A "Just" War?

Breaking up with her, he
gets second degree burns
as she pours boiling grits on him.

I did not hear Obama’s acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize, but of course I heard several excerpts from it, and I know basically what he said. While it may be true that occasionally there is a “good” war, and sometimes wars may be necessary, as in the case of WWII, I cannot see how by any stretch of the imagination the “war” in Afghanistan can be seen as a case in point. Why would anyone go to “war” with a country whose citizens had nothing to do with the attack on 9/11. Remember, the men who hijacked the planes and destroyed the world trade center and tried to destroy the Pentagon, were all Saudis, not Afghans. And while it is true they may have received some training in the remote parts of Afghanistan, the plans were also laid in Berlin and the U.S. The attackers were in fact international criminals, not soldiers of war, and they did not represent any particular nation. To infer that Afghanistan is a “good” or “just” war I believe is demonstrably untrue. What is happening in Afghanistan, with the additional troops, is not going to lead to peace. Far from it, we will doubtless be there for many years, wasting more troops and more money, neither of which we can afford. With respect to Afghanistan and peace Obama is just faking it.

This leads me to wonder, once again, just what it is that is keeping us in Afghanistan. I do not believe it has anything to do with bringing democracy, improving women’s rights, or rebuilding the country, at least there is little evidence we have done much of any of those things. I am forced to conclude that we are not being told why we are there or why it is so important that we stay there. It must have something to do with oil and the proposed pipeline that would bypass Russia. I guess it must also have something to do with what we are doing in Pakistan. But what does a mere mortal like me, living in a remote part of the world and dependant mostly upon the internet for news, know about anything. I only work from whatever bits and pieces of information come my way, but on that limited basis, I think there is something very fishy about our obsession with Afghanistan.

Now General McCrystal says that success in Afghanistan depends upon capturing or killing Osama bin Laden. I find it incredible that after eight or nine years of neglect, when we seem not to have been very serious about finding him, that now all of the sudden he is regarded as the key to success. In fact, I find this rather hilarious as just the other day Gates admitted that no one knows where he is, or whether he is even still alive. We have been told over and over again that he is known to be hiding somewhere around the Afghanistan/Pakistan border, and now we are being told we have no idea where he is, but the success of our misadventure in Afghanistan depends upon capturing or killing him. Is this not something out of Alice in Wonderland? I think what we are doing, or trying to do in Afghanistan is terribly mistaken, a complete waste of time, troops, and money. If someone would admit that it is really all about oil and pipelines and stuff I might not feel better about it, but at least I might understand it. As far as bin Laden goes, my wife thinks he is probably living in Odessa, but what does she know (I have found, strangely and embarrassingly enough, that often her seemingly bizarre claims end up being correct). I have no idea why she believes this. I suppose it is no more far-fetched than my belief that bin Laden remains a CIA asset and we never have had any real intention of capturing or killing him (although if my belief turned out be true they might now want to kill him, just to keep him quiet about it).

Sarah Palin is arguing with Al Gore about global warming? And people might take this seriously? And apparently she has compared her book to Obama’s speech? Surely we have gone mad. Why can’t someone agree to just give her a couple of million agree to go away. And why is Dick Cheney not being put away? Somehow I keep (desperately, I guess) clinging to my belief that Obama might actually improve things. However, his Afghan policy and his failure to prosecute our war criminals, I will never be able to forgive, no matter how successful he may otherwise prove to be.

LKBIQ:
The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself.
Friedrich Nietzsche

TILT:
We are importing smelt all the way from Peru.