General Stanley McChrystal's Retirement Remarks on July 23, 2010 at Fort McNair, Washington D.C.

This is frustrating. I spent a career waiting to give a retirement speech and lie about what a great soldier I was. Then people show up who were actually there. It proves what Doug Brown taught me long ago; nothing ruins a good war story like an eyewitness.

To show you how bad it is, I can't even tell you I was the best player in my little league because the kid who was the best player is here tonight. In case you're looking around, he's not a kid anymore.

But to those here tonight who feel the need to contradict my memories with the truth, remember I was there too. I have stories on all of you, photos on many, and I know a Rolling Stone reporter. (Laughter.) (Applause.)

Look, this has the potential to be an awkward or even a sad occasion. With my resignation, I left a mission I feel strongly about. I ended a career I loved that began over 38 years ago. And I left unfulfilled commitments I made to many comrades in the fight, commitments I hold sacred.

My service did not end as I would have wished, and there are misperceptions about the loyalty and service of some dedicated professionals that will likely take some time but I believe will be corrected.

Still, Annie and I aren't approaching the future with sadness but with hope and iPhones. And my feelings for more than 34 years I spent as an Army officer are a combination of surprise that any experience could have been as rich and fulfilling as mine was and gratitude for the comrades and friends we were blessed with.

That's what I feel. And if I fail to communicate that effectively tonight, I'll simply remind you that Secretary Gates once told me I was a modern Patton of strategic communications. (Laughter.) Fair point.

So if we laugh tonight, it doesn't mean all these years have not been important to me. It means the opposite; that every day and every friend were gifts I treasure and I need to celebrate.

But first, I need to address two questions that we've been asked often lately. The first is: What are you going to do? Actually, Annie is the one who's asking me that. I'm thinking I'd be a good fashion consultant and spokesman for Gucci -- (laughter) -- but they haven't called.

The other question is always asked a bit tentatively. How are you and Annie doing? We did spend some years apart, but we're doing well. And I am carrying some of what I learned into retirement.

First, Annie and I are reconnecting. And now, we're up on Skype with each other. Of course, we never did that all the years I was 10,000 miles away, but now we can connect by video link when we're 15 feet apart. And I think she really likes that. (Laughter.)

I was so enthused I tried using Skype for a daily family VTC -- (laughter) -- where I could get updates and pass out guidance, but there's some resistance to flatter and faster in the McChrystal household.

The same is true for the tactical directive I issued soon after my return. It's reasonable guidance: One meal a day, early-morning PT, the basics of a good family life. (Laughter.)

But I've gotten a few night letters, and Annie's stocking up on ammonium nitrate fertilizer -- (laughter) -- which is strange since our new yard is smaller than this podium.

Although the insurgency is relatively small -- one woman -- she's uninterested in reintegration. (Laughter.)

I assess the situation as serious and, in many ways, deteriorating. (Laughter.)

Mr. Secretary, look at her. I'm thinking at least 40,000 troops. (Laughter.) (Applause.)

Let me thank everyone for being here. This turnout is truly humbling. Here tonight are my wife and son, my four brothers, two nephews, mentors, comrades from countless phases of my career, and some special guests whose service and sacrifice are impossible to describe with words.

But because this crowd is pretty big, for good order and discipline, I've divided you all into four groups. Please remember your group number. (Laughter.)

Group 1 are all the people who accepted responsibility for making this ceremony work from the planners to the soldiers on the field. My apologies for all the time you spend in the heat. You're special people. And in my mind, you also represent soldiers all over the world. You have my sincere appreciation.

The second group -- (applause). The second group is distinguished servants of all nations who have taken time from your often-crushing schedules to be here. And thanks for your years of support and friendship. I got you out of the office early on Friday.

