There is no military solution to a social problem.
There is no military solution to a social problem.
There is no military solution to a social problem.
There is no military solution to a social problem.
There is no military solution to a social problem.
So here we are, throwing away millions of dollars trying to "build the Afghan army".
Why do we need to build it? Aren't these the people who defeated the Russians? We're talking about the Russian army, who when they invaded Afghanistan didn't have the scruples that we have. They destroyed villages, they shot civilians, they ran over people with tanks just to get information, they were totally ruthless, they had one of the most advanced military organizations in the world at the time, and still they got their asses kicked by people who were equipped with basically the same equipment that they have now, and they still got their asses handed to them on a plate.
Now we are there, with our nice modern military, and basically we've lost. Yes, lost. Lost the war. Read any manual on strategy and tactics, and you'll understand that we are now in a retrenched, defensive position. Oh, we do call it a surge, we're patting ourselves on the back that we're doing "something constructive", and we're in the same position that we were in in Vietnam.
Don't like the truth? Sorry, that doesn't change things. The fact remains that the same people that fought the Russians to a standstill have us at a standstill too. And that's because we haven't really learned the lesson of Vietnam, and that's that the home team has a huge advantage.
You wonder why there is no money for healthcare? It's simple; we're spending our money on a war that was lost back at Tora Bora, by Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and company. if these useless wars weren't happening, we wouldn't have to argue about health care, because there would be enough money to take care of that and so much more. As it is, everything that we need, from healthcare through modern energy systems all the way to modern public transit could be easily funded.
Think of what we could do right now with $1 trillion; all the social programs that we need at this moment could be funded easily, with money left over to rebuild Afghanistan in a positive way instead of re-destroying it as so many other people have done. In fact, there would be enough to rebuild Iraq as well. God knows we've ruined enough things there; the people of Iraq deserve better, the people of Afghanistan deserve better, and the people of the United States certainly deserve better.
It's not the administration; it's not Pres. Obama's fault; it's nobody's fault but our own, because we didn't yell loud enough for what we wanted, and now we don't have it to spend on ourselves, or on others who need it.
And it's all because we don't understand one simple thing;
There is no military solution to a social problem.
I've said this before here, and I'll say it again. I'll say it as many times as necessary, and if I sound like a broken record, it's because the truth doesn't change.
Okay, that's it for the rant. But please bear in mind that nothing is going to change until we really get active. And the first thing we need is a really strong peace movement, and some representatives who really represent the American people in particular, the people of the world in general, and especially the people of the countries that we've destroyed in the name of so-called "democracy".
Thank you for taking the time to read this, and recommend this if you feel like it. Sometimes I feel like I'm shouting into a hurricane, and I would very much like if people got this one simple message.