Following July’s record death tolls, a new CNN/Opinion Research Corp poll shows that US popular support for the war is also at an all-time low, with 54 percent of respondents opposed to the ongoing war and 41 percent in favor.
This was a monumental change from the May version of the same poll. which showed 50 percent in favor of the war and only 48 percent against. President Obama has made escalating the war the centerpiece of his foreign policy campaign.
The finding was largely in keeping with an AP-GfK poll released late last month, which also showed growing opposition to both wars, and a 53-44 percent split on the Afghan war. This poll too showed a strong split along party lines, with most Republicans supporting the continued conflict and the vast majority of Democrats opposed.
While opposition to the Iraq War has been significant for years, it is only recently that opinion on the nearly eight-year long Afghan conflict is starting to shift. Ironically, it is perhaps President Obama’s desire to escalate the war that has made it significant enough to catch the attention of an increasing number of Americans, and sparked the growing war exhaustion the polls are now showing.
A CNN poll might ask Americans why we are in Afghanistan in the first place. My guess is you will get a bunch of idiotic answers the most prevalent of which would be something like "We have to fight "THEM" over there, so we don't have to fight "THEM" over here". "War exhaustion" seems a pitiful reason to no longer support a war compared to the moral issues of killing an innocent population that had nothing to do with 911. But any reason will do, just get us out of there.
Why are 41% supporting this war? Neither Bush nor Obama have given any reason for continuing the war. The original reason given by Bush was accomplished in Dec 2002. Why are we still there? Not a single Afghan participated in 9/11 and probably not a single one of them even knew about it.
This war and the Iraq war have drained our country of such much money that it is pitiful to find our people on our streets without jobs when with the billions of dollars we have spent in those wars, they could be working, our children could have better schools, our veterans and population better hospitals, and so I could go on and on and on on this. If economy continues this way, those of us who voted for Obama won't be inclined to vote for him again, I thought he needed to use the war issue to help him get elected and to do the right thing afterward, at the end, there isn't too much difference with Bush's position in this area. I would ask, how do we recognize a Taliban fighter from the regular citizen when everybody in those countries wear similar clothing, is our intelligence accurate in pinpointing the enemy or they just go by finger pointing after we give somebody the money. This is unfair to the people of those countries and unfair to our soldiers who enlisted to fight for just causes, we shouldn't fight stupid wars but only wars where humanity is in real danger such as world war II. Lets get out of there before we put another chapter of shame in our history!
Saturday, October 17, 2009
RE: General McChrystal's Afghan war Plan
Dear Editors and friends:
Please let me reflect an ordinary citizen’s humble views on the critical issues of Afghanistan war plan. We should honor the generals’ advices. We believe he knows what he is saying about.
UNIFORMED ARMY VS. INSURGENTS IN
CIVILIAN CLOTHES
1. First thing we should recognize that the United States has the most well equipped military in the world.
2. But Taliban or Al Quaeda forces mostly combat against our uniformed troops in civilian, folk clothes with the plenty supply of deadly weapons from the questionable sources. Their manpower supply seems to have endless resources from many nations. We must have the enough manpower to fight against them and to let the religiously hard headed populations learn they are on the wrong way. It is the culture war for a new social value system. The army needs our strongest possible support.
3. The problem is that the well trained and well quipped uniformed Americans and her allies are facing the strong deadly resistance from the new kind of un-uniformed peoples Taliban army different than the Chinese uniformed volunteer red army in the Korean War.
4. Many young Americans lost their lives and the leaders should be responsible to make their sacrifices meaningful for us and for the afghan people. If we win, we can create a peaceful new nation for them, with new family system where women could live the God given real family life as natural mothers for the children. Otherwise, we could live under their constant threat for long, long time.
SHOULD CHINES AND OTHERS SEND TROOPS IN SUPPORT OF THEIR WAR PROFIT MAKING?
