Posted: Thursday, April 9, 2009 12:00 am
With the dispatch of several thousand troops to Afghanistan, President Obama has assumed ownership of the war. The last new president to take over a second-hand war was Richard Nixon, and that ended badly. I expect Obama's war will be much the same.
Our stated aim is to establish stability in Afghanistan and Pakistan and deny the terrorists a base of operations. Terrorists do not need a Pentagon-style command cave and fixed training camps. What they do need is a desperate population that has no hope and is willing to strap explosives to their bodies.
With every civilian killed and home destroyed, we provide more recruits. Our single-minded support of Israel only adds to the impression that we are at war with the Muslims and are out to destroy their culture. The previous administration made much of the fact that there have been no further 9/11 attacks. Why would there be? We are proceeding to destroy our economy, our Constitution and our way of life on our own.
George Edward Novak, Corvallis