Throughout his campaign, Obama made it clear that he wanted to tie up loose ends in Iraq and bring our troops home. However, in my opinion, Obama seems to be tying up loose ends in one place just to untie them again in another. Obama has announced his plan for Pakistan and Afghanistan, and it doesn't look pretty.
According to a US News Blog, (http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/iraq/2009/03/30/with-new-afghanistan-plan-obama-makes-the-war-his-own.html), Obama is planning to send 4,000 US troops into Afghanistan to help with police duties. He is also planning to bring US diplomats and agricultural experts into "this increasingly violent land" (US News). Isn't Obama supposed to be bringing troops home and not sending them to die in a different country? And 4,000 troops is A LOT of people, not to mention a lot of money spent on weapons, food, and the like. Can America afford to spend so much given the economic crisis? I certainly don't think so! We have to be saving our money, not spending it on another foreign crisis.
Also, America is becoming increasingly involved in Pakistan. The CIA is still conducting Predator drone strikes (using unmanned aircrafts) and spending money on things that I personally feel do not concern us. Obama has been quoted saying that he wants to "help Pakistan defeat these extremists," (BBC News: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7970935.stm) but is now the best time. Although Obama has said that he wouldn't be sending any ground troops to Pakistan, I think it will only be a matter of time until he might consider it. You can't really "help" a country get over "extremists" with Predator strikes for very long. I just hope that he makes the right decision and doesn't send more troops there. I really don't want another Iraq War and another 4,000 casualties.
Also: see video clip of Obama at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7970935.stm
1 comment:
While I am fully open to contradiction, I think that in the big scheme of things, 4000 troops is not a very big number. And, yes while it seems bad that the government is spending more over there, the thing that we want to avoid is saving too much. Besides, some of the money which goes to soldiers who then stimulate the economy when they get a break.
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