderers for whatever collateral damage occurs during out best efforts. I disagree, civilians die in war, it’s a fact as old as men.
So let me ask you this Richard. If Obama wins the day and gets his reform and some Medicare patient inadvertently dies because one of Obama’s healthcare policy wonks decides a certain procedure isn’t cost effective, does that make Obama a murderer?