Revival of my Political $.02- We invaded Afghanistan Because We Care About the US

By: T.R. Slyder, TRSlyder@yahoo.com, AndyDisco on Twitter

I get that General McChrystal wants more troops in Afghanistan, but should that surprise anyone? Of course he does. If you're paying me to do a project, of course I'm gonna say, "You know what? This would be a lot easier with another $200". There are gonna be at least two sides of any argument, and of course McChrystal's side will be the side lobbying for more troops. I'm not even saying he's wrong, I'm just saying that it shouldn't come as a surprise.

If you have sinus issues and you go to a surgeon, he's gonna recommend surgery. Surgeons cut. He won't recommend you seek a holistic healer, or buy an over-the-counter inhaler, he's gonna say, "Well, I'll cut you open and fix this problem". Just because he recommends surgery doesn't make it the best option, you knew that would be his recommendation.

We invaded Afghanistan- because we care about the US. It wasn't for humanitarian reasons, or peace-keeping or goodwill ambassadorship. Killing possible terrorists before they kill us was the reason. Right or wrong, it was the reason and it happened and we have to deal with it. If we pull out now is Afghanistan any worse off? No. If we stay there will America be worse? I say absolutely. The war is killing our tropps and it's not making us appreciably safer. That Zazi nutsack in Colorado 1) wasn't killed in Afghanistanor Iraq and, 2) wasn't able to harm Americans because Department of Homeland Security did a great job.

Furthermore, the war is sucking the money out of our recessed economy that could use every dime it can get its hands on. As Orwellian as this tradeoff sounds- America might be in a place where we have to think about a trade off of a terrorist attack. The right loves saying, "well if we leave Aghanistan, we're just making us less safe at home." I disagree with that, but lets assume that is true. If we pull out of Afghanistan we'll save hundreds of billions of dollars that could be put into the economy to improve helath care, create jobs and prevent homes from being foreclosed. 1 in 10 people in homeless shelters are there as a result of foreclosure. People die everyday from lacking adequate health care, and if some money saved from the war saved their life, isn't that just as good as a life prevented from terrorist attack? What if, God forbid, we were victimized by terrorist attack that killed 50 people? Sure it's a grisly thought and it could happen to members of my family. But I'd rather them killed by terrorist wackos than by a government that refused to allow them to receive health care because they had to pay for a war in a nation that still operates like its the 12th century.

Once we leave Afghanistan, Al Qaeda will just enter from Pakistan and undo all of our work there anyway. It's not that I don't feel compassion for the Afghanis, but I feel a lot more for Americans. We won't have another 9/11 because we have the Department of Homeland Security in place now and they're batting 1.000 up until now. Phrased differently, if you were a muslim extremist with aspirations to blow up America- where would you be right now? In Afghanistan running around with your hands above your head telling US Soldiers that you plan on killing Americans one day on American soil, or would you be a bit more discreet about it and attempting to assimilate yourself into American life and laying low to avoid detection?

That's like the joke about why Mexico doesn't have a Summer Olympics team- because all their best runners, jumpers and swimmers are already in the U.S.. My money is on the Afghanistan's All-Star terror prospects already being out of Afghanistan.












That's how I roll.