For many of us, we'll always remember 'W' on the rubble of the World Trade Center, telling Taliban scum and their terrorist brethren that the United States would be coming for their asses. He did, and he never wavered throughout roller coaster poll numbers. On national defense he had enough spine to straighten out shaky Republicans. In his absence, the GOP's losers have gone silent on the security threats posed by radical Islam.
Years ago, smarmy journalists asked Bush about public opinion fading on the war effort (take your pick, Afghanistan or Iraq, it doesn’t matter), and his response was telling. In short, he tactfully told them to shove it because a leader’s job is to do the hard right, even if doing the easy wrong is in his political best interest. And that is why I will always have a soft spot in my heart for ‘W’.
Years ago I went down to Fort Benning, Georgia to catch up with an old Army buddy, and the infantry guys I talked to at the bar loved him. The reason: besides his obvious love for the troops, when it came to safeguarding the country there was no shaking him. Besides my own regret and the second-guessing that comes from leaving the service before 9/11, I will also always carry a certain sadness that I didn’t get to serve under a Commander-in-Chief like Bush.
But I digress… The CNN poll:
Support for the war in Afghanistan has fallen to an all-time low with the majority of Americans saying the U.S. should withdraw all of its troops from Afghanistan before the 2014 deadline set by the Obama administration, according to a new poll.
The CNN/ORC International survey released Friday indicated only 25% of Americans favored the war in the Asian country. A majority of Republicans voiced opposition to it, for the first time since the war began in 2001.
The responsibility of our elected officials is to articulate our war efforts in a way that resonates with the American people and prepares them for costs of war. It is their job to articulate exactly who are enemy is and what it will take to defeat him. They have failed, just as they have failed with the coming debt bomb and just about every other matter of import to the nation.
If we return to the pre-9/11 mindset in order to combat Islamic terrorism, then we will have 9/11-type results. It’s really that simple. The delivery vehicle for their terrorism may very well be different, but the body count and subsequent effect on the economy will be the same or worse.
Many Republicans wobbled on the war effort under George Bush, and it was his sheer force of will that kept many of them in line. In his absence the weak-kneed losers have been freed to go soft. Our elected officials give floor speeches on NFL football bounty hunter controversies while $16 trillion in debt works its way up, up, up. Honest debates on our nation’s security get shelved for side-show antics involving hooded sweatshirts. Our nation is wandering in a sh*t storm of our own making, and there doesn’t seem to be a stable of leaders who can help guide us out.
Prepare yourself, because things are going to get messy.
As a Vietnam combat Vet (and I kept my medals so I can prove it) similar dialog has been heard before. In my opinion there is a difference with what is transpiring though with our war on terror. Yes, we kicked the bad guys a hard one so off to Pakistan what was left of them went.
Not too much different from the Viet cong crossing back into Cambodia where the US military was not allowed to go. A true no win situation, much like Afghanistan today. An additional factor is the Islamic crazy’s seemingly have a death wish. Couple all of this with the history of the region and any reasonable person will eventually come to the conclusion that no matter how much blood and treasure we expend, when we go home
The majority of that country’s population, at least the male portion will revert back to how’s its been there sence the time of their conversion to Islam.
To my way of thinking we killed a lot of bad guys, disrupted AQ, killed Ben Ladiun and now its time to get out of that miserable place before it eats any more of our young men and women up and spits them out onto the sands of time that continue to flow back and forth across that country.
Hint, look what happened to the British and the Russians. Its not pretty.
Hi Rockman. Thanks for the comment. You make some very interesting points. Many of the problems we’re having in Afghanistan stem from the failure of politicians to accurately articulate who our enemy is and what the mission is to the American people. If our politicians are a bunch of wishy-washy losers who drift, then it’s not surprising that the public would follow suit.
We throw a bunch of troops into a mission that isn’t clearly defined, give them crappy rules of engagement that ties both their hands behind their back, and then wonder what the problem is…
Bush knew that it was a clash of civilizations and tried his best to let everyone know, but in a politically correct world there’s only so much you can do. They demonized the man, and then Obama was elected and “wins” the Nobel Peace Prize weeks into his presidency for, apparently, being born.
Courtesy of http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RL33110.pdf
“According to CBO’s latest projection, war costs for FY2012-FY2021 could total another $496 billion if troop levels fell from 180,000 in FY2011 to 45,000 by FY2015 and remained at that level through FY2021. Under that scenario, war costs through FY2021 would total $1.8 trillion.”
More sobering details here: http://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/cbofiles/ftpdocs/86xx/doc8690/10-24-costofwar_testimony.pdf
Are our taxes going up or are we adding this to our tab with our Chinese creditors?
Most Americans know what’s up. We ousted the Taliban, who supported terrorism groups such as Al Qaeda. Unfortunately, these groups will come back after we go. The culture won’t support a pro-democracy style of government. So, we stay at huge cost, or we go and come back once in a while to blow up some terror camps while following Mr. Clancy’s advice (and Israel’s lead) on beefing up and using HUMINT in those areas of the world.