.
Joseph Piperni was a corporal in the Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Highlanders Regiment. On June 6, 1944 he was one of 156,000 Allied troops who landed on the beaches of Normandy – a deed which changed the course of history.
To my dad and every other man or woman who ever marched into hell to help preserve freedom for future generations, you will forever have my praise, my respect and my gratitude.
___
.
.
I agree with all of this. Andrew Sullivan.
The canonization of Petraeus has got to stop. He follows in the footsteps of Colin Powell who mastered the art of Beltway schmoozing and press management. But at least Powell won a war where Petraeus has so far lost two (can anyone now believe, as Iraq descends into political chaos and increasing violence, that the surge was simply a face-saver to get most, but not all, of the US troops out, after failing to achieve the original war goals?).
And the Palin meme – that somehow members of the military have some kind of special status in a civilian republic and their political views demand more respect than those of others – is just as repugnant.
We owe servicemembers immense respect and gratitude for their courage and service – but we also owe them – to honor the civilian democracy they serve – no more influence or status in the political arena than anyone else. The idea that the military is given an effective veto over a Congressional and presidential decision is a dangerous precedent.
[...]
This is a country run by civilians, whose elected offices are as valid regardless of their military experience, and the military’s job is to take orders, to offer private and confidential military – not political – advice to their commander-in-chief. Their role after that in public is quite simple: to shut the fuck up.
The way in which Petraeus is leveraging his Iraq experience – an experience which, as every day reveals, ended in total failure except as a temporary face-saver for partial withdrawal – and his media clout to force an elected president into an open-ended commitment in Afghanistan is deeply disturbing. It’s long since time we put these commanders and their enablers in their place.
And that’s all I have to say about that.
___
To receive new posts directly on your Facebook page, become a member of MarioPiperniDotCom’s page. Click on ‘Like’ here
.
.
Eugene Robinson on the $2 billion a week war.
Just how corrupt is the U.S.-backed government in Afghanistan? It should be clear by now that President Hamid Karzai doesn’t want us to know. He’d prefer that we just keep sending our troops and our dollars, and not ask too many questions.
Karzai’s government announced this week that American and allied advisers, dispatched to Kabul to help investigate massive and endemic graft, will no longer be allowed to do any actual investigating. Karzai’s chief of staff told The Post that the government is still determined to eliminate corruption, but intends to do so “within an Afghan framework.”
“…still determined to eliminate corruption.” Sure they are…about as determined as a leopard is about changing its spots.
At this point, it’s impossible to avoid the conclusion that U.S. soldiers are fighting and dying to prop up a government willing to tolerate — and, allegedly, eager to profit from — corruption on an epic scale, including vast commerce in illegal drugs. It’s also hard not to conclude that billions of dollars sent to Afghanistan by U.S. taxpayers — intended for worthy projects such as roads and schools — have been stolen by wealthy, well-connected power brokers who spend much of their time luxuriating on the beaches of Dubai.
As Robinson points out, this is not the first time that the U.S., for right or wrong, has supported a corrupt regime. But the difference this time around is that American soldiers are being killed on a weekly basis in support of Karzai and his cronies. Most can agree that Iraq was an immoral war that should never have been started. Afghanistan was different. It was where al Qaeda trained the people who attacked on 9/11. Something had to be done and attacking Afghanistan in an attempt to rid it of terrorists was the way to go. But now, nine years after the fact, it is time to reassess what is being done and the worthiness of continuing a war that gives every indication that it cannot be won.
Robinson proposes a solution.
“Bring the troops home and just send duffel bags full of cash to Kabul, Kandahar and Dubai.”
___
To receive new posts directly on your Facebook page, become a member of MarioPiperniDotCom’s page. Click on ‘Like’ here
.
.
The numbers are staggering. Since 2001, the two wars have cost almost $1.1 trillion dollars.
Iraq: $745 billion
Afghanistan: $330 billion
Meanwhile, Republicans are making noise about the President’s jobs plan to spend $50 billion on the country’s infrastructure. ‘Too much for nothing’ is what they’re saying. Well, to put things into perspective, the current cost of waging war in Afghanistan is close to $2 billion a week. A week. And that’s for a war that cannot be won. Where’s the yelling about that?
___
To receive new posts directly on your Facebook page, become a member of MarioPiperniDotCom’s page. Click on ‘Like’ here
.
.
Bob Herbert makes the argument for ending the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
What we have in Afghanistan is a war that most Americans believe is not worth fighting — and certainly not worth raising taxes to pay for. President Obama has not made a compelling case for the war and has set a deadline for the start of withdrawal that seems curiously close to the anticipated start of his 2012 campaign for a second term.
It’s time to bring the curtain down for good on these tragic, farcical wars. The fantasy of democracy blossoming at the point of a gun in Iraq and spreading blithely throughout the Middle East has been obliterated. And it’s hard to believe that anyone buys the notion that the U.S. can install a successful society in the medieval madness of Afghanistan.
For those who haven’t noticed, we have a nation that needs rebuilding here at home. Maybe we could muster some shared sacrifice on that front.
It’s time to bring the troops back, and nurse the wounded, and thank them all for their extraordinary service. It’s time to come to our senses and put the lunatic’s manual aside.
___
To receive new posts directly on your Facebook page, become a member of MarioPiperniDotCom’s page. Click here
.
Recent Comments