In an apparent exercise to keep a political election promise, US President Obama seeks to at least entertain the idea that in Afghanistan that selective targets are the answer to getting troops home. In reality, that will be like getting the wet out of water.
We have seen this before when a politician tries to make good on what defies reality. One example was bombing only one side of a bridge that crossed a border between two countries so as to not bring the other country into the conflict. But as it would be, targeting only Al-qaida and not the Taliban in Afghanistan is an order too tall to fill in today’s world. When both Al-qaida and the taliban think alike, and both view America as an enemy, they are simply allies.
It was the Taliban that let Al-qaida set up shop to begin with long before the 9-11 attacks, and that position does not seem to have changed. This does not mean today is any different. Some Taliban can also be Al-qaida so this simply becomes an exercise in futility.
Unfortunately political correctness plays a roll in this. People have simply become to sensitive to negatives. When the media focus shifted from Iraq to Afghanistan, the mood about Afghanistan started to change. It does not matter that Iraq was a George Bush war and Afghanistan is Americas war, political correctness has weakened the resolve of Americans to do what is necessary to insure the safety and freedom of life in America.
Americans are increasingly finding themselves in an artificial world that ignores the fact that the real world has bad guys that must be dealt with. If this is the case and it seems to be so, then political correctness has become a threat to national security.
Americans have fought and died in wars from the moment America was born in 1776. The situations of war have not changed, nor have the type of people that start them. Political correctness however suggests another strategy being ‘leave them alone and they will leave us alone’, and that is the balancing act President Obama is trying to pull off.
This does not need to be a very long post to see the obvious, and because of that we will simply leave it at that.
So how about a post on Obama winning the Nobel Peace Prize?
By the way do you agree with the judges on granting this award to Obama? His speech in Egypt was certainly powerful but there hasn’t been the chance to prove this rhetoric with actions as of yet, in my opinion.
-Mike