What Exactly Is The "Mission" In Afghanistan?

When asked by reporters what they would do in Afghanistan, right now, if President,  Newt had the best answer.  It's time to reassess something that is unlikely doable.  Santorum said it would be wrong to leave the "mission" unfinished and Romney said it shouldn't be deterred by the actions of some crazy person.  Not one reporter asked what exactly the 'mission' was.

As for Mitt.  We know nothing of the soldier who committed the mass murders what's more what drove him to it.  All the talk about the death penalty and everything else being bandied about is premature to say the least. We owe it to him and ourselves to know all there is to know before acting as judge, jury and executioner.

Now, the mission.  Jay Carney, Obama's press secretary, said the mission is to "disrupt, dismantle and ultimately defeat" al Qaeda.  Did you know the last known death of an al Qaeda operative in Afghanistan was April 12, 2011?  And the last capture of one was in May of the same year? Bin Laden is dead.  The remnants that haven't scattered to Yemen and other such strongholds are holed up in Pakistan.  So we are in Afghanistan why?

Training their forces to protect them against who?  The Taliban.  We have no fight with the Taliban but we will if we stick around.  I believe what we're doing is called nation building.  Sure, we're building infrastructure and training police and military.  That's why Karzai hasn't thrown us out already.  He'd not like to have to dip into the funds he's already embezzled from us to do what we he's allowing us to do under nearly impossible constraints.  Yet on we march like lemmings to the sea.

I heard today that foreign policy is no where near the top of voters concerns in this Presidential election, but I would like the candidates to be able to articulate what the 'mission' of our military is in Afghanista.

I'd like, too, to hear some concern for the man who is allegedly at fault for the killings.  When you look around and all you see is death, horrible, violent death, for years on end it 's bound to have a negative effect.

Consider, we won't lift a finger to help the Syrian civilians caught up in massacre because we don't know who might follow in al Assad's footsteps.  So let them die.  Gaza is shelling Israel, Israel is bombing Gaza, the Palestinians are in an uproar and Libya is still trying to get itself straightened out.  Let them die.  Let them all die.  Just protect our re-election chances.  After all, what's most important here?

Ah, for Ron Paul. And Newt too.  Paul's theory of being nice isn't the answer, but  his and Newt's thought of getting the hell out just might be!

Is Afghanistan Worth One More Life?

With the slaughter of women and children at the hands of a U.S. soldier, you can be sure more is to come.  Is it worth it for either side?  I cannot for the life of me find a rationale that is acceptable.

The Afghans hate us.  Their leaders play us like a fiddle.  Our troops are killed by the very men they have trained.  Billions of U.S. tax  dollars have been squandered on who knows what.  No one can account for it.

With this latest incident, it's time to leave.  If we don't the bloodshed is only going to get worse because they will use the tragedy as inspiration to kill even more of our soldiers.

The details aren't clear yet.  Even though there have been reports it was more than one, as information comes it seems  to be it was only one distraught soldier.  A sergeant. The backbone of the troops.  I will be interested in finding out who this man is and what drove him to madness.  How many tours has he served?  How many of his friends has he seen killed? Were any of the men killed by Afghan soldiers after the burning of the Korans his friends?

Does it really need to take ten years and counting to figure out a war cannot be won?  Maybe it's time to play tough.  If our satellites show us any sign of al Qaeda or Taliban activity in either Afghanistan or the border areas of Pakistan they have forty eight hours to take them out - or we will.  Period.  End of story.

Karzai has made so many pacts with the enemy I've lost count.  Perhaps he has too.  All to insure his safety, his little piece of the action, namely Kabul.  The war lords of the various tribes will have the rest divvied up before the last plane departs.  They probably already have and are just waiting.

I know it's an old and ongoing rant of mine.  I hate war.  Especially when it's muddled by political gamesmenship. But I know as sure as I sit here pecking at my keyboard, slaughter is lurking.  Their people.  Ours. My heart bleeds for all of them. Mostly, however, for the unfortunate soldier who was driven to do the unthinkable.  He should not have to suffer the blame or it's consequences alone.

