Leaders of the new world...

We are the city upon a hill.... surrounded by land mines.

Who would have thought the U.S. would need landmines to defend our country? Seems a little old-fashioned, no? You don't think the nukes are effective enough?

U.S. won't join landmine ban, administration decides

The reality on the ground...

'Relax, Brother': Exclusive Video Shows Taliban Attack That Killed 9 U.S. Soldiers at Afghan Post

Watching this video made me even more convinced that we need to end the Afghanistan War.

1. I can't even begin to imagine what our soldiers are going through over there, and if this is any indication, it sure as hell ain't good.

2. Where the hell are these Taliban fighters getting all the damn RPGs from? Are they handing them out like lollipops over there? I mean really. Almost everyone of them has one.

3. Notice what the Taliban fighter at the end of the video says about wanting all the foreigners out and the reporter says about the Taliban controlling the areas outside of Kabul. I hope people realize that as long as we have a sizable military presence there, we are always going to have people fighting against us, which in turn, destabilizes the country. This is pretty much why the corrupt Karzai government might as well be called the Govt of Kabul, not the Govt of Afghanistan.

On that note, I hope Obama isn't the next LBJ and he instead flips the script and decides to send no additional troops and starts bringing the ones we have there home. It will surely be an unpopular move in our hawkish country, and he will be chastised endlessly by Republicans trying to score political points, but it is the right thing to do long-term for America. He might lose the 2012 election, but at least history will show he made the right decision.

The reality is that there is no military solution to Afghanistan. The people there need to determine their own future and establish their own government. We should support those among them who are pro-democracy, and give them all the consultation they need on matters regarding infrastructure, elections, governance, etc. However, all the bullets and UAV strikes in the world aren't going to bring democracy to that country or establish a government that is acceptable to the U.S. (at not at onset).

Maybe when one person who is arguing for the continuation of this war can articulate what "winning" means there, and gives me a realistic means of doing so, I will change my mind.

Until then, END THE WAR.

Illegal under the FCPA...

Blackwater Said to Pursue Bribes to Iraq After 17 Died

...let's see if we get any prosecutions. I'm not going to hold my breath on this one.

FCPA = Foreign Corrupt Practices Act

Well thought out analysis of the Afghanistan war and why it should end...

An Open Letter to President Obama

Read this, and then call your senator and congressman/woman and urge them to speak out about this issue. We need to end this war before it bankrupts us and creates blowback like we've never seen.

Has it really become that bad in this country where such a statement is acceptable?

Wow. Bill O, I gotta say, since Beck has been on Fox, you have seemed a lot more moderate as of late, but really? The statement rolls off your tongue so nonchalantly as if to talk about exterminating an entire religious group of 1.3-1.5 billion people would be acceptable if only it were possible.

Can you imagine this being said about any other religious group? The level of intolerance to Islam in this country is seriously astounding.

This just makes me sad.

Hey Neo-Nazis, stop making white people look dumb

I can't stand neo-nazis, but I must say, their idiocy never ceases to amaze me. Case in point. The dumb skin-head in this video yelling about there not being enchiladas in Arizona and how this is America and Mexicans need to go home.

1. I'm not from Phoenix, but I've been there, and I am 100% sure they have enchilad...as, mainly because of my second point.
2. If my hair- and brain-lacking non-friend in the video here read up on some history and stopped making white people look dumb, he would learn that Arizona actually used to be Mexico before we invaded Mexico City during our "Manifest Destiny" (another racist policy) days and forced them to cede to us their Northern Territories.

This also lead me to think, how funny would it be if all of a sudden they pan to a Native American-led protest where they tell white people to go back to Europe because there ain't no tea and krumpets here. All would be complete, and my heart content.

Humans have such a short memory.

Question (Hawkish) Convention

http://www.cnn.com/2009/OPINION/10/28/mccain.afghan.war/index.html

Iraq is a success? Really? Millions of Iraqis and thousands of American soldiers dead, a still fragile security, and for what? What did we succeed in doing besides making sure Saddam got executed? Do we really believe Iraq is better off? Why don't we ask some Iraqis how we feel about that, since once again, it is THEIR country. I love what tunnel vision some of our leaders have.

Secondly, how do we win the war in Afghanistan? Have any of our leaders been able to even define what "winning" means? Hardly. The reality is the people there are starting (and probably have for a while) seen what is going on there as an occupation of their lands. They don't want us there, and they think the Karzai government that we are propping up is a sham (you'd think our leaders would have learned our lessons in Vietnam and South and Central America when it comes to propping up puppet governments). People in this country need to start questioning their leaders as to why Afghanistan is a "war of necessity". We're not fighting them there so they can't fight us here. Unless we plan on taking over the entire world, that line of thinking is bankrupt. Terrorism is a tactic and unless we plan on turning the world into a police state, people will always find somewhere to plan such things (think Somalia, Pakistan, etc etc). The reality is that we need to secure the homeland and use intel and precision strikes to deal with these terrorist organizations. Not massive ground wars that turn entire populations against us. The blow back from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars will haunt us for decades, if not centuries. I hope everyone is ready to explain to their children why "they" hate us, and they sure as hell better not say "because of our freedom".

Wake up people. Silence is complicity.