just another intervention disaster when will they ever learn?
On Feb 29, 8:38 am, MJ <[email protected]> wrote: > For What, All These Wars?by Patrick J. Buchanan > "I wish to express my deep regret for the reported incident. ... I extend to > you and the Afghan people my sincere apologies." > As President Obama sent this letter of apology to Hamid Karzai for the > burning by U.S. troops of Qurans that were used to smuggle notes between > Afghan prisoners, two U.S. soldiers were murdered in reprisal. > Saturday, a U.S. colonel and a major working in the Interior Ministry were > shot dead by an Afghan protesting the desecration of the Islamic holy book. > All U.S. officers have been pulled out of the ministries in Kabul. > Sunday, seven U.S. troops on base were wounded by a grenade. > Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Gen. John Allen, commander in Afghanistan, > have also offered their apologies. > Remarkable. After fighting for 10 years, investing $500 billion, and losing > nearly 2,000 dead and many more wounded and maimed to save Afghanistan from a > Taliban future, America is issuing apologies to the regime and people we are > fighting and dying to defend? > And how has Obama's apology been received? > Abdul Sattar Khawasi, a member of Parliament, stood with 20 other members to > declare, "Americans are invaders, and jihad against Americans is an > obligation." He urged mullahs to "urge the people ... to wage war against > Americans." > In what other war would we have tolerated this from an elected leader of a > government we had sent an army of 100,000 to protect? > Undeniably, the soldiers who burned the Qurans blundered. Yet there is no > evidence that it was malicious. If vandals desecrate a Bible in America, > burning and replacing the holy book would not be regarded a valid excuse for > mayhem and murder. > If Afghans cannot understand this mistake and have no other way to express > their rage than rioting and ranting, "Death to America!" what kind of raw > material are we working with in building a Western-style democracy in any > foreseeable century? > Two pertinent questions needs to be put. > While keeping Afghanistan free of the Taliban is a desirable goal, what vital > U.S. interest would be imperiled should the Taliban take over again, now that > al-Qaida is largely gone? > What price in blood and billions should we expend on what appears a dubious > enterprise at best – creating a pro-American democracy in a country that > seems mired in some distant century? > It is time we took inventory of all of these wars we have fought since the > Army of Desert Storm restored the emir of Kuwait to his throne. > That 1991 war was seen as a triumph of American arms and a model of the > global cooperation to come in establishing the New World Order of George H.W. > Bush. > But the savage sanctions we imposed on a defeated Iraq and the planting of > U.S. bases on Saudi soil that is home to Mecca was a casus belli for Osama > bin Laden. Ten years after the triumph of Bush I, he brought down the twin > towers. > This atrocity caused us to plunge into Afghanistan to dump over the Taliban > and eradicate or expel al-Qaida. We succeeded, then decided to stay on and > build a nation. After 10 years, what have we accomplished to justify the > immense price we have paid? > In 2003, George W. Bush, seeking to complete the work begun by his father, > invaded Iraq. But Saddam had no role in 9/11 and was no threat to America. > Iraq did not even have weapons of mass destruction. > Today, after eight years of war, 4,500 dead, 35,000 wounded and a trillion > dollars sunk, the 15,000 Americans we left behind are largely holed up in the > Green Zone, as Iraq descends into sectarian, civil and ethnic war. > What did it all profit us? > How goes Libya after the U.S.-NATO intervention to dethrone Moammar Gadhafi? > Here is the Rand Corp.'s Frederic Wehrey: > "A weak transitional government confronts armed militias. ... Defiant young > men with heavy weapons control Libya's airports, harbors and oil > installations. Tribes and smugglers rule desert areas south of the capital. > Clashes among various militias for turf and political power rage. ... > "Libya teeters dangerously on the brink." > Now we see a push for intervention in Syria from Sens. John McCain, Lindsey > Graham and Joe Lieberman. That would make us allies of al-Qaida, the Muslim > Brotherhood and Hamas, all of which also seek the fall of Bashar al-Assad and > the rise of a Sunni regime in Damascus. > But it is the clamor for a U.S. war on Iran that grows loudest. > But why, when the U.S. intelligence community still claims to have no hard > evidence Iran has even decided to build a bomb? > Since Ronald Reagan went home, the United States has attacked or invaded > Panama, Iraq, Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia, Serbia, Afghanistan, Iraq again, and > Libya. > How have Americans benefited from all this war? How have the Chinese suffered > these 20 years by not having been in on the > action?http://buchanan.org/blog/for-what-all-these-wars-5016 -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more.