...And The Beat Goes On

With Super Tuesday under our belts there appears to be a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel.  The four Republican candidates are still standing though some a little less than steady.

Ron Paul really should pack it in but won't.  After all, this is his last political hurrah, he is enormously popular with both the young voters and the older ones.  He is making his points heard to such a degree that whoever wins won't, or shouldn't, ignore him.  He's a good man with a couple of ideas that aren't so good but overall an inspiration and the perfect example of what sticking to principle is all about.

The wife factor:  Mrs. Paul is rarely seen but appears to be a good fit with the Mister.

Newt.  I had to chuckle at a clip this morning that had him saying he's still the true conservative alternative to Romney.  He won his own state but didn't even pull 50%.  This is probably his last hurrah too.  His financier won't keep pouring money down a dry well.  Whatever it is about him, he has lost his momentum.  It isn't all negative ads.  As he might say himself, there is just something fundamentally lacking.

The wife factor:  Mrs. Gingrich is rarely not seen.  There appears to be little warmth between them, she so perfectly dressed and coiffed.  He with his hair often ruffled and his suit jacket straining over his ample girth.  An odd pair.

Rick Santorum is the surprise.  He is really more conservative by my definition than Newt, but then my definition is always changing as I try to sort out just what a true conservative really is.  The 'true' conservatives seem always to have a 'God' factor tied to everything they espouse.  It makes many people uncomfortable though there are far more who aren't than I had expected.

He knows his subject matter though I think at heart he's for more government involvement than I'd like to see or he is willing to admit.  Can he beat Obama?  Good question but I have my doubts.  He's too prone to gaffs of a sort different from Romney's.

When his supporters say what you see is what you get, I wonder if it's enough.

The wife factor:  Though she's mostly in the background, she is a presence.  She demonstrates a great deal of affection for her husband by patting his shoulders or rubbing his back as they mingle after a speech.  With seven kids, it's a safe bet they have a loving relationship.

Then there is Romney.  We all know his resume by now.  He knows big business and how to run it successfully, to wit the turn around of the Olympics.  He needs to quit apologizing for who he is and the fact that he is wealthy.  It shows me he is a man of achievement, not an empty suit.  If it takes some new advisers to freshen the dialog than he should take heed.

The fact that he's been calm and steady throughout this bruising contest shows me discipline.  That his policies aren't all shock and awe, we need to remember whatever changes that are going to be made will be made gradually.  It took time to get into the mess, it will take time and prudence to get back out.  Not drastic pie in the sky promises.  I don't mind a bland personality if the hand on the tiller is steady, having  an experienced touch.

The wife factor:  She is always there and is engaged with the people around them as much as he is.  They hold hands, they hug.  They like each other and I like them.  I've always watched the dynamics of the couple to  help determine the make up of the man.

Can Romney beat Obama?  If voters look at everything, not just the improving economy, I'd say yes.  If the economy falters again, I'd say yes.  If it surges I would expect the voters to turn a blind eye on everything else, especially foreign policy.

That could be disastrous, in more ways than one.

What's It All About?

I sense a lawsuit in the works as a result of the Rush Limbaugh flap.  No, I don't expect the aggrieved Ms. Fluke to sue him.  I expect someone to go to court to settle just what differentiates a "church" from it's ancillary businesses.

This is where Ms. Fluke has added to the problem by inviting criticism upon herself.  Forget that the 'facts' she presented in her testimony before Nancy Pelosi and her minions were exaggerated at best and outright misrepresented at worst.  Like it costing her poor fellow students $1000 a year for contraceptive devices. If true I'd question their ability to get through law school!  There's an intelligence deficit there. We all know the lack of 'truthiness' in that whopper hence the real question has gotten lost in the sensationalism. Without knowing if church and church run business is considered one and the same or not, it won't be solved.

