Digging a Deeper Hole

Dear Mr. President,

Yesterday there was a long article in the paper about the war in Afghanistan and the toll it’s taking (a direct correlation between your 2010 surge and the increase in casualties). All these green-on-blue attacks (why do they hate us? G.W.’s lament still unanswered); the corrupt Kleptocracy of Hamid Karzai and Company and his drift toward Iran that’s more and more difficult to control (but we prop him up anyway); and our obvious failure to subdue these supposedly backward, ignorant fanatics. The picture of General Dempsey walking to or from his plane in full battle gear, camo, helmet, flak jacket, guarded by other guys also in full battle gear, tells it all. The picture was not taken on some forward outpost surrounded by insurgents screaming “Death to the infidels,” but on Bagram Air Base, a huge sprawling base secured by thousands of troops and barbed wire and sensors and whoknowswhat. This after 11 years and a trillion bucks! Adding insult to injury, those ignorant insurgents had the audacity to fire rockets at his plane and cause enough damage that he had to switch planes when he wanted to get outta Dodge the next day. But what caught my eye was this: “More active duty and reserve soldiers killed themselves last year, 278, than died in combat in Afghanistan, 247.” From out here on the hustings, it’s pretty clear this one’s in the crapper, Mr. President, and all we’re doing by staying on is prolonging the agony for both us and them. As one mother whose son was the 1,990^th casualty (a victim of a green-on-blue attack) said, “Our forces shouldn’t be there. It should be over. It’s done. No more.” More truth and wisdom in that mother’s cry than I’ve heard out of you or your generals in the past four years. And one final question: are those suicides counted in the 2,103 casualties in Afghanistan? The question’s, rhetorical, Mr. President. I already know the answer to that one. Back in the 1960s, in the midst of protests over another equally unpopular war, there was a familiar chant that went, “Hey, hey, LBJ, how many boys did you kill today?” It expressed the rage and frustration over the senseless waste of life by politicians, generals and those who profit from death. Your name doesn’t quite fit the rhythm of that chant, but it certainly belongs in the same category of injustice and stupidity and political evil that seems to befall all those who gain power. You’re not saving face by staying the course, you’re just digging a deeper hole.