Is de-Talibanizing Afghanistan worth even one more life?

"CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. -The nation’s highest-ranking military officer told soldiers and Marines on Monday that the insurgency in Afghanistan has grown in the last three years and he expects casualties to rise next year as additional U.S. troops pour into the war.

In an article released by the A.P. that I am sure will upset our conservative readers (do we have any?) entitled Rifts Threaten Tea Party Movement , we see that all is not well among "the Chosen" in this country. I wonder why? Is their vision of Paradise cracking?  Is reality setting in? 

Have these people finally gotten to a point where they realize that ideology caste in cement is best left to the Young Republicans and the Young Democrats in freshman year of high school?  Adults in politics deal in realities. That is the only way to get things done.  Maybe they are finally learning this in the Tea Party Movement.

In today’s Washington Post we read an article entitled Gates: ‘We’re in this thing to win’ , in which the Secretary of Defense tells troops overseas on a surprise visit to Afghanistan that we can actually ‘get one for the Gipper and win for the home team’ or something like that. Why do I feel nauseous?  Knute Rockne he ain’t.  This is not a Notre Dame football game nor is it a B-movie starring a young and handsome Ronald Reagan.  People are dying here.  Lets get serious and stop the melodrama.

In this article from the Post entitled Along with pep talk, Marines get warning , we read that the Joint Chief,  Admiral Mullen, wants the marines to be very careful from this point forward as to who they actually kill. If they kill the wrong people, he told them that they could screw up this whole "escalation" thing for everybody.

That is sort of like saying to a four year old holding a loaded semi-automatic pistol that "he really needs to be careful" isn’t it? These guys are paid to kill. You point them in a direction and they kill what is in front of them. It is what they do.  It is who they are.

I am a little confused here. We need marines in a combat area that are ….uh…more or less…ummm….not going to kill people who will hurt them at any given chance because the marines are in their homeland. Talk about a confused mission statement! Wow!

Why don’t we just stop fooling around with marines then? Lets send in the Campfire Girls. I am sure that they will not necessarily pose much of a threat to the Taliban. Sheesh!  What kind of marching orders are these to give to marines? 

You know, if I wrote a novel and put down this speech as part of the flow and the storyline, the reader would have to suspend belief to get through this part of the story.  He would say to himself, "no admiral would talk to marines this way".  And the reader would be wrong. it just happened yesterday.

In this next article, we get a reality check. This is a real good balance to the admiral’s "talk" to the marines yesterday.

Entitled Taliban shadow officials offer concrete alternative we learn that nearly all Afghan provinces have a governor and a government appointed by Kabul and another governor and an alternate government put in place by the Taliban. The people prefer the Taliban. The Taliban get things done. Kabul does not. Now, let me ask you, if this is what they want, why aren’t they getting it?

In other news from the Washington Post today that speaks to how shaky "government" actually can be in the Middle East (or anywhere else) we learn that the illegally elected government in Iran has used paramilitary thugs to break up student demonstrations in Tehran.

That article entitled Iranians rally against leaders might possibly be a harbinger of things to come in this country. Do not count that possibility out for being ridiculous.  Americans are not above violent protest against injustices. We all need to recognize that.

And finally in an Op Ed piece by Roger Cohen entitled A price to pay, one name at a time , we read that the fact that we have so few Iraq and Afghan War dead compared to previous American wars makes their deaths personal and in a sense, harder to take.

Cohen asks whether or not "de-Talibanizing" Afghanistan is worth even one more life? Is it? For me, the answer is a resounding "no".

Support the troops and their families.  Bring them home.  Now.

Get informed and stay informed. Your duty as a veteran and as a citizen is to become as informed as possible every day. This is so that you can help govern this republic based on verifiable facts and informed and thoroughly processed opinions, not on ideology of the Left or the Right.

Forget ideology.  That is for juveniles.  Get aquainted with what is really going on around you and act accordingly.

Someone’s young life may depend on whether or not you are conversant with the facts. Never forget that.

CWO3 Tom Barnes, USCG (Ret.)