Group 3 are warriors of all ranks, and that includes many who don't wear a uniform but defend our nation with whom I have shared aircraft, VTCs, remote outposts, frustrations, triumphs, laughs and a common cause for many years. You are not all here. Some of you are deployed and in the fight. Others rest across river in Arlington. Most of the credit I've received actually belongs to you. It has been your comradeship that I have considered the greatest honor of my career.

Finally, Group 4 is all those who've heard we're having two kegs of beer in the backyard after my ceremony. This group includes a number of my classmates from West Point, old friends, most of the warriors from Group 3, and some others who defy accurate description. Anyone already carrying a plastic cup might be considered the vanguard of Group 4. (Laughter.) Everyone here today is invited to join.

To Secretary Gates, I want to express my personal thanks, certainly, for your generous remarks but more for your wisdom and leadership which I experienced firsthand in each of my last three jobs. Your contribution to the nation and to the force is nothing short of historic.

Similarly, I want to thank the many leaders, civilian and military, of our nation beginning with President Obama for whom and with whom I was honored to serve. Whether elected, appointed or commissioned, the common denominator of selfless service has been inspiring.

As COM ISAF, I was provided a unique opportunity to serve alongside the professionals of 46 nations under the leadership of NATO. We were stronger for the diversity of our force, and I'm better for the experience.

My thanks, also, to the leadership and people of Afghanistan for their partnership, hospitality and friendship. For those who are tempted to simplify their view of Afghanistan and focus on the challenges ahead, I counter with my belief that Afghans have courage, strength and resiliency that will prove equal to the task.

My career included some amazing moments and memories, but it is the people I'll remember. It was always about the people. It was about the soldiers who are well-trained but, at the end of the day, act out of faith in their leaders and each other; about the young sergeants who emerge from the ranks with strength, discipline, commitment and courage.

As I grew older, the soldiers and sergeants of my youth grew older as well. They became the old sergeants, long-service professionals whose wisdom and incredible sense of responsibility for the mission and for our soldiers is extraordinary.

And the sergeants major -- they were a national treasure. They mold and maintain the force and leaders like me. They have been my comrade, confidante, constructive critic, mentor and best friend.

A little more than a year ago on a single e-mail, Command Sergeant Major Mike Hall came out of retirement, leaving a job, his son and his amazing wife Brenda to join me in Afghanistan. To Mike, I could never express my thanks. To Brenda, I know after all these years, I owe you. I also love you.

To true professionals like Sergeants Major Rudy Valentine, Jody Nacy, Steve Cuffie, CW Thompson, Chris Craven, Jeff Mellinger and Chris Farris, your presence here today is proof that, when something is truly important, like this ceremony, you're on hand to make sure I don't screw it up.

I've been blessed with the presence of old friends throughout my career, friendships that began long ago at West Point, Forts Benning, Bragg, Lewis or countless other locations and shared years of Army life, moving vans, kids, laughs, disappointments, and each other's successes which grew into bonds that became critical on the battlefield.

I treasure a note I received during a particularly tough time in Afghanistan in 2007 from fellow commander, Dave Rodriguez, that quoted Sherman's confidence that, if he ever needed support, he knew his friend Grant would come to his aid if alive. Serving with people who say and mean such words is extraordinary.

I served with many. Many of you are here tonight. And not all the heroes are comrades are in uniform. In the back of a darkened helicopter over Kunar, Afghanistan, in 2004, a comrade in blue jeans whose friendship I cherish to this day passed me a note. Scribbled on a page torn from a pocket notebook, the note said, "I don't know the Ranger Creed, but you can count on me to always be there." He lived up to his promise many times over.

To have shared so much with and been so dependent on people of such courage, physical and moral, integrity and selflessness taught me to believe.

Annie's here tonight. No doubt she walked the 50 feet from our front door in cute little Italian shoes of which we have an extensive collection. (Laughter.) In Afghanistan, I once considered using Annie's shoe purchases as an argument to get Italy to send additional forces. (Laughter.) But truth be known, I have no control over that part of the McChrystal economy. (Laughter.)

