Dear President Obama

Dear President Obama,

 

This isn’t the first time I have written to a sitting President via my blog, and I suspect that it won’t be the last, but since it is my first time writing to you, I think that I should tell you a few things.

 

First, I would like to tell you that not quite a year into your tenure, I think that you are doing a good job leading the country at a very precarious time, considering the financial crisis, which seems to be in the early stages of recovery.  I also think that you deserve the Nobel Peace Prize that you have been awarded if for no other reason than the fact that you have toned down the bellicose rhetoric that has come from the White House since you became President.  Frankly, I think that the world can’t afford a rogue elephant in the White House, and your elevation to the Presidency has certainly eliminated a rogue from the world stage.

 

The main reason that I am writing to you today, Mr. President is to urge you to not send an additional 40,000 American soldiers and Marines to Afghanistan.  My reasoning is as follows:  Islamic radicals in Pakistan are the author of our troubles in Afghanistan.  The Pakistani government is either unable or unwilling to control them, despite the billions of dollars that we annually spend to assist them militarily.  The sad truth is that the Pakistani police, armed forces, and intelligence services are rife with fundamentalist radicals, or their sympathizers.  This situation makes any efforts in Afghanistan, beyond humanitarian help, a complete waste of resources.

 

We cannot democratize Afghanistan, sir.  We cannot even assist in the democratization of  ANY nation without a thriving, educated, middle class or one with such societal divisions as Afghanistan has.  Since we cannot democratize Afghanistan, the best we can hope to do is to pacify that nation… pacification is the BEST we can hope for, and frankly, sir, pacification is something that A) won’t happen even with an addition 40,000 troops, and B) won’t happen without conducting a war in Pakistan, which I am certain that we won’t/shouldn’t do.

 

Where does this leave us?  Well, from where I sit (currently about 10 miles from the White House), it leaves us in an exceptionally bad place on nearly every level.

 

 Militarily, we will continue to waste the lives of our Soldiers and Marines.  Further, continued combat usage of our equipment will have far reaching consequences, considering that nearly every rifle, machine gun, tank, helicopter, and truck that we use in that country (as well as Iraq) will have to either be completely replaced or have depot-level maintenance to remain in service.  

 

Economically, we can’t keep this up forever.  Wars must be paid for sir… you don’t need ME to tell you that.  Additionally, the current strains on our Veterans care apparatus are staggering, and have generational ramifications. 

 

Lastly, Mr. President, there are other, more important threats that the threats posed by the Taliban/Al Qaeda.  Damage that can be done to our nation by terrorists is minimal as long as we are vigilant, but trying to use conventional military force to fight small terror cells is like trying to swat a butterfly with an ax… we’ll cause lot’s of damage, and at the end of the day, the butterfly will continue on it’s way.

 

I know that you were handed a mess when you came into power Mr. President, but it’s your show, now.  You have to be the adult and say when enough is enough, just like I do with my children.  Fortunately, I can sit here and advise you without the myriad other things that you have going on, hanging over my head, and I am sure that there are a great many things going on that demand your time and attention, but I have confidence in you, Mr. President… you are a good man, and I am counting on you to do what’s right.  We need to make an exit from Afghanistan.  We need to do it right now.

 

Respectfully,

 

Gunfighter