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Whatever Happened to Mission Objectives?

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Post by Shirina Fri May 18, 2012 9:29 pm

Osama bin Laden is dead, taken out by the now famous SEAL Team 6. Most of Al Qaeda's top officials are pushing up daisies, too, the culmination of a decade of war. Afghanistan is not the kind of nation any sane leader would even consider occupying and subduing. Just ask the Soviets, and they had a home court advantage given Afghanistan's close geographical proximity to the USSR. Any military strategist should realize that no occupying force will ever march down the streets of Kabul in a victory parade. Women will not throw flowers at the soldiers, hug and kiss them, or hand them bottles of French wine. There will never be brass bands, ticker tape parades, or a formal signing of a surrender document. All America can do is create logical and reasonable mission objectives, successfully complete them, and then withdraw. Have we not done that?

So why, then, did the Republican-controlled House of Representatives just vote against the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan? By a vote of 303 to 113, an amendment was rejected, one that would limit funding only to the swift and orderly withdrawal of our troops from the country. Instead, 68,000 troops will remain there at least until 2014. America is war-weary; only 27% support the war, 66% oppose it. I think we're all a little tired of seeing our loved ones on long deployments leaving children with no moms or dads for upwards of a year at a time. I think we're all tired of flag draped coffins filled with our young boys and girls who, just months before, were more worried about finding a date for the prom than getting killed in some remote corner of the world - a world far away from baseball, apple pie, and Fourth of July fireworks.

Have we not succeeded in our mission objectives? Must every last Taliban member meet Osama's fate? If I thought such an endeavor were even possible, perhaps I could drum up a little more patriotism. Yet after my state voted overwhelmingly to ban gay marriage, patriotism is running very thin for me. The idea that our boys and girls will continue to fight in foreign lands to "set others free" while some of our own people are still shackled by bigotry, hatred, fear, and religion - well, let's just say that the irony (and the hypocrisy) is not lost on this particular author.

Yet the madness does not end there. The Republicans want to pay for two more years of war by slashing social programs that help the sick, disabled, poor, and elderly. We're not talking about just the standard scapegoats like the lazy poor on food stamps. They want to cut funding for programs like Meals on Wheels - a program that brings home cooked meals to the elderly who are too infirm or to weak to do their own cooking.

Again, the irony is not lost on me. Many conservative Republicans blast Obama for being a socialist, a communist. "If you don't like it, move to Russia" is still a common refrain. Yet, if there is such a hatred of a non-existent Soviet empire, why are Republicans making the same mistakes they did? One of the key components that led to the downfall of the Soviet Union was forcing its citizens into poverty in order to pay for a massive defense budget. Ironically, the Soviet's war in Afghanistan, a place oddly familiar to American troops, directly led to the collapse of the USSR. What Hitler couldn't do with 3 million top-notch soldiers and the finest tanks and planes in the world, a few thousand poorly armed, poorly trained insurgents did in just a few years. Should we in America head down that same path?

All of this is merely a replay of historical events that have already transpired, yet, as per usual, we have learned nothing.

Read all about it HERE
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Post by Red Cat Woman Thu May 24, 2012 8:49 am

This is utter rubbish Shirina

(Again, the irony is not lost on me. Many conservative Republicans blast Obama for being a socialist, a communist.)

but then they was always going to say this about him. he is the best US leader you have had in a very long time. if you lose him we lose too. its that simple. Obama must win in 2012.

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Post by oftenwrong Thu May 24, 2012 12:16 pm

[quote="Shirina"]Osama bin Laden is dead ....

So why, then, did the Republican-controlled House of Representatives just vote against the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan? By a vote of 303 to 113, an amendment was rejected, one that would limit funding only to the swift and orderly withdrawal of our troops from the country. Instead, 68,000 troops will remain there at least until 2014. ....

