Afghanistan - The New Iraq?

President Obama announced 3 weeks ago, he will end the war in Iraq by 2010. “Let me say this as plainly as I can: "Our Mission In Iraq - Will End in 2010"

But what about the 70,000 troops being sent to Afghanistan right now?
President Obama says al-Qaida threatens Americans from the Afghan-Pakistani border. “This increase is necessary to stabilize a deteriorating situation in Afghanistan, which has not received the strategic attention, direction and resources it urgently requires,” Obama said in a written statement....

But bringing our troops home from one country to send them to another under yet more false pretenses is not a victory. Bringing them home in "body bags" is a victory either.

The Associated Press reports over 142,000 U.S. troops in Iraq. “About 4,250 have died and over 31,000 wounded since the war began in 2003. It has cost more than $650 billion since 2003,” AP reports.

No mention of the Iraqi civilian deaths in this particular update. Apparently, AP editors found it prudent to only mention U.S. deaths and the cost to American taxpayers, neglecting the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis who have died. 

This further supports the stereotypes held by many around the world that we, Americans, value our lives – and even our pockets – more than the lives of others, that we believe our lives and blood are valuable, but that the lives of non-Americans are worthless.

There is no need to discuss previous rhetoric about the war; by now, most Americans are well-informed about the situation and have voiced extreme dissent against the war. 

We have also come to learn that while we have rights to free speech, unlike many dictator-led countries around the world, our voices often are ignored, much like in those same countries. 

For six years, we and others around the world have protested against the war, but our government did not listen, begging the question, are we really a democratic nation? 

We, the people, are worn out, and our voices have become hoarse. We’re tired of not being heard. We don’t appreciate that our intelligence is being insulted. 

While many anti-war supporters claim Obama’s plan to bring our troops home is a sign of hope, we must realize that the president also last month approved a significant troop increase for Afghanistan.

Now its March, and as we remember those fallen during the six-year war, let us pray that the cycle of violence created by our government will soon come to an end and that the Middle East will soon find peace.