Mike & Friends Blog
Joan Wile
Joan Wile is the Founder of Grandmothers Against the War and the author of "Grandmothers Against the War: Getting Off Our Fannies and Standing Up for Peace" (Citadel Press)
We Need a Change of Policy, Not a Change of Generals
An Ordinary, non-Expert Grandmother's Take on the War in Afghanistan
I have no expertise about politics, military matters, diplomacy, and all the other things that go into making informed decisions about war and peace. But, it really doesn't take a nuclear physicist to see that we are committing a huge blunder by continuing to fight in Afghanistan.
I am quite disappointed in President Obama -- I was a very enthusiastic supporter of his campaign for the Presidency and continued to believe in him for a long time after he took office. It was a struggle, let me tell you, because he kept making decisions that I thought were not good ones. But, still I clung to my faith in him.
The day after the McChrystal resignation, the thread of belief finally broke. I listened to him utter empty platitudes galore about "our brave fighting men and women" and his "deep distress when he must send them into battle," but "his conviction that their sacrifices are made for a just cause." Where have I heard this before?
I fault myself for swallowing his rhetoric in the beginning. He told us he wanted to end the war in Iraq so we could focus on Afghanistan in order to defeat Al Qaeda. In my enthusiastic desire to see him become President, I let those words slide by me without analyzing them.
But, that rationale, it's clear to me now, has no basis in fact at this juncture. We all know that Al Qaeda is no longer physically headquartered in Afghanistan but concentrated in Pakistan. In any case, Al Quaeda is an idea as much as an organization, and it takes root wherever there are disaffected young people angry at the United States for what they perceive as unwarranted invasions of their lands and the killing of their people. How do you defeat an idea by killing people?
So, then, why the hell (yes, grannies swear, too) don't we get out of Afghanistan? Why are we allowing our young military men and women to increasingly die in that God-forsaken country for misty, ambiguous reasons which can't be substantiated?
All this hoopla about the replacement of General McCrystal with General Petraeus doesn't impress me in the slightest. So what? My God, the Government-media complex is adept at painting over the real issues with fluff, isn't it? If ever there were a non-issue, this is it. We are asked to seriously weigh the appropriateness of one General over the other and to deliberate the wisdom of Obama's choice, thereby skillfully obliterating the REAL consideration -- should we stay or get out of Afghanistan?
We are asked to applaud Obama's decisiveness and commitment to maintaining his policy in Afghanistan. But, we are not asked to question his judgment in continuing to pursue that policy.
I know I speak for the growing legions of anti-war activist grandmothers I associate with -- Grandmothers Against the War, Grandmothers for Peace, the Raging Grannies, and the Granny Peace Brigade -- when I say that here's one elderly, ordinary grandma who is decidedly questioning that policy and who is asking that President Obama firm up his guts, aim directly for his moral center, have the courage to admit he is wrong, and take our exhausted kids out of that Hell Hole and bring them home to us.
Click here to suggest an article
Mike's Blog
-
May 9th, 2012
About President Obama's Statement in Support of Gay Marriage
I am deeply moved by the announcement made a short while ago that President Obama has gone back to his original position in 1996 and ...
-
May 4th, 2012
Here's a free song for you. It's my contribution to "Occupy This Album", a compilation CD (99 songs!) featuring David Crosby & Graham Nash, Steve ...
-
February 11th, 2012
A 75th Anniversary for the American Dream, a 25-Year Anniversary for Me
On this day 25 years ago, in 1987, I became a filmmaker. It was around ten in the morning and the first-ever roll of Kodak ...
-
January 17th, 2012
STOP SOPA: Why MichaelMoore.com Will Be Blacked Out Wednesday, January 18th
My websites MichaelMoore.com and Mike's High School Newspaper will both be going dark for 24 hours starting at midnight tonight in protest of the Stop ...
-
December 30th, 2011
75 Years Ago Today, the First Occupy
On this day, December 30th, in 1936 -- 75 years ago today -- hundreds of workers at the General Motors factories in Flint, Michigan, took ...
-
December 28th, 2011
Click here to donate to the congressional campaign of Flint's own Dan Kildee I have many things I'm planning to do in the New Year ...
-
December 24th, 2011
A Little Christmas Gift for You to Download
Thanks for all the wonderful comments regarding the short story about my mom from HERE COMES TROUBLE that I sent you a few days ago. ...
-
September 11th, 2010
If the 'Mosque' Isn't Built, This Is No Longer America
OpenMike 9/11/10 Michael Moore's daily blog I am opposed to the building of the "mosque" two blocks from Ground Zero. I want it built on ...
-
December 14th, 2010
Why I'm Posting Bail Money for Julian Assange
Yesterday, in the Westminster Magistrates Court in London, the lawyers for WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange presented to the judge a document from me stating that ...
-
May 12th, 2011
Some Final Thoughts on the Death of Osama bin Laden
"The Nazis killed tens of MILLIONS. They got a trial. Why? Because we're not like them. We're Americans. We roll different." – Michael Moore in ...
-
November 22nd, 2011
Where Does Occupy Wall Street Go From Here?
This past weekend I participated in a four-hour meeting of Occupy Wall Street activists whose job it is to come up with the vision and ...
-
September 22nd, 2011
A STATEMENT FROM MICHAEL MOORE ON THE EXECUTION OF TROY DAVIS
I encourage everyone I know to never travel to Georgia, never buy anything made in Georgia, to never do business in Georgia. I will ask ...
-
December 16th, 2010
Dear Swedish Government: Hi there -- or as you all say, Hallå! You know, all of us here in the U.S. love your country. Your ...
-
November 2nd, 2010
This letter contains (almost) no criticisms of how the Democrats have brought this day of reckoning upon themselves. That -- and where to go from ...
Comments
1