Eagles We Were, Eagles We Will Be Again

The following article is a response to Thomas Qualtere of The Heritage Foundation’s recent article “Hawks we are, hawks we must remain,” published on the Web site of The Daily Caller.

I rarely become truly angry when reading the opinion of a fellow human being. As should be obvious from my libertarian associations, I understand that free speech is inextricably linked with freedom. However, while I would never advocate for the silencing of one whose opinion I find little to no common ground with, I can still say that Thomas Qualtere of the Heritage Foundation’s recent article concerning the future of both foreign policy and conservatism in our nation deeply saddens me, and reinforces in my mind the importance of helping my fellow Americans gain an accurate understanding of the misguided foreign policy that has led our country into a cycle of perpetual war and violence from which it often seems there is no escape.

Qualtere attempts to address the question of where the youth of today should commit themselves in terms of creating the American foreign policy of tomorrow.  “We are the 9/11 generation,” he writes.  Qualtere states that we are a generation that should understand the cost of not confronting our enemies overseas, and that the lessons of 9/11 should be our call to fight for an American foreign policy that deals with our enemies where they live, rather than lets them come to strike us at home.

Senseless and Shameful

I write today both angry and sad. Yesterday, the number of dead American soldiers in Afghanistan reached 1,000. That means 1,000 less brothers, sisters, husbands, wives, aunts, uncles, cousins, parents, and children. All in the name of what? Protecting freedom? Building schools? Fighting a war tactic? These young people are dying in vain for a cause which is not what our government makes it out to be -- a worthless cause in an unwinnable conflict.

Help stop the bloodshed.

Contact your local representatives and demand immediate withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan. Also, if anyone you know is considering joining the military, try with all your might to convince them not to. After all, it could be the last conversation you ever have with them. 

US Forces Launch "Largest Invasion Since the War Began"

The Wall Street Journal reports:

U.S. and Afghan troops invaded this Taliban-held town early Saturday, launching the main thrust of the largest coalition offensive since 2001, a test of whether America's surge strategy can rescue the faltering war effort.

British, Afghan and U.S. troops were poised to begin an even larger thrust to take over one of the last Taliban-controlled bastions in the volatile Helmand River Valley. The offensive in Marjah began with small teams dropping into the town around midnight to kill or capture insurgent leaders.

The invasion has been planned and announced fairly publicly for over a month, according to antiwar.com.  Both US and Taliban forces asked civilians to stay put.  However, this was certainly not the case.

Western Execution of Afghan Children?

The (UK) Times reports:

American-led troops were accused yesterday of dragging innocent children from their beds and shooting them during a night raid that left ten people dead.

Afghan government investigators said that eight schoolchildren were killed, all but one of them from the same family. Locals said that some victims were handcuffed before being killed.

I very much hope this report is false -- though I don't support our presence in Afghanistan at all, I also don't want this to be true of the soldiers we have there.  It brings the injustice to a new level.

Side note:  Have any of you seen reports of this in American media?  I haven't.