U.S. out of Afghanistan!

For someone who is so adamant that the U.S. needs to leave Iraq ASAP, I am appalled that Barack is so adamant that the U.S. should stay in Afghanistan. See the AP story originally entitled "Obama tells Karzai he plans to continue terror war." Barack and his supporters deride McCain for suggesting that U.S. troops might be in Iraq for 100 years, but here Barack is headed down a garden path that could keep the U.S. in Afghanistan for 100 years! The real bottom line is that we need a President who will openly admit that the whole idea of using massive military action to "fight" terrorism is completely nonsensical. And, the thought that Afghanistan will quickly become a strong, western-style democracy and successfully beat off wave after wave of insurgents is equally nonsensical. Sure, on occasion a military raid or strike may be needed, but the pressing need is to cease and desist from continuing to present the U.S. as a willing "military" target for terrorists.

None of us are served by having a "puppet" regime in Afghanistan. We went in, and we gave it our best shot. Now it is time to get out and let the locals sort things out. Sure, if terrorists re-establish bases we can raid/strike them, but we simply do not want to be in the business of propping up weak governments simply in the name of some ideological "democracy."

The Afghani people deserve the right of self-determination. The thought that Barack will step in as a surrogate for the Neoconservative Project for the New American Century and its military-based promotion of "democracy" is unconscionable. We need some strong new leadership. All we can hope for now is that Barack will try his "strategy" for a short while and then "change" to something more pragmatic once he sees how hopeless the current approach (i.e., if things get messy, send in more troops)  is. Barack's willingness to go deeper into Afghanistan is a perfect example of how out-of-depth he is on defense and foreign relations issues. He had a good instinct on Iraq and (at least for a while, Iran.) Maybe the problem is that he has not been reflective enough to sort out the proper "lessons learned" from Iraq and apply those lessons in other situations.

U.S. out of Afghanistan! ... Now!

And while we are at it... U.S. stay out of Iran! ... and stop trying to bully Iran! Show some high-quality leadership and people will follow.

-- Jack Krupansky