But she's here like she's always been there when it mattered. Always gorgeous. For three and a half years, she was my girlfriend then fiancée and, for over 33 years, she's been my wife.

For many years, I've joked, sometimes publicly, about her lousy cooking, terrifying closets, demolition derby driving and addiction to M&M candy, which is all true. But as we conclude a career together, it's important for you to know she was there.

She was there when my father commissioned me a second lieutenant of infantry and was waiting some months later when I emerged from Ranger School. Together, we moved all we owned in my used Chevrolet Vega to our first apartment at Fort Bragg. The move, with our first days in our $180-a-month apartment, was the only honeymoon I was able to give her, a fact she has mentioned a few times since.

Annie always knew what to do. She was gracious when she answered the door at midnight in her nightgown to fight Sergeant Emo Holtz, a huge mortarman, carrying a grocery bag of cheap liquor for a platoon party I'd hastily coordinated that evening and not told Annie about following a Friday night jump. I got home not long after to find Annie making food for assembling paratroopers. Intuitively, Annie knew what was right and quietly did it.

With 9/11, she saw us off to war and patiently supported the families of our fallen with stoic grace. As the years passed and the fight grew ever more difficult and deadly, Annie's quiet courage gave me strength I would never otherwise have found.

It's an axiom in the Army that soldiers write the checks but families pay the bills. And war increases both the accuracy of that statement and the cost families pay.

In a novel based on history, Steven Pressfield captured poignantly just how important families were and, I believe, are today. Facing an invading Persian army under King Xerxes, a coalition of Greek states sent a small force to buy time by defending the pass at Thermopylae and were led by 300 special, selected Spartans. The mission was desperate and death for the 300 certain.

Before he left to lead them, the Spartan king, Leonidas, explained to one of the Spartan wives how he had selected the 300 from an entire army famed for its professionalism, courage and dedication to duty.

"I chose them not for their valor, lady, but for that of their women. Greece stands now upon her most perilous hour. If she saves herself, it will not be at the gates. Death alone awaits us and our allies there but later in battles yet to come by land and sea.

"Then Greece, if the gods will it, will preserve herself. Do you understand this, lady? Well, now, listen, when the battle is over, when the 300 have gone to death, then all Greece will look to the Spartans to see how they bear it. But who, lady, will the Spartans look to? To you. To you and the other wives and mothers, sisters and daughters of the fallen.

"If they behold your hearts riven and broken with grief, they too will break and Greece will break with them. But if you bear up, dry eyed, not alone enduring your loss but seizing it with contempt for its agony and embracing it as the honor that it is in truth, then Sparta will stand and all Greece will stand behind her.

"Why have I nominated you, lady, to bear up beneath this most terrible of trials, you and your sisters of the 300? Because you can."

To all who wear no uniform but give so much, sacrifice so willingly and serve as such an example to our nation and each other, my thanks.

As I leave the Army, to those with responsibility to carry on, I'd say, service in this business is tough and often dangerous. It extracts a price for participation, and that price can be high.

It is tempting to protect yourself from the personal or professional costs of loss by limiting how much you commit, how much of belief and trust in people, and how deeply you care. Caution and cynicism are safe, but soldiers don't want to follow cautious cynics. They follow leaders who believe enough to risk failure or disappointment for a worthy cause.

If I had it to do over again, I'd do some things in my career differently but not many. I believed in people, and I still believe in them. I trusted and I still trust. I cared and I still care. I wouldn't have had it any other way.

Winston Churchill said we make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give. To the young leaders of today and tomorrow, it's a great life. Thank you. (Applause.)

Smashing the Rosetta Stone by Ira Schwartz

A Few Days ago there was a “breaking News” story about a super secret report “accidently” leaked to a website called “wikileaks” that was immediately posted on their web page. In this report is detailed information on how the war in Afghanistan has NOT been going well for the last six years. How George W. Bush and Barack Obama have been candy coating press releases on our progress or lack thereof, in that backwards, Stone Age country almost since the “War” began.

