You’re Wrong, Mr. President

I have nearly lost all faith in your judgment, Mr. President. Your assertion that we are beginning the de-escalaton of our Afghan adventure by escalating it smacks of the same New World Order, Orwellian doublespeak that the previous administration was famous for. To say that in 18 months our troops will begin to come home is to reconfigure a troop replenishment as a withdrawal. 18 months from now, there will be MORE troops in Afghanistan than there are now, as there will be 24 months from now, and likely 30 months from now when you are running for re-election. The logistics of troop withdrawals (and escalations) do not allow an instantaneous move, and you are well aware of this while you make this disingenuous argument.

The “unending chain of sacrifice” that you bemoan could be ended, abruptly, right now, by your executive order. For you to insist that we don’t wish to occupy foreign nations does not erase the fact that we are occupiers, and not just in Iraq and Afghanistan, but in many other nations as well. Like the British a century ago, we are a fading empire that can literally no longer afford to project its power.

The British, who had a mercantilist economic system that was simply unsustainable, and so they had an excuse for decline. Our own nation has squandered its wealth and outsourced its cashflow in the name of corporations who have no national loyalty, and our military endeavors have enriched amoral military contractors who place obscene profits ahead of concern for the safety of soldiers, or even their own employees.

Mr. President, you frequently stated during your campaign that by entering Iraq we failed to achieve our goals in Afghanistan, which was true then, true during the campaign and true now. What is not true is to imply that the goals our country had in Afghanistan 8 years ago are either relevant or achievable at the current time. By escalating our involvement now, while at the same time promising to rectify the unprecedented unfunded war deficit handed to you by the previous administration, you guarantee that your presidency will feature all the drawbacks of LBJ’s without any of the social-service benefits, including those that will be needed for returning soldiers, many of whom will require extensive counseling after the unconsionable “stop-loss” re-deployments that put them in the traumatic heat of battle multiple times.

No, Mr. President, you are wrong, and you are failing us, and by doing so, you are betraying the legacy of progressive idealism that led to your ascendance. I hope that you are the luckiest man alive and we end up better off as a result of this decision, but my heart is heavy now.