This is Page 2 of America's World Challenges.
Some of you might be thinking "what
kind of pacifist is writing this"? If you think that, maybe you should take pause for just a minute.
We lost over 4,000 young men and women in Iraq and have had 30,000 plus wounded against an adversary, with no Army, Air Force or Navy or any
of the sophisticated weapons we have. These casualties and wounded came from a
ragtag group of
insurgents using basic weapons and improvised explosives!
While Iraq seems to have quieted
down, I really wonder how permanent this is.
After years of Saddam Hussein's Sunni rule, the Shites (the majority) may see this as their opportunity "to
get theirs". We probably will see major conflicts in Iraq over the next few years and
I sincerely hope we have the sense to stay the hell out of it!
The
past event between Russia and Georgia should concern everyone!
I do not know, but I personally suspect someone was up to mischief in this situation.
Why did we arm Georgia and train their Army? Why did we lead their President,
Mikhail Saakashvili, into thinking he had the right, and our support, to shell and then charge into South Ossetia with his
tanks!
He knew damn well it was full of Russian citizens who were put in harms way
and he knew Russia has a treaty to defend this area! He was
raised in that culture and must have known how Russia would react! Just like we would given the same circumstance!
Then to taunt the Russians even more, we decide to send aid to Georgia using U.S. Navy ships! Is there no UN
or private contractor ship available for such a mission?
Oh, I know! It is our right to use our Navy as we please! That may be true. It is also
my right to sit on a bar stool if there is no drink in front of that stool. But, if I just saw a giant get up from
there and go to the men's room, would that be smart of me? Might I expect the giant to knock me off the stool?
On top of all that, we announce and do our negotiations
using television! Is it necessary to publicly challenge and/or embarrass another world leader on a public forum like
that? Is that how we should negotiate? We are not Iran; our leaders do not have to prove themselves to the
world!
And, John McCain, during his campaign for president, said, "we are all Georgians!". He was not
speaking for me! Turned out one of his campaign advisors was an ambassador to Georgia!
War is not a joke! It is not some kind of macho childish
exercise you engaged in when you were in High School or College!
It is refreshing to see President Obama treating all foreign leaders with respect. Our reputation around the world is being reconstructed.
Yet, I still hear Republican Politicians talking as if this was 1955 or
something. All I hear is we have the most powerful military in the world!
Yes, that is true if we want to annihilate the entire world with our nuclear weapons. This would include ourselves with the nuclear clouds and fallout! But is that an alternative? Do we want
to go back to the strategy of MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction)? Come now, use your head!
In order to fight in the streets
of Iraq for five years we had to deploy many people
up to five times. How many times have I heard McCain and other Republicans say,
"we will come back winners and we will defeat the
enemy!’ What enemy? The people of Iraq? They are not our enemies.
Are the enemies Al-Qaeda?
Al-Qaeda exists in at least eighty countries! Do we bomb them all?
Al-Qaeda did not exist in Iraq until we got there. Come on, be real! Do you think Saddam Hussein would have ever
let a disruptive element like Al-Qaeda remain in his country and undermine his dictatorial government!