If it's considered not all encompassing, then it seems reasonable the business, in this case a school, should provide the same benefits for it's employees and students as the non-Catholic university down the street.  If it's deemed one and the same it's a whole different ball game.

What Ms. Fluke is doing is trying to convince us they are not one and the same and therefore should provide the contraceptive benefit.  She didn't need to add the ludicrous examples of fellow students suffering financial hardship because it wasn't there.

Enter Limbaugh.  He chose to ignore nearly everything Ms. Fluke said and made it a personal issue with her supposed unquenchable quest for sex.  He couldn't have been more wrong.  You could almost see him getting high on the words he was spewing.  It was like he couldn't stop, getting more and more pumped - and insulting.  Like when you get a fit of laughter and can't control it.  Though this was no laughing matter.

He deserves everything coming his way from the advertisers withdrawing to the stations dropping him.  Don't give me the whine that the liberals get away with it.  They don't.  And to the liberals, don't give me the whine that the Republicans are waging war against women.  They aren't. What's happening is an example of government over reach and the consequences thereof

I do wish the candidates had been more vocal in condemning Limbaugh.  "I wouldn't have used those words," as Romney said, was inexcusably lame.  Newt was outraged that Limbaugh was getting so much attention in lieu of everything of importance - like himself I'd wager.  I haven't seen a response from wither Santorum or Paul.

Today begins a new news cycle.  Super Tuesday will be dominating the news.  Limbaugh will be forced into contriteness for awhile.  Ms. Fluke will go back to her activism and law studies.  I'm sure the book deal she'll negotiate will be adequate to pay for her health benefits should she prefer a private provider.

I guess I agree with Mr. Gingrich to the point there are much more important happenings calling for attention.  I'm going now, to see what they are.

For One Brief Shining Moment

Saturday night I watched as three of the Republican presidential candidates faced questions from their peers and their public.  It was the third forum hosted by Mike Huckabee, this time being held in a cavernous, abandoned warehouse once owned by DHL.

The venue wasn't exactly cozy yet their was an intimacy rarely seen in campaign politics as everyone sat on stools in close proximity.  They were so close to one another they could not help but make eye contact and perhaps that is the secret of successful campaigning.

The questions were by no means softballs, the subject for the most part jobs and what the candidates proposed to do to bring them back. Each answer was forthright and earnest in tenor.  It was interesting to me how similar these three men really are when it comes to their solutions.

The heart and soul of the evening belonged to the everyman and woman that were representing us, the voters.  Their frustrations and worries were palpable.  Their fears and anxieties.

In listening to the questions they put forward and the answers given I saw a side of each candidate I had not seen before.  The crispness of an idea, reasons why the idea would work, why it was needed to be done said without condescension in understandable terms. Understanding. Compassion.  None of it feeling the least bit insincere.  No soaring soliloquies, no religious ideologies, no repetitious chanting of resumes.  Just straight answers. A far cry from the theater of the so called debates.

I was disheartened as I read the headlines this morning as super Tuesday approaches as to how quickly that moment passed.  If he'd quit I'd be ahead.  If I had his money I'd be ahead.  Back to the same old mean spirited rhetoric poorly masked by insincere smiles.  Politics as usual.  Winning at all costs.

For a brief moment these men showed what lies beneath all the ego and ambition that drives them.  I wonder if they recognized it within themselves or if they are so used to their alter persona's they didn't even notice.

I hope they do before it's all said and done.  What we've been seeing of them on the stump isn't encouraging.  What I saw Saturday was.  I'm sorry Ron Paul wasn't there, I'd have liked to see him in the same circumstance.

I don't know if another Forum is scheduled or not.  It would be on FOX.  If you can watch one and your mind has not yet been set in stone, it might help you decide.  Or not, which might even be better when you realize the good might just outweigh the bad. At least it would probably clear up some misconceptions.

Have I made up my mind?  Kind of, well, maybe - I'm not sure, really. Not to worry.  Like most of the people on the panels, I have until tomorrow night to decide.