Written by Doug Jackson   

“I felt for the tormented whirlwinds
Damned for their carnal sins
Committed when they let their passions rule their reason.”
-Dante Alighieri

As motivated as I was to get started researching for an article about war, it didn’t take long for my stomach to turn. Sites with thumbnails of “the fallen” from Iraq and Afghanistan were more than saddening. Over 4,000 U.S. Soldiers have lost their lives in Iraq since the 2003 offensive for Saddam Hussein (Reuters). Combat-related causes are at its lowest point since the incursion. That’s surely a sign of our government getting our troops out. I watched my generation march blindly into a war with ulterior motives. Like most Americans after the 9/11 tragedy, I wanted blood. Saddam fit the description, even though we never found any WMDs, not one. So why stay? Cut and run sounded like a good option five years ago, but apparently, the higher-ups had different plans. Is our conquest of Mesopotamia still based on terrorism? Oil? Your guess is as good as mine. Our country was built on conflict; war is a pastime of ours. Defending our country, our rights, and the rights of others was my understanding for reasons of war while growing up. It was a fine line. Now, the line is blurred. The Bush Jr. years threw us for a loop in regard to perceiving trust in our government. Not that Clinton helped the cause either. He left the door wide open in Afghanistan, and now we’re almost full force over there. I have nothing but the utmost appreciation and respect for our soldiers. Let that be clear. When everyone you know has a story of someone that has died, or was crippled in Iraq, whether it be relation by family, friend, neighbor, or third party, it takes a toll on your outlook of war. The horrors of war I will not be getting into, that’s out of my depth. One cannot imagine what our troops see in combat. The results of war are impact enough without the insight of such stories.


For days I’ve been researching death tolls in Iraq, and Afghanistan. A few sources supplied a whole line of data for me, which made the research go a bit quicker. The research might go swiftly, but the actual taking in of the data, putting faces, hometowns, and cities to the names was too much for one sitting. Writing on war, during wartime, is always tough. Firstly, you don’t want to offend the soldier. The government needs the critiquing and you’d hope to offend them. If so, then you know you were saying something right. I attended a rally against the Iraqi war in Manhattan back when the lies were out in the open. It didn’t help in the withdrawal of troops, but at least the people were outraged enough to try and do something constructive.

With Obama in office we can expect the affront on Afghanistan to continue full-blown. This administration doesn’t seem to want to get out of the Middle East. Who knows, securing a foothold in the Middle East would pave a way to China unannounced if we kept going. Should Romney get in, than we might come to blows with China early on. We could see a redirection of war easily under a different set of aspirations and ideals. Will Mesopotamia and the future wars be an issue of debate? I’m sure we’ll hear the rhetoric of “I’ll bring our troops home” again. What we won’t hear is a legitimate reason as to why we are in Afghanistan. There are too many years of rubble to dig through to figure out the why we are still there? Still playing the Taliban card? Over there, yes, suicide bombers and terrorism on a daily horrifying basis shows itself. How about the homegrown terrorism here in the states? That will be addressed with misguided ambitions about gun laws, from both sides; but, the truth is, we are at a serious turning point in our history as Americans. Can anyone else feel the spirit of America slipping?

At a campaign rally on Aug. 20, 2012 in Manchester, N.H. Romney explained to his crowd of cheerleaders about Afghanistan by saying; “I will do everything in my power to transition from our military to their military as soon as possible, bring our men and women home and do so in a way consistent with our mission, which is to keep Afghanistan from being overrun by a new entity which would allow Afghanistan to be a launching point for terror again like it was on 9/11.” Fair enough, but Romney never let anybody in on his plans. This is all election-time scuttlebutt as far as I’m concerned. All pitch, and no product. In May of this year Obama signed an agreement that will end U.S. military combat operations in Afghanistan in 2013. Afghan forces will assume responsibility for all security operations in the country by 2014. We heard that phase out before, at the end of Operation Iraqi Freedom. This just means at least two more years of escalated murder in Afghanistan before a revised plan is brought to light.

Peace is not the absence of war but the presence of armed soldiers. If one of the presidential candidates present a logical reason for being in Afghanistan, than my hat’s off to him, otherwise it’s just the same slick-tongued lies from a couple of very rich men. Seemingly, Obama will stay on the hunt for the Taliban in Afghanistan. Romney will poke holes and jab fun, hopefully adding his intentions into the mix, praying to sway votes. The future of America stands at a pivotal point. Obama wasn’t the answer, think what you may, and Romney is certainly not the answer. The lesser of two terrible four years of frustration and collapse as expected I guess. It’s not even November and the wind has gone from my sails. If I pledged my vote to a party than I could base my promise on the future in faith of the party, but the same equation pops up every four years: For as long as I’ve lived it’s been “the lesser of two evils.” What a terrible way to choose a leader. Are we fading back to the Dark Ages? It feels like it, with the way that education, literacy, and poverty keep slipping.

Godspeed,


Doug Jackson
www.agoodamericanlikeyou.com