So most of you out there really believed the action in Afghanistan was actually going well. You believed the propaganda all of us have been spoon feed by the last two administrations. Did we not learn anything from Korea or Vietnam?

SURPRISE……Our forces are NOT winning the minds and hearts of the indigenous people….SURPRISE….Pakistan is probably working WITH the Taliban not against them…. SURPRISE….we are sending special forces out to assassinate key Taliban officers….SURPRISE……our aircraft are being shot at by the Taliban with SAM’s we gave them to fight the Russians…..SURPRISE…the Russians are laughing their asses off at us right now and are just dying to say “I told you so.”

SURPRISE……you actually thought that “leak” was accidental?

Well now let’s think about this for a second. This war is quickly turning into a very, unfavorable campaign. The Obama administration is stuck trying to figure out how to end a war started by the previous administration and they have absolutely no clue how to do it. We are supposed to start withdrawing troops on July 2011 but most agree that timetable cannot and will not be met. Any troops that actually get withdrawn will probably be part of the 30,000 sent there during the “surge”.

Most of us know what will happen once the U.S. and our allies finally leave Iraq and Afghanistan. The same thing that happened in South Vietnam. A large portion of the Coalition trained local troops will immediately desert to the other side. Those that don’t will be overwhelmed and destroyed by the Taliban. Afghani President Hamid Karzai and his immediate cabinet will be whisked off to the United States where Karzai will become the owner and operator of a Holiday Inn and the rest will become Taxi cab drivers or run local 7-11’s with us footing the bill. Does anyone remember the movie “Air America”? If you don’t I suggest you rent it. It will open your eyes once you stop laughing.

So the present administration is left with this dilemma, “How do we withdraw our troops and save “face” at the same time?” Well we “could” accidentally allow certain documents showing how badly the war is really going to be mysteriously leaked to the public. We scream “foul” but now have a foundation on which to build. We get the American public on our side by telling them we only hid the real truth from them to protect them. After all it worked for the last few administrations didn’t it?

Then we begin withdrawing troops and by the next election in 2012 all our troops will be home and we will be heroes. People will forget about “Healthcare”, people will forget about birth certificates, we will be remembered as the administration that finally brought our troops home.

You think that form of thinking is farfetched? Guess again my friends. Governments have been engaged in “slight of hand” since mankind began living in groups. That is what they do and they have gotten good at it.

The story regarding the “leaks” was also published in the New York Times. When notified by the Times all the administration would say was, “The United States strongly condemns the disclosure of classified information by individuals and organizations which could put the lives of Americans and our partners at risk, and threaten our national security."

The document covers the War in Afghanistan from 2004 to 2009. It spans two administrations and contains some 92,000 reports. The Times article breaks down the document into easily readable sections with each section containing a link to the complete report. A link to the article is provided below.

Winston Churchill said…

"In wartime, truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies."  

To combat this we need to be informed enough to make sure we can tell the truth from that bodyguard of lies. That is our job and if we had done our job properly those “leaked” documents should not have come as a surprise to anyone. These documents should not serve as damning evidence of deception since deception has always been implied. They do serve as an excellent roadmap of how this war metamorphosised over the last six years. The missteps, the disasters, the tragedies, and the occasional fleeting triumphs that are what war is all about.

Remember the Obama administration is not the first administration to engage in this kind of deception. It is simply the latest. History has shown us every administration from the Revolutionary War forward has keep certain facts involving military campaigns from its citizens. It is simply “Business as Usual” for them. We have to make sure it’s NOT “Business as Usual” for us anymore.