5. In the midst of this bloody struggle, Beijing gamblers hitting jackpots in the war game, according to New York Times (10/7/09). Let Chinese send their own battalion to protect their jackpots. We should not allow them to enjoy free Champaign indefinitely without a due pay under our umbrella. Any other nations which benefit from the war should also send troops to protect their own war profits and to support the war efforts to rescue the people from the terrorist culture. Watch out if Chinese is building up her political base in conspiracy.
9/11 ATTACKS WAS THE WARNING SIGNALTO AMERICA TO CALL 911 FOR POLICE HELP!!
6. This war as in any other is not like just a sport contest. Since their 9/11 attacks, they seized our lives with fear and terror threats on every day, every where from
England to Indonesia. Imagine what would happen to the civilized world if the modern uniformed army lost to them,
7. In this situation, it is very wise and urgent issue to confirm the generals’ plan to add more troops without delay and take a drastic strategy to achieve the well established dutiful goal for our national security and theirs as well.
8. Tone down on the criticism of the mistreatment of terrorist prisoners in Quantanamo bay or anywhere else. The politicians spent so much time senselessly for the critical debate in this crisis. We could correct the mistakes, if any, quietly without injuring our own images with unrealistic arguments.
9. For such loud criticisms could encourage the insurgents to further attach us in contempt. Should we need to incite them further to more time bombing upon us? There had never been any open criticism against the indiscriminately bombing on the civilians during the Korean War. Millions died voicelessly.
10. More efforts are needed to stabilize the civilian lives, aiding them practical way such as providing the milk cows, other farm needs and educational aids as shown in the news report by Christiane Amanpour. The local children are benefited from such aids. Now they enjoy the value of our presence.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
RE: General McChrystal's Afghan war Plan
Dear Editors and friends:
Please let me reflect an ordinary citizen’s humble views on the critical issues of Afghanistan war plan. We should honor the generals’ advices. We believe he knows what he is saying about.
.
10. More efforts are needed to stabilize the civilian lives, aiding them practical way such as providing the milk cows, other farm needs and educational aids as shown in the news report by Christiane Amanpour. The local children are benefited from such aids. Now they enjoy the value of our presence.
IS A SUN SET UPON THE WEST?
11. If the west fails in the region, the Western civilization might face the same fate as the Roman Empire did. For a sun set came upon the British Empire in our century since the World War II. We must maintain our power balance in our favor. The physics of international politics seems to function according to its logic in the process.
12. The United States should not criticize too much on the irregularities of Afghan election which could weaken the image of the ruling but shaky government in the war torn unstable chaotic society. Rethink even the elections in this civilized land, U.S.A. always have some evil virus such as Acorn. See the crooked Mexican boarder wars Do our own house cleaning first to show our own civility to others. Train the Afghans to stand strong against the terrorists while cleaning up their dirt in the government.
MILITARY CORRUPTION IS TWO WAY TRAFFIC.
13. The military corruption also should be concerned in both ways. For instance, during the Korean War, the merchants sold the red pepper powders as a food supply to the North Korean POWs through the Logistical Command of 8th Army in Busan in South Korea. When it delivered to POWs, it said, was not a real red pepper powder anymore. The bribery system made it laughable change as such. The corruption should be minimized by all means in the armies stationed in Afghanistan.
14. Watch out if the insurgents’ lobby money infiltrated into our political system. Some times it sounds questionably so in irrationally loud criticism on the dirty war business. Any war is not necessarily a clean one in a real sense. But 9/11 attack was not done by stupid guys at all as in the stupidity in the Harvard professor Gate’s case.
BUILD SECURITY WALLS AROUIND SMALL VILLAGES IN REMOTE AREAS
15. As a security measure, they may need to build more walls as possible around small isolated villages. With a proper economic aid program, the local population hopefully and happily join to build them for their own security. Then, place the trained civilian guards to check the traffic flows to prevent the infiltration of the terrors.
OLD WARRIORS’ ARTS AND NEW VISION
16. It may be a good idea to research how the chairman Mao’s revolutionary army and the Japanese warriors fought the guerrilla wars in those days. Their tactics could be helpful for the Afghan strategy too to learn how they won the hearts and minds of the local population during the long struggle.
