Obama's war? Really! Well maybe in the sense that he is now the President & Comander in Chief and is charged with "the buck stops here." But when we start to look at this wreck from all four corners of the intersection we will find some intersting perspectives and facts that cannot be seen from opposing views/corners. Some of which we rather not see, know or accept. In fact, some add up to a dirty little term known as "blowback." Just hurry and write the ticket officer, please!
What the President and his teams are doing with the wars and foreign policy is steering in a direction that will get "US" back on some sense of terra firma. It is what he clearly campaigned on and what we, The UNITED States of America, collectively as a democracy accept through his election.
Some wish that by calling this "Obama's Vietnam" or Obama's war that it will divert attention and erase the previous admin's & congresses history of their handling of the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. IT DOES NOT and NOR will it next time. Clicking ones heels wishing it to go away does not work in the real world. As the crude but true saying goes, "wish in one hand & sh*+ in the other, which one do you think will fill up faster?" remains the case for the history/the facts.
When I think about what we, America not just Obama are faced with concerning Afghanistan, I have to look at the history of our involvement and it's legacy. I personally think that the movie "Charlie Wilson's War" is a good depiction of what happened and today's current state of affairs in Afghanistan is clearly a large part of the blowback from it. While the current admin is taking credit good bad or indifferent for the latest round of buck stopping decisions, I recognize that these decisions are crafted to combat the winds and debris of actions and inactions of previous US foreign policy decisions whether out rite, coordinated or clandestine. Decisions that go well into decades of administrations and Congresses.
So let's be clear, WE OWN IT! We the People, not the President. Need I remind you that he, his administration and everyone in Congress reports to & works for YOU & I. So while the "Buck Stops with The President," the President & the Congress stops with "WE The People." And in order for us to heal & grow strong as a nation we must first own what we do. So we own it America!
The United States of America has ownership and responsibility to the wars in Iraq & Afgahnistan. Damn that hurts when I write it this way. We can argue the finer points of whether we asked for them, and to be quit frank, the answers change back and forth with the magnification and the pursuit of root cause. Like every coin has two sides, until you magnify, it is then when you will see sides, angles and corners that you did not consider at a wider more comfortable view!
And until we as a nation join not as Independents, Democrats and Republicans, but as ACTIVE AMERICAN VOTERS and take a hard clear eyed look at certain aspects of our dysfunctional foreign policy history, understand & accept what the results and ramifications/blow-back has been, then we will constantly block the potential for more sustainable problem solving as opposed to the murky problem pushing that we have engaged in.
But, we must also remember that we are a GREAT NATION and a great people that is great through it's diversity, acceptance and love of freedom. THE NATION that has very much lead the world to greater peace & prosperity. We must learn to discern. Separate the functional from the dysfunctional. It is when "We the People" lower our heads and our uprightness that the two mingle and cloud the waters of foreign policy.
So to say this is Obama's war or Bush's war, Kennedy's Bay of pig's, Nixon's Vietnam, etc.. might be comforting to those on the left or right, it is nothing more than divergence, distraction and a false pealing away of YOUR & MY responsibility as the collective OWNERS of our nations Destiny. It is our responsibility and opportunity to stay abreast, ask the questions, get the facts and vote accordingly.
In America, today more than ever WE are empowered with the tools to mandate our government in the direction that we choose. It only happens when YOU & I, the owner's start acting like we own the greatest most coveted "company" on the face of the earth, The United States of America.
Comments are closed for this post.