This report should be an eye opener for those of you that actually believed all the propaganda that has been tossed around for the last 8 years. Why do you think Israel never engaged in a long, drawn out war with its neighbors? Because they always knew what we are now finding out; when combating local militia, on their home grounds, with a standing army you will never win. They always have the home field advantage and the support of the people. The British found that out the hard way; the Germans and the Japanese did, the French and Russians did; now we are. The only question is how long will it take for this realization to sink in and how many more lives will it cost?

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/26/world/asia/26warlogs.html?no_interstitial

"History 101" by Ira Schwartz

George Santayana, Spanish born American Philosopher, Poet and Humorist said, “Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it” This is a quote I’ve used before. Usually I don’t like to repeat myself but after today’s news story regarding Afghani President Karzai I feel I must.

History is a funny thing; it displays the crowning successes and the devastating failures in plain language for all to see. However failure and success is a subjective thing depending on which side of the fence you are sitting. The battle at Little Big Horn was a disaster for the U.S. Cavalry, not to mention George Armstrong Custer, but a glorious success for the American Indians, at least temporarily. If history teaches us anything it teaches us that glorious success are fleeting but crushing defeats last forever.

If we look back at world history we discover a chilling fact. All governments, no matter what form they take, are notoriously short sighted. They make policy based on what’s happening in the world at that moment never thinking of the effect it will have ten, twenty or one hundred years down the road. As a result, in the last century alone, murderous villains like Hitler, Tojo, Stalin, Yasser Arafat, Saddam Hussein and Osama Bin Laden were allowed to not only grab power but to keep it for years. Not only that we actually at one time supported the likes of Hussein and Bin Laden as well as the Shah of Iran. I know I left out the brain dead Abmadinejad and that nut job in North Korea, Il-Sung but I only have so much room and the list just seems to go on forever.

It appears George W. Bush and Barrack H. Obama are a little weak with their history. If they both had been better students a criminal like Hamid Karzai might never have illegally won the Afghani Presidency or gotten US support.

Tuesday President Karzai passed a law removing UN observers from his countries Electoral Watchdog Committee. These observers were placed there to review any anomalies during Afghani elections. In other words their job was to detect fraud.

Karzai spokesman Siamak Herawi said, “The Afghan government for long has wanted to 'Afghanise' the electoral process and 10 days ago, the cabinet ratified the amendment and the president endorsed it." He continued to say that parliament could not overturn the law, since Karzai had signed it into effect when the legislature was in recess. Well at least Karzai has learned one thing from the Obama Administration; if you want to pass an unpopular bill do it when no one is around to vote against it. The fact that parliamentary elections are in 6 months casts further suspicion on the move.

This is not the first time the Karzai government has been linked to corruption. Voter fraud was discovered in the first Presidential election that Karzai won and his brothers, Mahmoud and Amid Wali are suspected of running the country’s 3 Billion dollar opium trade. The Obama administration has become so frustrated with him President Obama, in a phone call on November 2nd to the newly re-elected president made his displeasure crystal clear. Clean up your administration or else. Kind of funny it’s almost like the pot calling the kettle black.

Fox News reported that an official with access to Karzai’s inner circle said, "The US administration warned that if he doesn't meet the conditions within six months, Obama has told him America will pull out. Obama said they don't want their soldiers' lives wasted for nothing. They want changes in Cabinet and changes in his personal staff." That was almost four months ago.

NPR reports that nearly a third of Afghans say they have personally experienced corruption when trying to obtain an official government document, according to a large-scale survey of the Afghan people conducted by the Asia Foundation.

"The people have lost complete confidence in their government, which wasn't the case before," says Nipa Banerjee, who ran the Afghan aid program for the Canadian International Development Agency from 2003 to 2006. "The legitimacy of the government is very much at stake."

More than a quarter of Afghans told the Asia Foundation's pollsters that they have seen corruption firsthand when dealing with Afghan courts and judges.

"In many areas, it's at the point where people don't even go to the formal justice system," says Masood Karokhail, deputy director of the Tribal Liaison Office, a private Afghan group that works on local governance issues. "The majority of people don't think there is justice in Afghanistan now."

