WILL THE REAL BARACK OBAMA PLEASE STAND UP?

 

NASH BASH:

 

WILL THE REAL BARACK OBAMA PLEASE STAND UP?

 

Yes, Mr. President, the war junkies in Congress and the Pentagon are whispering “more troops for victory” in your ear, but, if you still can hear us out here, listen to why there is no victory in Afghanistan..

 

There are three impossible “victories” in Afghanistan:

 

1. Eliminating Al-Quaida from Afghanistan.
2. Establish a democratic government.
3. Building a sustainable nation.

 

Accepting the dubious notion that Al-Quaida was the mastermind behind the 9-11 attack, is it realistic to assume that the US can permanently extinguish Al-Quaida in Afghanistan, or Pakistan?

 

If you buy into the fallacy of “American Exceptionalism,” that Americans are a cut above the rest of the world and that God is on our side, then you may believe that we can succeed where the British and the Russians have failed miserably after the loss of blood and treasure over many years of futile struggle for “victory.”  History has dubbed Afghanistan “The Graveyard of Empires” for good reasons.

 

Suppose the summer patriots in the Congress, who eagerly send more troops and money into the maw of the war, are right; a surge of troops will drive Al-Quaida from Afghanistan.  Unless you can also build a stable nation with a credible central government, an army, a police force and bureaucracies, when you finally pull out, Al-Quaida will return and be welcomed by their allies in the tribes and drug networks, who know that 90% of the GDP is heroin sales.

 

Assuming the Congressional representatives, who represent the War industries and other profit motive corporations, are right and Al-Quaida is out of Afghanistan; then, will you chase them out of Pakistan, India, Yemen, Libya, the Balkan countries, and any other country on the globe.  You are like a man chasing the ants out of the kitchen, only to relocate them in other parts of the house.

 

And, when will you know that you have completely eradicated Al-Quaida and all other jihadi groups dedicated to eliminating “the infidels”?

 

DEMOCRACY

 

Just because it flourished in the unique context of the establishment of the colonies in North America, under nearly ideal conditions, can we be so arrogant as to assume it is best for all the cultures of the world.  We are barely past our 100^th birthday, while other “countries” are superimposed on cultures that are hundreds, thousands, of years old. We would be a 1 year-old lecturing his grandfather.

 

It was the arrogance of the British Empire that drew straight lines on world maps to divide cultures into new “countries;” they created Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and, yes, Afghanistan.  And, they had the gall to do it with the specific intention of breaking up ancient cultures with the vain assumption that it would “defeat,”  “civilize” and “Christianize” the “wogs” and lesser beings. 

 

The British country-creating legacy now frustrates the search for Osama bin Laden in Waziristan, the most tribally conservative area of what was once the Pashtun cultural zone that, inconveniently, overlapped the border of Pakistan and Afghanistan.  The Pashtuns are tribal-centric and fiercely refuse to recognize any form of civil authority or government and they are not likely to turn over Osama, whom they view as a person trying to oppose US occupation and the external imposition of a central government.

 

You seek a “credible partner” in a country that will not give up its ancient tribal culture, or its only source of revenue: heroin.  How will you overcome a drug culture that is supported by the majority of Afghans?  Will you teach them to grow rice? Will you turn them into a “service industry” economy, like the United States?  Are you prepared to play Elliot Ness and chase a hundred Al Capones out of Afghanistan?  Are you prepared to root out the drug culture by burning the poppy fields?  How will you replace the jobs lost and the country’s GDP? (We are referring to Afghanistan, not the United States.)

 

The result of democracy thus far is the “election” of Hamid Karzai.  The brother of “Wally” Karzai, a drug kingpin, won an election tainted by rampant fraud funded by Wally.  Then, the do-over was cancelled when Abdullah-Abdullah realized that a fair election in Afghanistan was impossible, after Karzai refused to replace election personnel.  Or maybe Wally made him one of two offers he could not refuse?

 

The majority of Afghans are satisfied with their tribal culture system.  Why are we spending marrow and money to force democracy down their throats?  Why are we propping up a puppet “King for Life” who is enriching himself with our money and standing on the shoulders of our dead?

 

NATION-BUILDING

 

Let’s get this out of the way from the top:  can we afford another decade of nation-building in Afghanistan?  Aside from McCrystal and the Top Brass, military in the Pentagon and lower on the flow chart will candidly admit that “nation building” will take “a decade, or more.”  The price tag is $2.8 TRILLION and thousands of troops maimed, damaged and killed, as well as an un-tolled number of civilians, mostly women and children.  Your new health care program would cost HALF of that, $1.4 TRILLON, for the same decade.

 

Do you think that, if Americans, mired deeply in an economic recession, nearing depression, were told the truth—that the war will last another 10+ years and cost nearly $3 TRILLION—to rebuild Afghanistan, they would approve such folly?

 

Yes, there is a country in need of “nation building”; a country that needs to upgrade its crumbling infrastructure and put its people back to work:  your own country. 

 

WILL THE REAL BARACK OBAMA PLEASE STAND UP…

 

The person that we proudly elected promised to get us out of the Iraq war and “root out Al-Quaida in Afghanistan.”  We are now fighting two wars with threadbare troops; they are over-deployed, under-supported, confused about their mission, depressed, suicidal and simply worn out.  And, our “treasure” is nearly spent.

 

As Randy Newman wrote in “Mr. President:”

 

“I know this may sound funny, but people everywhere

are runnin’ outta’ money.”

 

Will you let the old men in the Pentagon and the Congress fool you into believing that “victory” will just require “more troops” for a final surge?  You are letting them frame the question:  How many more troops do we need for “victory”?

 

The real question is:  do you believe that “victory” is possible?

 

Does the intelligent candidate we elected President, who promised “real change,” believe in the old ways of war?

 

Here is the question you must answer:

 

If you cannot (1) eliminate Al-Quaida in Afghanistan; (2) establish a democratic government in Afghanistan; (3) build a sustainable nation in Afghanistan, isn’t it time to change from the old ways of endless war and war profiteering and bring the troops back to the US and invest your marrow and money in securing the “domestic peace and tranquility”?

 

Will the real Barack Obama please stand up?