A Grandmother's opinion of the inadvisability of our remaining in Afghanistan
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I have no expertise about politics, military matters, diplomacy, and all the other things that go into making informed decisions about war and peace. But, it really doesn't take a nuclear physicist to see that we are committing a huge blunder by continuing to fight in Afghanistan.
I am quite disappointed in President Obama -- I was a very enthusiastic supporterof his campaign for the Presidency and continued to believe in him for a long time after he took office. It was a struggle, let me tell you, because he kept making decisions that I thought were not good ones. But, still I clung to my faith in him.
Today, a day after the McCrystal resignation, the thread of belief finally broke. I listened to him utter empty platitudes galore about "our brave fighting men and women" and his "deepdistress when he must send them into battle," but "his conviction that their sacrifices are made for ajust cause." Where have I heard this before?
I fault myself for swallowing his rhetoric in the beginning. He told us he wanted to end the war in Iraq so we could focus on Afghanistan in order to defeat Al Quaeda. In my enthusiastic desire to see him become President, I let those words slide by me without analyzing them.
But, that rationale, it's clear to me now, has no basis in fact at this juncture. We all know that Al Quaeda is no longer physically headquartered in Afghanistan but concentrated in Pakistan. In any case, Al Quaeda is an idea as much as an organization, and it takes roost wherever there are disaffected young people angry at the United States for what they perceive as unwarranted invasions oftheir lands and the killing oftheir people. How do you defeat an idea by killing people?
So, then, why the hell (yes, grannies swear, too) don't we get out of Afghanistan? Why are we allowing our young military men and women to increasingly die in that God forsaken country for misty,ambiguous reasons which can't be substantiated?
All this hoopla about the replacement of General McCrystalwith General Petraeus doesn't impress me in the slightest. So what? My God, the Government-media combine is adept at painting over the real issues with fluff,isn't it? If ever there were a non-issue, this is it. We are asked to seriously weigh the appropriateness of one Generalover the other andto deliberate the wisdom of Obama's choice, thereby skillfully obliterating the REAL consideration -- should we stay or get out of Afghanistan?
We are asked to applaud Obama's decisiveness and commitment to maintaining his policy in Afghanistan. But, we are not asked to question his judgment in continuing to pursue that policy.
I know I speak for the growing legions of anti-war activist grandmothers I associate with --Grandmothers Against the War, Grandmothers for Peace, the Raging Grannies, and the Granny Peace Brigade -- when I say that here's one elderly, ordinarygrandma who is decidedly questioning that policy and who is asking that President Obamafirm uphis guts, aim directly for his moral center, have the courage to admit he is wrong, and take our exhausted kids out of that Hell Hole and bring them home to us.
Authors Website: 222.joanwile.blogspot.com
Authors Bio:JOAN WILE -- author of newly-published book,
GRANDMOTHERS AGAINST THE WAR: GETTING OFF OUR FANNIES AND STANDING UP FOR PEACE (Citadel Press, May 2008 -- available at amazon.com and in book stores), which is an account of her founding of the anti-war group, Grandmothers Against the War, who famously were arrested and jailed when they tried to enlist in the military at the Times Square recruitment center. She is a lyricist-composer-singer-musician for TV, cabaret, jingles, theatre,
recordings, concerts, movie film scores. Winner, ASCAP POPULAR AWARD, and WESTPORT-WESTON ARTS COUNCIL AWARD FOR MOST PROMISING NEW MUSICAL. Runner-up AMERICAN SONG FESTIVAL AWARD. She's had 5 musicals produced off- and off-off-Broadway. Joan has received numerous civic awards for her work with the grannies and is listed in Who's Who in America and all its various spin-offs. She is a grandmother of five.