So what can the U.S. government do? Nothing…and Karzai knows it. He will continue to do what he wants as long as NATO troops are there to protect him. Karzai and his family will grow richer as his people grow poorer and the opium trade will flourish, financed by American dollars.

American history is full of short sighted political decisions that eventually come back to bite us in the posterior. You would have thought we’d know better by now. The world has become a very dangerous place and the United States must take some of the blame for that. The big question is….What do we do next? Maybe our leaders should be required to take a history course before they are allowed to take office. I suggest History 101.

© 2010 by Ira Schwartz. Used with permission. All rights reserved.

Nothing Noble about the Nobel Peace Prize Anymore by Ira Schwartz

Here is an article written by Ira about the Nobel Peace Prize as I promised yesterday. Hopefully, this will be the last we hear of this debacle. I hope you enjoy. Tomorrow, I will have another article by a guest writer, Michael Cochrane dealing with Global Warming. I'm still trying to have an article written myself by Friday. Sorry for the delay. Been really busy.

Nothing Nobel about the Nobel Peace Prize Anymore

Well the decision by the Nobel Foundation to award President Barack Obama the 2009 prize for Peace certainly shocked everyone in the world except the Nobel Foundation. The stunned look on the Presidents face when told he had won the prestigious award pretty much summed up how the rest of us felt.

In its statement, the Committee said President Obama "created a new climate in international politics. ... Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world's attention and given its people hope for a better future." It continued, "His diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world's population."

So they are basically saying that they have given our president the award because he has created a gentler, kinder United States. I can buy that one, for better or worse he has.

He has been in office barely a year and has already made inroads with several of his international overtures, though none have yet born fruit. Israel and the Palestinians are still struggling to find common ground but are trying; North Korea is still launching missiles and has yet to agree to the “six party” talks proposed by the United States and China; Iran has agreed to let inspectors in to their nuclear facilities, though the “when” part is still unclear and have also agreed to talks with the United States, when they will start is also unclear. The President has proposed total global nuclear disarmament which no one has taken seriously and we have finally joined with the rest of the world to find a way we can all live with global warming. We’re still fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the US installed government in Iraq is so corrupt it makes Chicago politicians look like saints. I thought the Nobel Prize was given for positive results in the area of peace not for just trying to get those results. If just trying was the criteria to be nominated then the Nobel Foundation’s list must be longer than Mr. Clauses on Christmas Eve.

The rumor of the day floating around the international community is the Nobel Foundation is really giving the award to the American people for their progressive thinking for not only electing a black man to the Whitehouse but a Muslim too. Well if that is the case then give the award to the American People. We could use that 1.2 million dollars to extend the “cash for clunkers” program for another five minutes.

Whatever their reasons in the end we have to ask ourselves this question, at this time in history do we feel President Barack Obama deserves to be in the illustrious ranks of such notable people as Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr., Mother Teresa, Albert Schweitzer, Woodrow Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt? If not then the reasons given by the Nobel commission must be suspect and any future awards must appear a little less noble.

For those of you wondering who some of the other nominees were this year a partial list follows:

1. Chinese Human Rights Activist Hu Jia - imprisoned for campaigning for human rights in the PRC;

2. Wei Jingsheng, who spent 17 years in Chinese prisons for urging reforms of China's communist system;

3. Greg Mortenson, founder of the Central Asia Institute has built nearly 80 schools, especially for girls, in remote areas of northern Pakistan and Afghanistan over the past 15 years;

4. Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad, a philosophy professor in Jordan who risks his life by advocating interfaith dialogue between Jews and Muslims; and,

5. Afghan human rights activist Sima Samar. She currently leads the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission and serves as the U.N. special envoy to Darfur.

I guess those listed above just didn’t try hard enough.

