To the editor:
I have just sat down at my computer after watching “60 Minutes” on Oct. 16 about the war in Afghanistan and its long-term probabilities. A top U.S. ambassador and a four-star general were discussing the American electorate’s dissatisfaction with the continuation of this war into possibly ten more years of our troops on the ground.
They were explaining how the future may become much brighter for the citizens of Afghanistan after we finish building their roads, schools and infrastructure. It seems to me that we need to do those same jobs here at home. I think that the Afghans are used to living as they have; we are not.
I know for a fact that the generals of the army want to complete and win their war and the ambassador was assigned by our president to help the generals. But as I continued to watch and hear their strategy, I became enraged and began screaming at my television, “Get the hell out of there and bring our troops home NOW.”
I can recall my war in Korea in 1953, when after more than 50,000 American soldiers killed and 200,000 wounded, we watched as the Korean citizens decided that enough was enough and called a truce with North Korea. How could we explain to the families of our boys killed for obviously no reason that their country fought an unnecessary war? We did the same thing in Vietnam in the late 1960s and, after even more mortalities, we called that one off and came home again.
Have we learned our lesson?
Comments
uncleandyt 5 years, 11 months ago
I suspect as a fact that some Generals retire and go on to work for defense contractors who would make less money if the wars slow down. The bomb-makers are on a roll. We fund a bloody gravy train. Great letter, thank you
devobrun 5 years, 11 months ago
And today in South Korea, wealth is higher than ever before. Freedom is manifest and, compared to North Korea, the people of the south live in paradise.
And Viet Nam continues to develop a market economy. For 10 years after communist takeover, Viet Nam was a place of torture, "retraining" and death. Then doi moi was instituted and the economy started to become more free. Viet Nam has a long way to go, but protests occur for more freedoms and the heavy hand of totalitarianism has loosened. The youth of the country will eventually push aside the communists regime.
Our fights in these countries wasn't about American imperialism. It was about freedom. Korea, Viet Nam....heck even Cuba, all see freedom and try to find it for themselves. Thanks to America's example. The world is becoming more free from tyrants and government in general. The irony is that America, the land of the free, is moving away from that freedom and toward top-down, proscriptive, "expert"-based government.
Our republic is moving toward a bureaucracy, governed by "evidence" derived from a computer model. Freedom to succeed, or fail is gone. The relationship between government and the American people is dependency. Strange turn of events over the last 30 or 40 years.
just_another_bozo_on_this_bus 5 years, 11 months ago
There is much to be admired about S. Korea, but you over-romanticize it, and gloss over the authoritarian nature of its government and the conglomerates that controlled it for many decades.
And it's interesting that you like Vietnam's approach to a mixed economy, but somehow think the US should be a shining example of capitalist purity.
And don't you wonder what Cuba might be like today if we hadn't let the mafia and ex-pat Cuban oligarchs determine our policies towards it from the first days after the revolution?
devobrun 5 years, 11 months ago
The first time derivative of a quantity is the rate of change. The rate of change of freedom in Viet Nam is positive, and the derivative of freedom vs time in the U.S. is negative.Viet Nam is not free. They are headed in the right direction. We are free and progressively removing freedoms. Freedom versus time in America is a negative sloping function. Is life getting better here in America, bozo? Are we getting more free? Are we better?
I think not. It is because of government. Republicans, Democrats, Tea Partiers......Occupiers. People now look for government for their lives. And their lives are worse for it. There is little distinction between government and business. We are controlled, manipulated, regulated, and managed by "experts" from business, education, government and we succumb to the will of the bureaucracy. And freedom is gone.
just_another_bozo_on_this_bus 5 years, 11 months ago
War is the health of the military-industrial complex. And there are many states that aren't dominated by military obsessions.
Getaroom 5 years, 11 months ago
The Vietnam War was about the fear of the spread of Communism, not about our freedom. The growth in the economics as seen in South Vietnam today is not about our having waged war. Exactly what freedoms were gained by the South Vietnamese? They were ultimately overcome by the North and Laws and Rules of the Communist North were applied to the South. In the end of course as we do in all countries we invade and wage war in, we end up pouring billions of dollars into those countries to rebuild infrastructure, while out own crumbles. The American Government went to Iraq and sure some new soldiers enlisted and existing military of course thrives on making war and "keeping America safe" all were swayed through the emotions generated by false patriotism, and this patriotic steam the Bush administration generated by whipping up fear seemed to legitimize being and staying there. Iraq was not about removing a dictator, it was about oil, black gold and do we have anymore of that than we did prior to occupying Iraq? NO, not because our government went there to fight for our "freedoms" at home. We have actually lost civil freedoms because of it(Home Land Security) and the government has gained more power over the population. Call that Freedom? The Oligarcy with which are replacing Democracy, loves the dependency relationship generated between the populace and military leadership. The leadership of both government and military thrive on power-over structures which can then ultimately control society. So is this direction, the direction you see yourselves wanting to go forward with to have a good life in America? If so, vote for people like: Brownbackward, Rick Perry, Rick Santorum, Bachmann, Herman Cane and the list goes on. In fact, vote for Liberty_One above, he is all for proving his statement true.
Cant_have_it_both_ways 5 years, 11 months ago
A classic example of a media fed American. Spouting just what he/she has heard, not based on facts.
Tissues used to be tissues until the term "Kleenex" was pounded at the population.
We should all feel sorry for those who can't seperate the wheat from the chaff.
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