We Need an Exit Strategy Before Going In
by
Mike (in Tokyo) Rogers
by Mike (in Tokyo) Rogers
"These
are the times that try men's souls."
~ Thomas Paine
"In
times like these, it helps to recall that there have always been
times like these"
~ Paul Harvey
We
all know that the enemy we fight is a coward. They are an enemy
that destroys and kills for the sake of killing. This enemy cares
not if its victims are children or women. This enemy is evil and
must be destroyed.
Look,
I’m all for rooting out dead-enders, terrorists, bad-guys, undesirables,
shady-types, hippies, thugs and their gangs, people with moustaches,
people who talk funny, (don’t forget geeks, freaks, and drag-queens)
as much as the next guy, but I am a tad bit queasy about getting
our military forces involved in another quagmire that could be open-ended.
Yes, I know that our military forces are already there. I know that
we’d look like wimps if we just “cut and run,” (what would the neighbors
think?) but I think the American public deserves some answers. I
think it’s high time for the Democratic Party to stand up and show
some of the magnificent leadership qualities it has shown in the
recent past and say that now – right now – is the time we put our
foot down and say “enough is enough.”
Before
deploying our armed forces into another area where they are not
wanted – if even for the good of democracy and the livelihoods of
the local folks – I think it is high time that American society
take a good, long, hard look at where this president is taking us.
What
is our total commitment? How many troops will we need? What will
be the cost to the American taxpayer and for how long? These are
the important questions that need to be asked and it is imperative
that the Bush administration give us honest answers for once. I,
for one, am not interested in seeing our troops sent into a death
zone without a clear-cut objective and a set-in-stone exit strategy.
Sure
the administration keeps repeating the mantra that "We will
be in for just as long as necessary," and "Until local
forces can be trained to maintain security and keep the peace;"
but where have we heard this line before?
And
what about reconstruction after the devastation wrought? How much
will that cost? Why should the American public bear the brunt of
these costs? What about our allies? How much of the burden are they
willing to bear? I believe the Democratic Party should finally make
a stand and demand some answers (or start an investigative commission)
into just how and why contracts for reconstruction are given before
awarding them to Halliburton.
So
put me down as another person who is against sending our military
into a jungle for the purpose of blasting out locals. If they want
to live the way they live – with what they have in hand at the moment
– then I say that that is their right. Who are we to say how they
should live?
Join
with me as I write to my congressman and say, “US troops
out of New Orleans!”
September
9, 2005
Mike
(in Tokyo) Rogers [send
him mail] was born and raised in the USA and moved to Japan
in 1984. He has the distinction of being fired from every FM radio
station in Tokyo – one of them three times. His first book, Schizophrenic
in Japan, is now on sale.
Copyright
© 2005 LewRockwell.com
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(in Tokyo) Rogers Archives
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