Decisions by Ira Schwartz

“Indecision is a virus that can run through an army and destroy its will to win or even to survive.” Wendell Mayes

It’s been eight years since our troops first set foot upon Afghani soil. It’s been eight years of fighting and dying. After eight years exactly where do we stand?

Let’s take a quick look at the score card. In 2001 our army managed to literally chase Al-Qaeda out of the country and into the hills of Pakistan and drive the Taliban from power. Today the Taliban again control almost 80% of the country and are driving us back into our strongholds. In 2004 the Afghanis drafted a constitution and elected a president. Today that President, Hamid Karzai, is afraid to leave the security of his palace and is constantly denying charges that his administration is corrupt. P.S. It is. In 2002 the U.S. had approximately 5,200 boots on the ground in Afghanistan. Today we’re closer to 32,000 and our generals say we need more. Before they decide to send more troops or not the present administration wants to “re-evaluate the situation”. Sound familiar? It should. Remember a little place called “Vietnam”?

And therein lays the problem. Despite Korea and Vietnam the powers that run our military machine are still stuck in a World War ll mentality. The enemy must be forced to surrender at all costs. If we look at Korea and Vietnam in that respect then we lost both those wars. However, both South Korea and Vietnam now have strong and stable governments with strong and growing economies. Without our intervention that probably would not have happened.

So what is our strategy in Afghanistan? Why are we there?

If we are there to chase Al-Qaeda out, we did that. To topple the Taliban? We did that too. To win over the minds and hearts of the Afghani people? The Afghani people could care less about who runs their country as long as they are left alone and can grow their poppies and smoke their Hashish in peace. To set up a stable central government? A western style democratic government will never work in that region of the world. To win the war? Who did we go there to fight; Al-Qaeda or the Taliban? We’ve beaten Al-Qaeda; we will never beat the Taliban. Remember the Taliban are Afghani. They exist and live in every city, town and village in their country. The British tried to subdue them in 1838 and 1878 and failed and we all know what happened to the Russians. So where does that leave us? In an endless war we can’t win? Not necessarily.

A strong, credible government does need to be established, if for nothing else than to stop the tribal conflicts and constant infighting. The government needs to be an Afghani government not a bastardised version of our own. The government needs to include all the Afghani people including the Taliban. If we include them into the mix the war stops immediately and the US government gains credibility in the Islamic world. Besides we also get an experienced, well trained army that hates Al-Qaeda as much as we do as an added bonus. Unrealistic you say? Look at Somali.

Our administration now accepts the Somali non-democratic moderate Islamic government. This thaw in our relationship allowed the US to take out an Al-Qaeda agent in Somali suspected of master minding the 2002 bombing of a Kenyan hotel. What did the Somali government due about the US attack? Nothing.

Will this work in Afghanistan? We’ll never know till we try. But I can tell you this, as soon as we pull our troops out the Karzai government will fall and the United States will takes its place in history alongside the British and the Russians as one more invading army that failed.

The Ideology of a Liberal

Since the health care debate has wound down a little as a result of President Obama’s speech on Wednesday which, by the way, was pure rhetoric and seen by the General Public and pundits as a failure because of its lack of new ideas and detail, I have decided to tackle a subject other than health care reform in this article. What makes a liberal tick? Why are there such major differences between the two parties in this country?

The other day I was playing on Facebook and saw a number of posts from my liberal friends regarding health care. The comments posted were all similar. No one should go without health care in this country and no one should go broke because they got sick. Why only liberals would post this amazes me, because there are not too many people in the world that disagree. However, it is just not that simple.

In response, I posted a few comments. The majority of them were along the line of “Yes, I agree too, but who is going to pay for it and how is it going to work?” Almost universally, the liberal responses were either “The Rich,” or “Bring the Troops Back from Iraq and Afghanistan.” I then realized that most thinking from Liberals is not based upon logic. In fact, from these responses, it appears liberal thinking is idealist and based upon emotion. This has been argued in the past by both Ann Coulter and Dennis Prager among others. I now agree.