17. The chairman Mao’s long march to the modern China could give any hint to Taliban’s long march to the modern world. No! not at all, because they do not have any sign of enlightened vision as the Marxists did even though the Marxists were not able to over come the marching Democratic ideas; Gorbarchev’s reformation began from the point of the Berlin wall collapse. Now the Mao’s posterities hit the democracy wall. Now they seem to have strong appetite salivating for the capitalist Big Mags.
WE ARE ALL CHILDREN OF ABRAHAM
The Americans and her allies could guide the Afghans to a new world if they work wisely hard enough according to their own vision as well as ours – in the real Allah’s vision beyond the Taliban Allah’s as we are all of the children of Abraham in good faith.
Now, question is this, “Do you have a new vision? Yes, they can realize it when they have enough man power to buy time for establishing a stable new social order.
One day, we all Christians and Muslims can understand we are children of Abraham in faith.
God bless you and your staff.
Sincerely yours,
Chae S. Sone
Dear Mr. Sone,
Calling yourself 'children of Abraham' yet sending troops, drones, and jets to kill the other children of Abraham is somewhat puzzling. Why should American and her allies 'guide' the people of Afghanistan, would you like it if Afghans had send their troops and jets to guide us? Would you have liked the followers of chairman Mao to come here to guide us to a true worker's paradise?
To think that the fate of the Western civilization hinges upon military adventurism and forced occupation is most preposterous. Had that been the case the Roman and the British empire would have never failed, and USSR would still be here.
I don't blame General McChrystal, he is a miltary strategist and is trying to figure out how much force would be needed to subdue Afghans. It is the Obama Administration who has to show some guts and bring the troops back in spite of the propaganda of neocon war-mongers.
Dear Mr. Masmanz:
In response to my comment, you mentioned if the Red China comes to U.S. to guide her workers' paradise here in America. How could she do it when she wasn't able to feed even her own comrades yet?
Until the American capitalist globalization economic wages to season the red dinner tables tastefully up grading today as the Red capitalists.
The Red workers’ paradise never been realized as it stuck to Tiananmen Square beyond Deng Xiao Ping.
A good sign of the Red invasion revealed in the news that more than 100,000 red Chinese students are invaded into the American colleges for academic pursuits that should be welcomed as a positive smart invasion at best for all beyond Tiananmen Square.
By the way, they will be surprised to learn that even the dogs and wild fish here in America are very much well off under the American protection than the people in the Kim Jong Il workers’ paradise. In 1954, while my Greyhound Bus travel from California to Main through the southern states, I noticed the vividly displayed uncomfortable signs, for the blacks only on the station restrooms.
Chae S. Sone
Mr. Masmanz;
All children of Abraham demonstrated the similar trends, in ups or downs of the human morality through out the history.
In the midst of the conflicts, we need to have a rationally established administrative structure that is imperative for all involved in pursuit of self-government on the basis of a common value.
The Afghan conflict seems to be the conflicts of complex value systems of the multi culture. If the troops evacuate prematurely, they could not avoid the bloodsheds among the factions.
Chae S. Sone
Soon they should be able to establish an acceptable system to manage their own daily lives in accordance with the marching trend of human progress along the rapidly changing social trends as in this cyberage.
Then Americans also can be free from the daily threat of the terrorists on the Airlines and other facilities in daily life.
One day we all can see the human futility in the struggle, as if punching the empty air. Until that day comes, we can not perceive in each other’s eyes that we are all children of Abraham from the Garden of Eden.
It seems to me the human fate that some how should be modified in time positively ever did so, as one got to behave as Romans do when he is within the value system of the Roman Empire if he shall not want to be fall into bottomless pits
The main problem is the belief in such neocon ideals as 'the end of history' and the resulting desire to embark on a 'clash of civilization' to reach that 'ideal'. The better alternative would be to for each people to simply 'mind their own bussiness'. The over-hyped 'terrorist threat' is no reason to keep on invading one country after another in the hope of converting them all to follow our 'Roman' values. Neither Afghans nor Iraqis ever attacked us.