You've certainly heard of the term "military–industrial complex". In the 1930s America was in Depression, with millions out of work. The advent of WW2 transformed the USA into the powerhouse of the world. To modify a well-known expression of the era, "whatever's good for Lockheed/Douglas/General Motors is good for America. That still holds true, and War is quite a profitable business.
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Post by Shirina Fri May 25, 2012 6:15 pm

"whatever's good for Lockheed/Douglas/General Motors is good for America. That still holds true, and War is quite a profitable business.
In terms of ordinance manufacturing, I suppose it is. Since the US doesn't lose a lot of planes, ships, and tanks in warfare, there's not much call for replacements. However, unfortunately only a tiny fraction of Americans actually work for defense contractors ... so in this day and age, "what's good for Lockheed/Douglas/GM is good for a select group of CEOs and executives." The average soldier ends up paying the ultimate price for their greed.
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Post by oftenwrong Fri May 25, 2012 8:41 pm

Money talks. It will always be able to out-shout reasoned discussion.
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Post by sickchip Wed May 30, 2012 10:56 pm

America has killed far more innocent civilians than any 'terrorist' organisation ever has - both pre 9/11, and post 9/11.

Is an American life somehow more important, more valuable, more tragic a loss than an Iraquis or Afghans? Do they feel they need to take 1,000plus lives for every one American life lost in 9/11? Do they think that is justice? Or will improve/solve the situation? Or perhaps it is just all about business - capitalist colonialism?
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Post by Shirina Wed May 30, 2012 11:23 pm

Essentially, America let loose an army of kids fielding the most destructive war machine the world has ever seen, against Iraq. As well trained as they are, many of them are still kids. They don't want to kill. They don't want to be killed. Nor did they join the military thinking they would ever really have to go to war. Iraq has put these kids in the midst of a life-or-death struggle where civilians and enemy combatants look exactly the same. There will be deaths on both sides.

Is an American life worth more than an Iraqi life? Well, in the cold analysis where bias does not exist, then the answer is no. But to an American, yes, their lives are worth more than an Iraqi life. Why? Because the death of an American serviceman might actually affect them. It could be their son, their husband, their father who ends up in a flag-draped coffin. When a death hits home, it is felt far more keenly than the death of an anonymous stranger thousands of miles away ... and a member of a different "tribe" to boot.

This is just human nature. If any of us were forced to choose between saving a precious loved one and a stranger, how many of us could truly ignore the pleas of our kith and kin to reach out and save an unknown?

But you hit the nail on the head with capitalist colonialism. Both US and British soldiers AND the Iraqis ... all are victims of this profit-mongering, greed-motivated war. Humanity is lessened by its practice.
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Post by Stox 16 Tue Jul 31, 2012 3:06 am

Shirina wrote:Essentially, America let loose an army of kids fielding the most destructive war machine the world has ever seen, against Iraq. As well trained as they are, many of them are still kids. They don't want to kill. They don't want to be killed. Nor did they join the military thinking they would ever really have to go to war. Iraq has put these kids in the midst of a life-or-death struggle where civilians and enemy combatants look exactly the same. There will be deaths on both sides.

Is an American life worth more than an Iraqi life? Well, in the cold analysis where bias does not exist, then the answer is no. But to an American, yes, their lives are worth more than an Iraqi life. Why? Because the death of an American serviceman might actually affect them. It could be their son, their husband, their father who ends up in a flag-draped coffin. When a death hits home, it is felt far more keenly than the death of an anonymous stranger thousands of miles away ... and a member of a different "tribe" to boot.

This is just human nature. If any of us were forced to choose between saving a precious loved one and a stranger, how many of us could truly ignore the pleas of our kith and kin to reach out and save an unknown?

But you hit the nail on the head with capitalist colonialism. Both US and British soldiers AND the Iraqis ... all are victims of this profit-mongering, greed-motivated war. Humanity is lessened by its practice.

As a Ex serviceman you do not know how right you are Shirina. as they are well trained and yes just kids with a gun in a war most do not fully understand. I was just the same. I saw far to many lag-draped coffins and it made me hate war. its a pointless waste of young peoples lives.

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Post by oftenwrong Tue Jul 31, 2012 10:13 am

Only young people can be persuaded to carry a gun into War. At the age of 18 you're immortal, and it can seem a lot more exciting than sitting in an office or flipping burgers. Questions of philosophy and motivation can be left to Politicians, and military training ensures that you do not question Orders.

An older person, ordered "over the top" into a hail of bullets, is rather more likely to take a view on the matter.
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