Whether you agree with the War on Terror is not the issue. The troops are committed. You cannot simply bring them back. To think bringing them back can be accomplished overnight is not to think realistically. You must leave them there as long as necessary to accomplish your goals or to train the local military to do it themselves. In Iraq because of the surge, this is quickly happening. In Afghanistan, it is a different story.

The Afghanistan situation is beginning to look like Vietnam. Either we make the commitment to beat the Taliban or we will be involved in a war of attrition which cannot be won. President Obama must take the steps necessary to accomplish the goal. Anything short of that will give the Taliban and Al Qaeda the foothold they need to take over the Afghanistan government again and to possibly move on Pakistan to get control of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons. This is unacceptable.

The second response “The Rich” is also idealistic. How much more taxation do you think the rich are going to take before they completely revolt? The middle class and blue collar workers at the Tea Parties on Saturday show that they are fed up. And, they are not paying nearly as much of their income as the rich. If you add another 5% to the marginal tax rate as proposed in HR 3200, most of The Rich will be paying almost 50% of their income in taxes before state income taxes are even considered. In California and New York, that is more than 10%. (This analysis includes sales taxes, property taxes, luxury taxes, etc., as well as income taxes and other income withholding). And, you wonder why people are leaving California for Nevada, Arizona, Washington and other low tax states by the thousands. People; rich, middle class or poor, will just not tolerate more.

As shown by the previous examples, both responses given me last week by the liberals are just not realistic. They are based upon emotion. There is no logic behind them. Hence we have the major difference. Conservatives think logically and based upon the reality seen in facts and figures. Liberals think emotionally and from idealistic goals and ambitions. The two do not mix.

Let us examine a few other examples:

What about the current Administration’s outlook on foreign affairs? President Obama, during his campaign, said that he would talk and negotiate with the radicals in Iran, Venezuela and North Korea. Since he has become President, what has this policy gotten him; nothing. Iran continues its nuclear ambitions unabated. Venezuela continues poking its nose at the United States and its President. And, North Korea does whatever it wants and will soon, not only have nuclear weapons, but will also have missiles capable of delivering them.

Most recently, the tape from Osama Bin Laden is just another example of the failure of President’s Obama’s policy. After his speech in Egypt, everyone on the left believed the Radical Moslems would change their attitude towards the United States. All one has to do is listen to Bin Laden’s tape released in the last two days to realize that the emotional based thinking of the left is a far cry from the realism of the situation.

In the Palestinian/Israeli conflict, the President says that Israel should cease building settlements. The Prime Minister of Israel agrees in principle provided that the Palestinians agree to recognize Israel’s right to exist. The Palestinians say ‘no’ and Israel continues its expansion into the West Bank. Another failure of idealism on the Administration’s part

Those that truly understand foreign affairs could have predicted these outcomes. Learning from the past and the use of logic as done by conservatives, works. The emotion and idealism of the left does not. The Left’s desire for everything to be right and for everything to be fair controls their policy. Unfortunately, this is not reality. And, hopefully, President Obama is beginning to get it now too. All evidence however is to the contrary.

The same is true with “Cap and Trade” and Health Care Reform. Both liberal positions are based upon idealism and emotion. Everyone would like to lower carbon emissions and make the environment a better place. Everyone would love universal health care. But, the fact of the matter is that “Cap and Trade” will cause many businesses in this country to fail and for those that do not fail, there will be many lost jobs. The realism behind Health Care Reform or any of the plans under consideration by Congress now would bankrupt the country. There is no plan that is revenue neutral at this point.

In all of these situations, the liberal agenda is fueled by idealism and emotion. Maybe, if liberals started thinking logically and based upon the realities of the world, there would be less partisanship in Congress and more could be accomplished. Emotion is no way to govern this or any other country.

© 2009 by Frank T. DeMartini. Permission to be copied will be freely granted upon request.