Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Dear Mr. President,

So the National Intelligence Estimates are more pessimistic than the Pentagon=s assessment of Aprogress@ in Afghanistan and conclude what seems pretty obvious to most of us out here on the hustings: your war in Afghanistan is unwinnable no matter how you define win. No war based on lies has ever been truly Awon@ and both Iraq and Afghanistan are no exception. I looked it up today, Mr. President, and we have 100,000 troops in Afghanistan and 48,000 (still!) in Iraq; we=ve spent about $900 billion in Iraq so far and we=re currently spending $100 billion a year in Afghanistan. Did you know that, Mr. President? I find it infuriating that we=ve still got roughly the same number of troops deployed and spending about the same staggering amount of money on these two wars as when you got elected. That=s some serious money, Mr. President, and look what we=ve got to show for it. Nothing but hatred, destruction and misery. Not much to be proud of. Remember those promises you made back in 2008? The ones about ending the war, closing down Guantanamo, ending torture, etc.? Still roughly the same number of troops deployed now as when you got elected, still the same expenditures for war and no end in sight no matter how many smiley faces you put on it. The war in Afghanistan is just as immoral, unjustified, and unwinnable as the one in Iraq. Those of us who voted for you to stop the war, who expected you to keep those campaign promises got duped, hoodwinked, and conned. Well, shame on you. But if we vote you in for a second term, shame on us.