If the "war on terror" can't be won

[whatchamacallit]

what the fuck are we doing over there? Enough bullshit, bring them home!

[democrank]

1. Bring them home.

http://icasualties.org/oif/

[Wwagsthedog]

2. Right!

Tell Obama; not that he'd listen.

[Martin Eden]

3. If it can't be won, can it be lost?

If it can't be won or lost, then can there really be a war on terror?

If we're not in Afghanistan to fight a war on terror, then why are we there?


Just askin'

[tavalon]

4. A war on an emotion can never be won

Besides, if we were fighting something other than an emotion in Afghanistan, no one ever wins a war in that country. Ask the Soviets, now known as Russia. They destroyed their empire over Afghanistan and so will we.

[Martin Eden]

5. "no one ever wins a war in that country"

When someone loses a war in Afghanistan, is there a winner?

If you modify your statement to ... no foreign power ever wins a war in that country ... I'd have to agree.

[FarLeftFist]

6. I wonder how many actually want to come home.

[Gregorian]

7. I saw someone killing ants.

I gave up killing insects when I realized that in order to stop the infestation I would have to kill them all. And that just wasn't going to happen. It may seem trivial, but this is what I mean- why kill a fly when you can just let them out? I open the door, and out they go. I kill it, and I have a mess.

I can't blame Osama. It doesn't mean I don't like America. It doesn't mean I'm not patriotic. It means I have empathy and I can understand that when a military occupies one's country I can expect them to be extremely upset about it. That leads to trouble.

I'm convinced that our Pentagon is the problem. Convinced that wars are designed. Finding Osama is a good goal, and one that doesn't require armies. Nor bombing other lands and people. When we let him go, I knew it wasn't about him. It's about America's military economy. We're subsidizing a segment of this country with an illegitimate economy. A war economy.

At the end of Seven Samurai, the two remaining Samurai look at the farmers whom they helped fight off bandits, and said that they were the losers. They fight battles, and the farmers farm. There is no winner in war. There are losers, but war never helped them. It just changed the situation.

I have been asking something what most people would consider ignorant. 50 million people died in world war two. How many people would Hitler have killed if we hadn't had that war? 50 million? I doubt it. Who knows what would have resulted. Furthermore, the Germans that came back from world war one were furious. That war helped the next war happen. Et cetera.

War begets war. It's a law of nature. And I'm sorry, but if people don't see that then they have ulterior motives for warring.

We can make this civilization work. Every day is a new beginning. Let's step in the right direction. It's that simple. It IS that simple. Argue about it, but anything that is hateful will result in hate. Only love and understanding will make this a better world. Abandon fear. Be brave. Be a fool. Be weak. Only then will we all win.

[whatchamacallit]

8. Good post n/t

[flvegan]

10. This would make a fine OP. n/t

[Lydia Leftcoast]

13. Thank you, Gregorian

American culture is so tied to the war mentality that we don't even see it anymore.

We refer to a military career as "serving your country." What a load of bull. It's serving the people who would run this country into the ground (and nearly have done so) just to make themselves richer.

Iraq, Afghanistan, saber-rattling against Iran? It's about oil.

I used to wonder what the hell Vietnam was about, and lo and behold, just recently there's been a lot of talk about the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea as a potential oil field.

The Central American "fights against Communism" were to keep the region safe for the sweatshops and agribusiness.

The low-ranking troops and even the officers may BELIEVE that they are "serving their country," but that doesn't make it TRUE.

[winyanstaz]

9. yup...end this insanity and bring them home now.

[mullard12ax7]

11. The military families need the money so they fill their heads with excuses

for their parts in the killing of innocents. It's called the military/industrial complex and many of it's proponents infest places like this asking for mercy for their so-called loved ones and their direct involvement. Oh, it's not their fault they wasted a checkpoint, a wedding party, an entire village or family, it's someone else's fault.

The "bullshit" you refer to is also known as "the American way" and if you disagree you'll be told to "shut up and enlist".

[blues90]

12. When asked by the poeple of Irag and Afghanistan

They want us out of their country and we should get the hell out.

We were not invited or asked .