Afghanistan. Iraq. Vietman. And on and on and on. The Taliban are not al Qaeda. Canada's security is not affected by Afghanistan. There is no longer any rational or valid reason for Canadian forces to be in Afghanistan. Canada's federal deficit just topped $50 billion. Canada cannot afford a costly misadventure in Afghanistan.
An election in Canada appears to be imminent. Where does each party stand on Canada's role in Afghanistan? Peacenik is afraid to find out. Peacenik is already demoralized by Canada's role in Afghanistan. Nothing good can come from Canada's continued participation in Afghanistan. Can't any politician stand up and convince an average Canadian voter that Canada should bring the troops home now? Is it that hard of an argument to make? Does Don Cherry make Canada's foreign policy?
By Robert Scheer, Truthdig. Posted September 11, 2009.
The way he's headed on Afghanistan, Barack Obama is threatened with a quagmire that could bog down his presidency
True, he doesn't seem a bit like Lyndon Johnson, but the way he's headed on Afghanistan, Barack Obama is threatened with a quagmire that could bog down his presidency. LBJ also had a progressive agenda in mind, beginning with his war on poverty, but it was soon overwhelmed by the cost and divisiveness engendered by a meaningless, and seemingly endless, war in Vietnam.
Meaningless is the right term for the Afghanistan war, too, because our bloody attempt to conquer this foreign land has nothing to do with its stated purpose of enhancing our national security. Just as the government of Vietnam was never a puppet of communist China or the Soviet Union, the Taliban is not a surrogate for al Qaeda. Involved in both instances was an American intrusion into a civil war whose passions and parameters we never fully have grasped and will always fail to control militarily.
Read on...
An election in Canada appears to be imminent. Where does each party stand on Canada's role in Afghanistan? Peacenik is afraid to find out. Peacenik is already demoralized by Canada's role in Afghanistan. Nothing good can come from Canada's continued participation in Afghanistan. Can't any politician stand up and convince an average Canadian voter that Canada should bring the troops home now? Is it that hard of an argument to make? Does Don Cherry make Canada's foreign policy?
By Robert Scheer, Truthdig. Posted September 11, 2009.
The way he's headed on Afghanistan, Barack Obama is threatened with a quagmire that could bog down his presidency
True, he doesn't seem a bit like Lyndon Johnson, but the way he's headed on Afghanistan, Barack Obama is threatened with a quagmire that could bog down his presidency. LBJ also had a progressive agenda in mind, beginning with his war on poverty, but it was soon overwhelmed by the cost and divisiveness engendered by a meaningless, and seemingly endless, war in Vietnam.
Meaningless is the right term for the Afghanistan war, too, because our bloody attempt to conquer this foreign land has nothing to do with its stated purpose of enhancing our national security. Just as the government of Vietnam was never a puppet of communist China or the Soviet Union, the Taliban is not a surrogate for al Qaeda. Involved in both instances was an American intrusion into a civil war whose passions and parameters we never fully have grasped and will always fail to control militarily.
Read on...
