Most of the soldiers that were killed, wounded and maimed in Afghanistan were "volunteers". They joined the military in a time of relative peace to make a life for themselves. Many joined for an escape from poverty. I have no problem using our military when necessary but want the students at our universities fighting alongside the "volunteers in a draft which like Israel you can't get out of. Vietnam was a disaster because most people with money was able to escape the draft.
ISIS was created by the war in Iraq which was orchestrated by a Republican administration. There is no evidence that Dr. Ben Carson will no how to fight ISIS who wants to battle Americans as they wait for the end of the world.
Over the past 25 years: 1) George HW Bush was a war hero in WWII 2) Bill Clinton (poor) avoided the draft with a student deferment 3) George W Bush served in the Texas Rangers to avoid Vietnam 4) John Kerry served in Vietnam but faked an injury to be sent home 5) Obama never registered for the draft as required by law.
In the Iraq war after the very early stages where Hussein's troops were defeated, we were fighting Al Qaeda terrorists. President Bush asked Congress to authorize a military surge in 2007 a surge that the fledgling Senators Obama an d Clinton voted against. It worked, and at the close of his term, the US had secured 18 of 22 Iraqi provinces. The withdrawal plan from Iraq required the transfer of security forces from the US to Iraq. Joe Biden was sent to negotiate the plans of the transfer and bungled it so badly (intentionally?) that Iraq asked us to leave. Without adequate security, Isis then began to take over huge chunks of Iraq.
The neophyte Obama campaigned in 2007 ad vowed to withdraw all troops from Iraq within 60 days of taking office. Of course he had no idea of what he was saying, and the withdrawal took 3 years. I don't know how you win a war by announcing when you leave.
You say that Dr. Ben Carson (a true scholar, not a mediocre student at Occidental College who miraculously got accepted to transfer to Columbia) is not equipped to lead a military effort as Commander in Chief. I agree, but by those standards, of course Obama is a neophyte ill equipped to lead. He has shown zero ability to build consensus and reach across the aisle. By nature he is divisive, and 7 years later blames Republicans and his predecessor at every turn. No President in my lifetime ever criticized the other party with so much regularity. When he is gone from office, America can begin to rebuild.
Can you explain why a President so committed to the war on terror would swap 5 key Al Qaeda leaders in Gitmo for one military deserter who walked away from his post (after sending all his belongings home) to join the Taliban?
I agree that Obama has made some mistakes. What I don't agree on is that Bush invading Iraq to eliminate" weapons of mass destruction" was not a disaster. As for the points on War Service, Bush Sr. fought in WW2 as part of a draft and many on here don't think Obama is a citizen so why would he register for Vietnam?
Will have to say Beast that your posts are a thing of beauty. If you knock them out in a couple of minutes you are an incredible writer.
I appreciate your comments about my writing.
I like to give credit when credit is due, so if you asked me, the Democrats have a better position on the environment, but not as the leading issue. On that front, I'd say that without a global policy, tightening reigns on US manufacturers only drives that business overseas or makes it much harder for US companies to sell competitively, costing US jobs.
While I'm sure many younger Americans failed to register for the draft, someone running for public office should have rectified that long ago, and not be dismissive about it. Either that or change the law.
I'm in the vast minority regarding the war in Iraq, but I also believe there is some revisionist history going on here. EVERYONE, including President Clinton, believed that Iraq was developing weapons of mass destruction. Google it - the oft repeated question, even by elected officials was not whether Saddam Hussein was ever developing WMDs, but whether he had dismantled the program, as he had stated. There was nothing to suggest he had, and even both of his son-in-laws (who fled Iraq only to be coaxed by by Saddam and then executed) claimed they were still in development. After claiming the programs were dismantled, Hussein then ignored 17 United Nations resolutions demanding that weapons inspectors come into Iraq to be shown that these programs indeed had been terminated. Those in the know said Hussein had a mobile program in effect, where he could quickly close up shop and move it. Of course, even after our invasion, we could never find them. HOWEVER, as a response to 9-11, we couldn't let a murderous sponsor of terror continue to defy the UN's call for weapons inspectors. So, when we declared war on IRaq, Hussein abruptly relented, and said we could come in. To me, if there is a Bush error, maybe he shoudl have sent weapons inspectors in before proceeding with an invasion.
There is an ongoing debate as to whether its better to keep murderous, brutal dictators in place, even those that sponsor terror, since they control their country. Hussein murdered at least 500,000 of his own countrymen. Since 9-11-01, I've met dozens of servicemen as a result of business travel, and I engage them frequently. They all say the same thing: We were doing a job. We did a good job. And Iraqis repeatedly expressed gratitude for them being there. Liberals railed that we lost 3,500 servicemen as a result of the Iraq war. Newspapers kept a body count daily. Compare that loss to Vietnam, where I believe the number was 58,000. Or WWII - some 295,000. Miraculously when Obama took over and war continued, the body count stopped.
Maybe 50 years from now, the Iraq war will be appropriately (in my view) framed as America's response to the sheer inhumanity of the 9-11 attacks on civilians. I am certain of this however. The folks we were fighting and killing for nearly the entire war were Al Qaeda terrorists. And I'm just fine with that. Instead of retreat, I'd be just fine with warring there until every last radical Islamist is dead. If moderate Muslims are truly moderate, they'd agree.
