The Bush-Obama War
by Chuck Baldwin
Now it's Barack Obama's war. After campaigning against "George Bush's War" in the Middle East, Obama has escalated that war. By transferring thousands of America's forces from Iraq to Afghanistan, and by sending an additional 30,000 troops to Afghanistan, the liberal Democrat has demonstrated that his administration is not so different from that of his "conservative" Republican predecessor. While I was crisscrossing America during the campaign season last year, I repeatedly predicted that no matter who won the White House, John McCain or Barack Obama, neither would end the war in the Middle East. Many Democrats tried to argue with me, saying they knew Obama would end the war. Now they know I told the truth. During his speech at West Point in which he announced the war's escalation, he said, "[T]he Taliban [is] a ruthless, repressive and radical movement." What he (or John McCain or George W. Bush) never bothers to tell you is that this is the same Taliban that the US government SUPPORTED, back when it was fighting Soviet forces in Afghanistan. Obama also said, "We are bringing the Iraq war to a responsible end." That is a lie! US forces will stay in Iraq indefinitely. Obama has no more intention of bringing all US troops out of Iraq than he does bringing them home from Afghanistan. Beyond that, there are more private contractors (read "mercenaries") operating in Iraq than US troops. And this will likely be the case in Afghanistan, as well. But not only did Obama escalate the war in Afghanistan, he made it clear that he is prepared to extend the war into Pakistan. Obama's speech was laced with references to Pakistan. Examples: "Our security is at stake in Afghanistan and Pakistan." "Our overarching goal remains the same: to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan." (Note: the latest reports state that there are no more than 100 al-Qaeda forces in Afghanistan.) "We need a strategy that works on both sides of the [Afghanistan-Pakistan] border." Obama even intimated that he was prepared to extend the war well beyond Pakistan. He told the West Point cadets, "The struggle against violent extremism will not be finished quickly, and it extends WELL BEYOND Afghanistan and Pakistan." (Emphasis added.) Just how far beyond Afghanistan and Pakistan Obama intends to extend the war he did not say, but there is no question he is fully prepared to broaden the war even further.
Obama even had the unmitigated gall to criticize the Afghan government for being "hampered by corruption, the drug trade." Need I remind readers that for all its faults, when the Taliban controlled Afghanistan, there was virtually NO DRUG TRADE coming out of Afghanistan? For all intents and purposes, the Taliban destroyed the drug business in Afghanistan. Opium and drug production only returned to Afghanistan after US forces displaced the Taliban. In fact, drug production in Afghanistan takes place right under the noses (no pun intended) and with the passive compliance of US forces. But there is an even more evil and sinister motive for perpetual war than drug smuggling: perpetual war is a tool of globalists to enslave us! Under the rubric of the "war on terror," Big Government elitists are able to dismantle the constitutional safeguards of our freedom. Without 9/11 and the "war on terror" there would be no Patriot Act, for example. Remember, the Patriot Act was first proposed during the Clinton administration, but a recalcitrant Republican Congress refused to approve it. But with a Republican in the White House (G.W. Bush), those same Republicans easily passed the Patriot Act into law. And to show you how this partisanship stuff works, those same Democrats who tried to pass the Patriot Act in the 90s (called by a different name, of course), voted AGAINST the Patriot Act when proposed by Republicans in the early 2000s. And since we're on the Patriot Act, don't hold your breath waiting for a Democratic Congress or the Democrat Barack Obama to expunge it. Now think it through: first, the Democrats tried to pass the Patriot Act (under a different name) and Republicans opposed it. Next, Republicans (who once opposed it) passed the Patriot Act and Democrats (who once proposed it) opposed it. Now, both Democrats and Republicans (who have both opposed and proposed it) accept and embrace the Patriot Act. And with all that political posturing and grandstanding aside, the Patriot Act is only law today because WE ARE AT WAR. Without war, we would not have the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) – which cannot even keep uninvited people out of the White House – the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), and thousands of laws and regulations that trample constitutionally protected liberties. In the name of "War," our government can record our phone calls, read our emails, monitor our financial transactions and movements, and even place an Army combat division (USNORTHCOM) on American soil to WATCH – OR EVEN FIGHT AGAINST – US! And some of you don't even give it a second thought. Why? WE ARE AT WAR! I know! I know! Obama promises to "begin the transfer of our forces out of Afghanistan in July of 2011." Do you really believe that? Do you really believe that we are going to spend trillions of dollars on the war effort, send more than 50,000 troops plus thousands of independent contractors, and ship millions of tons of equipment half way around the world, and then turn around and bring them all back home IN EIGHTEEN MONTHS? I might have been born in the morning, but it was not yesterday morning! Of course, that brings up another purpose globalists have in keeping us at war: the financial cost of waging war keeps the country in debt and keeps the Fed's printing presses running. Come on, folks, face it: there are many people who get "filthy, stinking" rich during times of war. If you have not read USMC Brigadier General Smedley Butler's book, War is a Racket, you need to get it. After winning the Marine Corps Brevet Medal, the Army Distinguished Service Medal, the Navy Distinguished Service Medal, the French Order of the Black Star and TWO Congressional Medals of Honor, Butler said (as quoted in Common Sense magazine), "I spent 33 years and four months in active service and during that period I spent most of my time as a high class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street and the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism. I helped make Mexico and especially Tampico safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefit of Wall Street. I helped purify Nicaragua for the International Banking House of Brown Brothers in 1902–1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for the American sugar interests in 1916. I helped make Honduras right for the American fruit companies in 1903. In China in 1927, I helped see to it that Standard Oil went on its way unmolested. Looking back on it, I might have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was to operate his racket in three districts. I operated on three continents."
Ladies and Gentlemen, do you really think things have gotten any better since General Butler wrote those words? All in all, perpetual war serves two great interests: it helps the Machiavellians among us strip us of our liberties, and it helps the military-industrial complex make trillions of dollars. For these reasons, Barack Obama will do nothing to end the war in the Middle East. If anything, he will expand the war beyond Afghanistan, as he plainly suggested in his speech at West Point. Once again, unless Americans recognize that both major parties in Washington, D.C., are persistent in serving the financial interests of internationalists (not to mention their own personal financial interests) and are more than eager to trample constitutional liberties in the process, nothing will change in our country – except that our liberties and way of life will continue to evaporate. And as I've said before, I am absolutely convinced that the only way the evil machinations of the globalists now running things in DC can be thwarted is by State governments drawing a firm and determined line in the sand in defense of their liberties. And they need to start drawing that line NOW! In the meantime, the Bush-Obama war (it was never America's war, as it was never constitutionally declared by the people's representatives) drags on and on and on. December 9, 2009 Chuck Baldwin [send him mail] is a talkshow host and pastor. Here is his website. Copyright © 2009 Chuck Baldwin
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