I just read about the bombing of the US Embassy in Yemen that killed 10 Yemenese including four civilians. Most folks probably missed the earlier diary on this because it's off the diary list, so here's some basics from the AP report:
A car bomb targeting the U.S. Embassy hit the front gate of the compound in Yemen's capital Wednesday, a U.S. spokesman said. A senior Yemeni security official said six Yemeni guards and four civilians were killed.
The Yemeni guards were assigned to sentry duty outside the embassy by the Interior Ministry. The civilians were three Yemenis and one Indian national, the Yemeni security official said.
My thoughts go out to their families, and to all the Americans who work in our embassy in Yemen and have to suffer through the fear of being attacked. They are dedicated people who are trying to represent our country well, usually non-partisan career diplomats in a very difficult place.
But my main thought is the same one I have when I read of bombings in Iraq: this proves that the Bush Doctrine and the War on Terror are terribly flawed and have not protected us from terrorism.
The past seven years of militarism and international attacks have not stemmed the tide of terrorism or the threat to our own country or others. Each year we see more and more attacks, even leaving out the horrific death toll in Iraq due to bombings of civilians.
John McCain wants to continue that strategy of militarizing the effort to reduce or eliminate terrorism. He wants to "Bomb bomb bomb bomb bomb Iran" and stay in Iraq for a long time to come. He has little interest in reducing our dependence on foreign energy sources except in ways that assist the oil industry.
Barack Obama wants to completely change directions. He would engage in diplomacy with Iran, remove our active combat troops from Iraq, and engage the sole military power we are fighting against in Afghanistan. He believes in a massive effort to change the way we generate electricity and reduce the dependence on gas-guzzling vehicles to get around town and to work, whether that means more mass transit, electric cars or higher fuel standards.
The Bush Doctrine of unilateral war without end was given its chance, and seven year later our embassies are still being bombed, our soldiers are still in harms way, the middle east is in a larger conflagration, Iran has more power, Pakistan is destabalized and Osama bin Laden is at large thumbing his nose at us on videos whenever he gets the urge to make a vlog.
McCain would continue the Bush efforts, keeping the same people in the same jobs (except some high level folks) because there are only so many Republicans he can choose from, Lieberman notwithstanding.
Obama would radically change our tactics, and dramatically change the people not only making the decisions but implementing the policy.
The choice is simple, made simpler by the terrible bombing of American soil today in Yemen.