Circum Spective

What have they ever done to us?

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Pentagon presented a grim portrait of the Afghanistan war Thursday, offering no assurances about how long Americans will be fighting there or how many U.S. combat troops it will take to win. With 62,000 U.S. troops already in Afghanistan ...

"The administration has raised the stakes by transforming the Afghan war from a limited intervention into a more ambitious and potentially risky counterinsurgency," the Senate report concluded. "These core questions about commitment and sacrifice can be answered only through a rigorous and informed national debate."

Appearing alongside Gates, the nation's second-highest ranking military officer agreed there is no date certain for an exit. Military officials [who know better than politicians, of course] believe the Afghanistan mission can only succeed if troops are there far longer - anywhere from five years to 12 years.

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I will ask this question until American troops are no longer there, or until I die, whichever comes first:
Why are we killing people (including non-combatant civilians) in Afghanistan?
What have they ever done to us?!
Osama Bin Laden isn't even there any more.

This country must be populated and governed by some of the most arrogant, imperialistic bunch of bigoted yahoos in the history of the world. How much revenge is enough? Do you think maybe we've overreacted just a tad? The twin towers was nine years ago. Between 13,000 and 17,000 people (depending on what source you consult) are killed each year by drunk drivers! Are we going to declare war on drunk drivers? Invade their front yards with tanks? Kill their families? Killed by firearms in this country: more than 28,000 a year.
About 41,000 children die of starvation in the world every day!
Maybe you need to read that statistic again.
Forty-one thousand every day.
Who is angry about that? Why haven't we declared war on starvation and hunger and malnutrition?
Why are we still obsessed, nine years later, with 3,000 lives?

Here is the answer to the question I keep asking (the question for which no one has offered an answer): We are still killing people in Afghanistan because we are afraid, and fear makes people do bad things. We are bullies beating up on the scrawniest kid in school -- because we are compelled by our collective insecurities to keep "proving" that we are the toughest kid on the playground. We are there because they are the poor step-child of Islamic countries and none of their siblings has the guts to step in and try to stop us.
Well, we may have proved once again that we're the toughest, but we are also proving that we are no longer the smartest or the most Christian. We are international bullies -- arrogant, blood-thirsty bullies. This "war" (military oppression of another culture) is obscene. The amazing part is that we have 62,000 troops in that country for no good reason and very few Americans seem to even notice or care.

I know ... Americans have more pressing issues to contemplate and pray about, like whether or not they will refinance their mortgages for the third time so they can go out and buy that 52" plasma TV before football season starts.

Yes. God bless America. Forgive me for interrupting your prayer-filled lives.

Like I've explained before, I'm not against the troops. I disagree with the decision-makers. I hope all our sons and daughters come home safely ... tomorrow.