I never say much about politics or my opinion on things related to politics, but I think I will right now. Since 10-07-2001 this country has been fighting a war on terror. This started with a feeling of pride as Americans and the desire to “take the fight to them” for September 11th and I was on board with that just like most in this nation. Since then the in 2003 the leaders of the US decided that Iraq was a threat to our safety and action was taken against Saddam Hussein and his followers. The US has taken action in Pakistan, Yemen, Kashmir, the Horn of Africa, the Philippines, The Trans Sahara and Central America all in the name of fighting terror. I would never question the actions of the soldiers called to the fight as they are doing what there leaders asked them to do. That’s their job, their calling, and their decision to be a hero to this country. The most important thing to me is the 72,000 battlefield casualties since the start of the war on terror in 2001. Not to mention the psychological trauma that soldiers experience in time of war and the effects that this has on their life. The totals on civilian deaths related to the war on terror range from 100,000 to over a million. So who really knows that total and how could you keep track to begin with. All we can know is there have been many. These civilians are just like us, not the decision makers that felt war was a necessary but just regular people trying to live life to the fullest. Now what about the cost of the war on terror in dollars and cents. It is approximately 1.7 trillion dollars, depending on where you find your research. Also Guantanamo Bay costing $150 million dollars a year. So what have been the accomplishments during the last 12 years? The fall of the Taliban government in Afghanistan, the destruction of numerous al-Qaeda training camps, the killing of Osama bin Laden, the fall of the Ba’ath Party government in Iraq, the fall and execution of Saddam Hussein, and the freedom that Afghanistan and Iraq citizens have. The question that I always hear is, has it been worth it? I think the only people that can answer this are the soldiers that serve and their families that waited for them to return home. So with the talk about taking action in Syria I asked myself a question. How many times has the US intervened in other countries issues in my lifetime? Vietnam 1960-1975 Cambodia 1969-1975 Oman 1970 Chile 1973 Cambodia 1975 Iran 1980 Libya 1981 El Salvador 1981-1992 Nicaragua 1981-1990 Lebanon 1982-1984 Grenada 1983-1984 Honduras 1983-1989 Iran 1984 Libya 1986 Bolivia 1986 Iran 1978-1989 Libya 1989 Philippines 1989 Panama 1989 Iraq 1990-1991 Somalia 1992-1994 Yugoslavia 1992-1994 Bosnia 1993 Haiti 1994 Congo 1996-1997 Sudan 1998 Iraq 1998 Afghanistan 2001-? Yemen 2002 Columbia 2003 Iraq 2003-? Liberia 2003 Haiti 2004-2005 Pakistan 2005 Somalia 2009 Libya 2011 I believe in America and have great respect for those that choose to serve this country in the armed forces and that will never change. What I have an issue with is the people elected to take care of “this” country taking all our resources and time to get involved in other countries issues. Yes we need to get involved if it “truly” affects our nation and our citizens. When it does not meet that criteria then we need to stand back and let those who have contributed to the issues resolve them for themselves. A Civil War is just that, a war between political factions or regions within the same country. Like I said, I don’t get political very much, but… Enough is enough; the US is not Team America World Police. It appears that most of the elected officials in this country have forgot what needs to come first…the people that make up the population of this country not everyone else’s nation. We elected the politicians and they were asked to make the right decisions on our behalf for the betterment of this country. Are there many of us out there that think that’s what they are doing? We cannot afford the continuing expense to this nation in lives and monies to police the rest of the world and try to solve their problems. I have an idea lets fix us first. The national debt is over 16 trillion dollars; we have over 50 million US citizens living in poverty, over 21 million unemployed and about 47 million on welfare. Simple math is we can’t afford to continue the direction we have been going as a nation, lets take care of our own first. This country is our home. In my house we take care of our children first and then try to be supportive to others around us. I am a police officer and my wife is a teacher, we try to do our best to support others in what our chosen profession is. Other people volunteer, maybe send money to charities and others find a way to help those in need. But we all take care of our families and ourselves first; this does not make us selfish it makes us human beings. So lets look at this country as a family, I may have issues with a family member but if someone else causes a problem for that family member I would defend my own. So as a country why don’t we ask the politicians that we have elected to do the same for us? For example take the time and money spent on supporting other nations issues and put it toward fixing our countries issues, such as unemployment and poverty. How much money did Congress waste on investigating Lance Armstrong for doping? Over 3 million dollars was spent to investigate him. Wow glad that’s cleared up. How about sports organizations investigate those issues and Congress investigates more important issues like poverty? What a concept. (you may have heard this or read it before) We the people of the United States in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. Lets look at some key words here; justice, tranquility, defense, welfare, blessings and posterity. Justice - the moral principle determining just conduct. Tranquility - calmness; peacefulness; quiet; serenity. Defense – resistance against attack; protection. Welfare - the good fortune, health, happiness, prosperity, etc., of a person, group, or organization; well-being. Blessings - a special favor, mercy, or benefit: the blessings of liberty. Posterity - succeeding or future generations collectively. These are the things I want for my family and my country. Don’t you? Why is it so hard to get the help to fix our countries problems but so easy to get the go ahead to fix other countries problems? Fix poverty? May take some time and very hard to do. Bomb Syria? No problem. There’s something wrong with these types of questions and answers. The answer to help people such as fix poverty should be quick and easy. Bombing others should be the hard one to go forward with. Why is this reversed in our political forum? Why as people do we continue to let this country fall backward into poor decision-making by our politicians? We let them lie and make false promises when running for office knowing they are lying and making promises they can not and will not keep when elected. The status of this country economically and socially is not just the fault of our elected officials but also ours as the citizens of it. So why don’t “we the people” do the right thing and take care of us first. Lets demand our politicians look at our concerns and our countries needs and fix them with our money before jumping into other countries problems. Charity starts at home.
Posted on: Sat, 14 Sep 2013 00:08:52 +0000
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