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2009
Soap Box Archives
Feelings Why am I getting the feeling that we're getting ready to make the same mistake in Afghanistan that we made in Vietnam? For a couple of generations now, America has been sending troops to places that we didn't even know how to pronounce the names of a few short decades ago, and we have walked away from those wars before we achieved anything close to winning them, leaving behind a country in chaos and a people we promised to liberate, to face the scorn of cruel and vengeful dictators. The last war that we actually finished was World War II. Enemies surrendered, the victors dictated the terms of the peace treaties and the American military stayed around to enforce law and order until the occupied countries could stand on their own. And the results of our good efforts have stood the test of time. Germany and Japan have risen from the ashes to become sound democracies with vibrant, world-class economies, leaders in technology, science and medicine. When we left we didn't leave the same bunch of thugs in charge that we had just finished defeating. We didn't want to permanently occupy these countries, just to make sure they were stable before we left so we wouldn't have to go back and fight the same war a few years later as we did in Iraq. We left North Korea in the hands of a maniac while liberating South Korea and just look at the difference. South Korea is bouncing from one economic victory to another and the people of North Korea are reduced to eating tree bark. Plus the leader of North Korea is a real nut job who has the absolute power to unleash nuclear weapons in any direction he chooses. We left the people of Viet Nam in dire straits. Who can ever forget the pictures taken of the roof of the American embassy in Saigon as desperate Vietnamese people tried in vain to get on board of the last helicopter out of the country. This is what happens when self-centered politicians get involved in the execution of a war when their main interest is not to win the war but to do well in the next election cycle. They look at a war as a way to boost or shrink their popularity, outcome be damned. The American military has never lost a war but our politicians many times lose them before we even get started. They get us into battles that they don't have the guts or the character to finish if the going gets tough. They tie our military's hands with silly rules of engagement and endanger our troops lives by denying them the latitude it takes to go after enemies wherever they happen to be. They'd rather be lauded by the New York Times than pay the political price and win the war. There was a time when this country had presidents with enough sense to leave the fighting up to men like Eisenhower, Halsey, MacArthur, Patton and Chesty Puller. They were true warriors and knew what it took to win. We have no lack of true warriors these days but politicians with enough savvy to leave things to the professionals are few and far between. If America pulls out of Afghanistan without achieving what we set out to do there, without even killing Bin Laden, we may as well hang it up as far as military options are concerned. Nobody will ever trust us again enough to believe that we have the stomach to finish what we start and who can blame them? Nobody wants war. I have seen too much of it in my lifetime, and any war this nation ever fights should be to protect the interests and freedom of our nation or our allies. Regardless of what some Middle Eastern despots say, the United States of America is not into colonialism. We don't want someone else's country; we just don't want that country to be a threat to us or the allies we have mutual protection treaties with. We should never go into a war that we don't intend to win. If we are not going to commit to winning it, no matter what it takes, we should save the lives of our young American troops by simply not getting involved in the first place. There was a time when a threat of sending American troops to a region struck fear in the hearts of our most rabid enemies, but that was in the day when America was governed by men whose word meant something, who were not given to inane platitudes and idle threats. We have been playing patsy with Iran for years now, knowing all along that they were lying about developing nuclear power for peaceful uses. We have threatened sanctions, condemned them in the United Nations and done all sorts of meaningless things while they simply thumbed their noses at the world and kept on developing their nuclear capabilities. The Western world's reticence and resultant impotence in dealing with the Iran situation has now painted Israel into a corner. They either attack or be destroyed. Another heretofore-unknown nuclear enrichment facility has been discovered in Iran, one that they have been lying about for years. Surprise, surprise!! Nobody wants to go to war in Iran but let's consider the options. If Israel attacks Iran it will inflame the Middle East and Southwestern Asia, there will be all out war and shut down the oil shipments out of the Persian Gulf. If we attack Iran it will still result in war in that part of the world and still shut down oil shipments from the Persian Gulf. If nobody attacks Iran they will perfect their weapons and try to destroy Israel. In other words, damned if we do and damned if we don't. Would it not have been better to deal with Iran years ago, we would not have had to go to war to do that, all we would have had to do was isolate them. The only thing Iran produces is oil and caviar, they purchase most of their food from foreign sources and most of their refined gasoline from foreign sources. Once Iran has its nuclear weapon it's too late for that scenario to work. Then it's war for sure and given the hatred and madness of the mullahs there's no telling what form it will take. But we didn't deal with Iran when we could have and if we don't start leaving the fighting of the war to the military experts in Afghanistan, if we don't take the gloves off our troops, i.e. we don't pursue the Taliban and al-Qaeda over the Pakistani border we may as well bring our troops home and wait for the inevitable day to come when we realize that we should have dealt with Afghanistan when we were able to. This administration seems to have put Afghanistan on the back burner. As of the end of September, Obama had only met with General Stanley McChrystal, who is in charge of the operation, once since he was appointed by the administration in June, however the two did finally meet again on Air Force One following Obama's unsuccessful trip to Copenhagen pitch Chicago as home for the 2016 Olympics. In September, General McChrystal recommended sending more troops to Afghanistan and that if more troops weren't sent it would "likely result in failure." Obama has said that the White House is in the process of working through that strategy, but did question if that was the right strategy. That's comforting. I know there are a lot of Bible-believing people who read this column and events are happening at an exponential rate now hastening the day when the horrors written about in Ezekiel 38 and 39 will take place. The chapters speak of a time when Israel will be at war with the entire Arab world, even Russia and many other nations will be a part of this incredibly huge army that will come against Israel. The Bible says that Israel will stand alone. Well I hate to say it, but I don't believe that Barack Obama is a friend of Israel's and if it came down to them being attacked by the forces of Islam because they bombed Iran's nuclear facilities I can't see Obama doing anything more than condemning their actions in the worthless halls of the United Nations. The day will come when Israel will stand alone, but they will not be truly alone, they will have one ally, but when the Creator of the Universe is that ally, that's all you need. God will fight for Israel and destroy somewhere around 85% of the armies that come against them. It's going to happen folks, and it could well be right around the corner. And one other thing, when I speak about the oil supply from the Persian Gulf, what I'd like you to think about is why haven't we moved any closer to being energy independent in the last few months? Do you think for one second that if the money Obama and Congress have thrown down a hole in the last eight months had been spent on offshore drilling, shale oil technology and drilling in ANWR we wouldn't be much farther down the path to removing our gonads from the hands of the Middle Eastern crazies? Do you think that if the money Obama spent to placate the unions when he bought General Motors had been spent on renewable energy, we would have been a lot closer to independence? And one last question… Which system needs overhauling the worst? 1. Our health care system. 2. Our energy policies. What do you think? Pray for our troops, and for our country God Bless America Charlie Daniels
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