By: Todd Wheatley
(c) IQ-2k   09-21-09

Today famed investigative reporter Bob Woodward (Watergate) published a leaked report from General McCrystel to the president concerning the war in Afghanistan. In short the report called on the president to authorize more troops to keep the war from ending in failure. Naturally the media went into high gear debating the subject. In one televised interview the senior senator from Texas, Kay B. Hutchinson, spoke with MSNBCs "Hardball" host, Chris Mathews.

During the interview Senator Hutchinson said she was in favor of sending the additional troops to Afghanistan fearing the country would again become a safe haven for Al Qaeda. Moreover, the senator said,"we need to wipe them out".

The senators statement was neither eloquent nor realistic. In fact the statement from such a senior member was so naive that it is time vote for new leadership. It's a good thing she was not Senator McCain's running mate as I had hoped. Though I imagine such misjudgments would have been revealed. Unfortunately Mr.Mathews missed a perfect opportunity. While it is true the senator voiced many of our sentiments concerning the terrorist organization, such a senior leader should not succumb to unrealistic policy decisions.

First, the reported location of Al Qaeda is in Pakistan not Afghanistan. Though perhaps we should let them back into Afghanistan were we can kill them. Obviously they are alive and well in Pakistan and seemingly out of reach. At present there is no political will to enter Pakistan to root the criminals out. Further to enter Pakistan would destabilize the world order so for now Al Qaeda already has a safe haven. Why prolong an unwinnable war??

Second a ten year man hunt has yet to produce a dead Bin Laden. Hmmmm... where could you hide say twenty or so terrorists ; WORLD F..ing WIDE??? We are not rushing into Pakistan to "WIPE THEM OUT"!! Not to mention that most of the 9/11 terrorists were Saudis.

We do not have troops in Yemen - another terrorist hot bed. We do not have troops in Indonesia to "wipe them out"! We do not have troops in Iran for heaven sakes. In other words, it's time to leave that dirt poor Central Asian cesspit and bring the terrorists out in the open. But it will never happen - the current and continuing policy is - SECURITY AT ALL COST - be it lives, money, national prestige or morality.

"Wipe them out"!! Much easier said than done. In fact it's impossible. The terrorists do not belong to a single country. The terrorists do not belong to a single group. The terrorists are not in a single location and most importantly the number of terrorists are unknown, constantly changing and most likely on the rise with every U.S. troop surge. The United States or any other country, for that matter, can not "wipe out" terrorism. At least through military means.

But Afghanistan is only half the story. Let's not forget Iraq. The news portrays a country (Iraq) on the mend and ready to handle their own security and while many would like to announce, "mission accomplished" the real story has yet to unfold. There is a power vacuum. The central government is weak and tensions are high. Major troop withdrawals will allow the waring factions the ability for movement. Sectarian violence will again erupt either from internal forces or external force looking to destabilize the country.

So wake up, Afghanistan is a waterless, resourceless, backwards nation. If it blows up ... who cares. If Iraq blows up ... major trouble. Insuring a win in Iraq makes sense. But neither of these wars has anything to do with common sense. In conclusion .... it's going to be a long war. In the past the opposing sides wore uniforms. Now it's hard to tell who the enemy really is :(


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