Iraq or Afghanistan

The biggest question in American foreign policy is where do we want to keep our forces in order for them to do the most good in the war on terror–Iraq as John McCain believes or Afghanistan where Barack Obama believes we need more troops.

Iraq was not really a hot bed of terror before we invaded, but you can be sure it is now.  Things have calmed down a bit in the country and the President is asking us to leave on the same time table that Obama wants.  In fact, we have been unable to come to a deal with the Iraqis to protect our troops from Iraqi courts.

Afghanistan under the Taliban was where al-Qaeda trained terrorists like the ones in the 9/11 attack on the World Train Centers.  The invasion of Aghanistan was a military success, but the Taliban continues to regroup.  The President wants the United States to stay as do most of the people.

That is why the United States needs to focus on Iraq.  The very fact that the Afghans want us there should tell us that they really don’t need us anymore.  On the other hand, by wanting us out the Iraqis have demonstrated that they have not yet been brought under control.  If Iraq was a fully functioning government they wouldn’t care if there were US troops there.  Their desire to see us out demonstrates their instability.

McCain clearly understands this.  Anybody can send American troops to a country where they’re wanted, but that isn’t the same as sending them to the country where they are most needed.  Obama obviously does not understand this, by electing him the American people run the risk of him sending troops only where they are wanted or only into situations where they have a clear objective.

US Will not Get in Cluster F#@$

I am happy to see that the United States is not one of the 111 nations that signed onto the cluster bomb treaty today.  While many of our allies in NATO gave into pressure, forward thinking countries including the US, Russia, China, Pakistan, and Israel did not.

“This is a treaty drafted largely by countries which do not fight wars,” said John Pike, a defense analyst and director of GlobalSecurity.org. “Treaties like this make me want to barf. It’s so irrelevant. Completely feel-good,” he said. 

What these vomit inducing peacenicks don’t get is that cluster bombs blow stuff up good.  They complain about the large dispersal area of unexploded bombs that later go off and kill civilians.  Well boo hoo.  Maybe Junior shouldn’t be playing on a battlefield.  What’s the point of fighting a war without explosions

Pike said if other countries insist on shells, rockets and bombs that contain no more than nine submunitions each, the military logic would be inescapable.  “It would just mean I’m going to have to shoot more of them!” he said with a laugh.

Pentagon Criticized Unfairly

They’re dammed if they do and dammed if they don’t.  The Lie-berals love to criticize the military for the cost of the war in Iraq.  The price tag is a little over $510,000,000,000 though I hardly think you can put a price on freedom.  Still the loony left loves to attack this as wasteful spending.

The Pentagon then tries to find ways to make fighting cheaper.  They get some 23 year olds and have them supply Afghanistan with weapons.  They buy airplane parts from companies owned by the leaders of Warren Jeffs’ polygomous church and in both cases they’re harshly criticized.  However, this week Hillary Clinton hit a new low.

Now Hillary is criticizing the Pentagon because they outsourced smart bomb technology to China.  She points out that the Magnequench Factory in Valparaiso, Indiana is closed and the smart bomb guidance systems are now manufactured in China.  Well excuse me Hillary, but if you haven’t been paying attention outsourcing is good for America.  What’s more we do it with pet food, toys, and a whole bunch of other things. Why not our bombs?  It isn’t like China’s our enemy or anything.