Opinion
We’re responsible for what happens in war
By Barbara WilsonWe all know someone who has fought for our country. They come from us. They are our brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, and friends. They are fighting right now. They do their job. They do not have a say in where or whom they fight. They follow orders with courage and love of country. They try to get home again.
Generals do none of those things. Generals make plans for war and study strategies to determine the course of action that will win. Politicians decide whom and where we fight, and how many of us are involved. The rest of us put politicians into office, and we are responsible for the decisions they make.
We determine their future. In America, this is Democracy. The people rule. The politicians of today are different from politicians of the past. Politics, being a business and having a main goal of raising money for the next campaign, becomes a tool. They use what they can to distract us from the focus of a political issue, such as, the war in Afghanistan. Some call this distraction process “misdirection.”
Misdirection is to get us to focus on some other issue while the politicians push through their real goal. With the war recently, misdirection is the drug trade in Afghanistan. The drug trade is, of course, tragic. It harms all of us. We are outraged that part of this dirty money goes to fund terrorists. Three DEA agents were recently killed in or near Afghanistan. We must stop this terrible business.
While we are outraged over this issue, our troops are having one of the bloodiest months on record in Afghanistan. Blood — American blood — is seeping into the desert in Afghanistan. There is other blood. Islamic fundamentalists by the thousands are dying. How can there be so many of them? Why can we not kill enough of them to win?
Pakistan borders Afghanistan. They are connected by passages, tunnels, and old routes that are often impossible to stop. Pakistan is also a fundamental Islamic nation. They have the sixth largest population in the world living in a very small place. There are almost two million Afghans living there as well. When we kill one of them, one- hundred take their place. There is an unending supply of them. There, life is cheap.
Living conditions are miserable. War is a way of life. Pakistan also has nuclear weapons. In the past, they have shown no hesitation to use them when threatened.
We do have friends in this area. Saudi Arabia is our friend and America has close diplomatic ties to this country. In Saudi Arabia, on Friday nights, there are public beheadings. This is sort of like our Friday night football games. Only, they count heads. Saudi Arabia is a fundamentalist Islamic nation and has one of the most tyrannical governments in the world.
So, why are we there in Afghanistan? It is to stop terrorism. It is to stop the drug trade. We fight there, rather than over here. What is the goal? What do we win? Many countries that have fought with us in Iraq have recently pulled out of Afghanistan. Australia has said that Afghanistan is a place that cannot be won. They are going home.
So what goals are we after? We need to support our troops. They are we. Generals make plans for war. We must follow those plans.
Politicians decide whom, where we fight, and how many of us are involved. They represent us. We put them in office. We determine their future. In America, this is Democracy.
Who is, when it is all said and done, responsible for the decisions made in Afghanistan? Could it be us?
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