I received so many more comments last week on the President's decision to escalate in Afghanistan than on health care that I felt I should include them here. At the time I sent it out, I had not received a single email in support of the escalation, but I have since received one, which I will put in a later newsletter.
1. Your Comments: Where Lies His Loyalty?
2. Your Comments: Contractors
3. Your Comments: Whatever Happened To Hope?
4. Your Comments: Where’s Waldo?
5. Your Comments: That Shut HIM Up!
6. Your Comments: Our Fault, Too
7. Your Comments: An Article
8. Your Comments: Haunted
9. Your Comments: Stop The Insanity
10. Your Comments: Not A Hyprocrite
11. Your Comments: Battle Fatigue
12. Your Comments: Still Hope
1. Your Comments: Where Lies His Loyalty?
"Eva, I feel the same way you do about the escalation in Afghanistan. I was not opposed to the original invasion since it was a true multilateral force in response to the Afghan's government's refusal to extradite the terrorists responsible for the attack on the World Trade Center.
However, after 8 years of bumbling in Afghanistan I do not see any credible definition of "winning' there. That's what I found so infuriating about McChrystal's troop request. He needs them to "win" with no definition of what winning means. I predict that conditions Afghanistan will be no better in 18 months than they are now. This is not the change I voted for in 2008. I am very disappointed in the President's swing to the far right on many issues.Where is his loyalty to the base that got him elected?"
2. Your Comments: Contractors
"Right on, Eva. For a day or two after Obama's speech, I was willing to trust that he made the right decision. But then I reverted to my original stance on this war, which is: GET. OUT. The elephant in the closet is defense contracts. Why doesn't the news media give more attention to this?
Cheney and his cronies still have influence in D.C. and no doubt, have scared or threatened Obama into a corner, knowing he doesn't have the cojones to stand up to the conservative pressure."
(Eva’s note: there are more contractors in Afghanistan than US military, and the reports are that even the 30,000 surge will not tip that balance in favor of our soldiers. Contractors are not bound by military law. Onward:)
"I was a high school and then college student during the long Vietnam war, where the U.S. sent 4 million troops to fight. Four Million. Over 50,000 died and countless others wounded, disabled, captured or went missing. LBJ used the same strategy: escalate to get it over with and win. Obama steered away from "win", instead calling it a "successful" withdrawal.
What really turned my stomach was when the President announced the troop increased the day before his lavish state dinner… The security lapse proves the incompetence, arrogance and cronyism that rages on in the White House.
The Jobs Summit? What a joke. They're about a year late."
3. Your Comments: Whatever Happened To Hope?
"Me too Eva. What ever happened to "HOPE"?
4. Your Comments: Where’s Waldo?
"I agree with you 100% about the war in Afghanistan. I heard today on KPFA from a former Obama Whitehouse aide who's resigned that Al Qaeda does not exist in Afghanistan. Al Qaeda is based on the internet and cell phones, he said. Thanks for sharing."
5. Your Comments: That Shut HIM Up
"My husband is so upset about the troop surge that he can’t speak. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
The Prez is going to lose his progressive base. I can’t help but feel he’s got one term to accomplish whatever it is he’s going to accomplish….I just wish he’d go down swinging…"
6. Your Comments: Our Fault, Too
"Yes, we, many of us are shaking our heads at the twisted rationale for the surge. Of course, I hope he is right; but, even if he is, to what end does it bring us? Will we be more safe than if we had decided to turn the tables on Al Qaeda and act for peace? I think these actions will enflame. Oh, well. We all projected a lot onto Obama."
7. Your Comments: An Article
"Here's something to consider: an article on Obama's war decision by Tom Engelhardt ("The Commanded in Chief). I think it's an excellent interpretation of what is going on:
http://www.tomdispatch.com/po
8. Your Comments: Haunted
"I, too, am haunted by our President's decision to send more troops to Afghanistan. It's a repeat of Bush's crime. In the end, we need to pray for our leaders for wisdom that theymake the right decisions and their decisions uphold the principles of democracy and freedom."
9. Your Comments: Stop the Insanity
"I, too, hoped that Obama would STOP the craziness and take care of business here at home: Jobs, Health Care, Economy. Minimum of $30 BILLION for the extra troops. Not to mention that I didn't even know we had some 100,000 Blackwater "troops" in Pakistan. Of course Obama didn't bother to mention that in his speech! Who's running this country anyway? I guess it's the military .... big business and lots of folks making a lot of money on war. Meantime, we have more and more homeless and hungry folks right here at home. Sorry I cannot offer up one positive thing about our government and our country. It's very scary."
10. Your Comments: Not A Hypocrite
"I agree with you. I'm super disappointed about Afghanistan, as I think our presence in the Muslim world increases their hatred of us. Like you, though, I recognize that he campaigned on this and therefore don't consider him two-faced or hypocritical. I just worry that on top of our people dying that this will reduce likelihood and cash for important domestic programs, like health care reform and environmental improvements."
11. Your Comments: Battle Fatigue
"I'm glad to hear someone else (particularly you who were close to ground zero) say they opposed the invasion of Afghanistan, Eve. My feeling at the time was that invading was hardly the only or the best response, just that embraced by a cowboy president. I, too, feel defeated and sad -- that someone with Obama's intelligence and gifts is following this path; it makes me feel, cynically, that war is the best political escape when the going at home gets rough.
I wish that the non-logic of responding to terrorist force with state-sanctioned force were the subject of a high-powered public interest public relations campaign...along with efforts to get Congress to block funding for escalating this war.
Not sure which -- if any group -- is moving in the education direction, although several I've signed a few petitions to ask Congress to cut off funding. Still, I feel apathy (or is it paralysis?) snapping at my heels..."
Apathy, battle fatigue, that is where most of us are at. I feel like I have whiplash from trying to follow the back and forth on health care alone.
12. Your Comments: Still Hope
"Eva: Your words about the Pres and Afganistan resonate deeply with me. My only thoughts to allow me to go forward are.....that Obama was elected, it was not a revolution. The powerful in this country are still powerful. He is only able to operate around the edges now. Clinton is really having his third term. I have to believe that in Obama's second term he will be able to be more free and really ram some more progressive policies through before he leaves high office.
It is up to all of us and Eva you are certainly doing your part. We must keep building and pushing. Educating and speaking out. It is all that we can do. Bush/Cheney had eight years to wreck havoc on our democracy. They did really serious damage. Truthfully, I don't think we even yet know the true extent of the damage. We must discuss, plan and execute actions that restore the democracy. It is a very very long haul....but I truly believe we have made a start, by waking up and with your help, starting to bind together!"
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