Congress

Only “Reprimand” Rangel?

The House Ethics Committee is charging 20 year (D – NY) Congressman Charlie Rangel, for many violations. Not just 1, but more than 10!

One of the least significant ones is ‘disgracing Congress’ – or the like.

Yet they only recommend to “Reprimand” him.

Not either of the other choices:  censure, a fine or expulsion.

Guess they don’t even think so highly of themselves anymore. Or perhaps they had all had an 80 year old ’senior’ moment and forgot what Congress – what they do and who they are supposed to be – stands for anymore to the American citizens … who pay their salaries.

Why such the gracious treatment? Because he is 80 years old? On his way out pretty much soon anyway? Please! Cut me a friggin break!

If he violated only one code or maybe even only 2, that I can see as a justifiable reason to only Reprimand the guy . {He no longer earns the honor of me calling him a Congressman}.

But to me, even 2 violations is pushing it. One violation – a Reprimand. Anything more, should be harsher.

Rangel violated 13!!!

That’s huge!

He knew full well what he was doing – abusing his position of authority, title and power to get away with the things he did.

Here is just a small snippet of what we are talking about – things that the IRS would be either putting him in the slammer for or fining his butt in the thousands:

“The alleged violations include: failure to report more than $600,000 in income on financial disclosure statements, improper use of rent-stabilized apartment to benefit Rangel’s own campaign committees, failure to report and pay taxes on rental income on a beach villa, and improper solicitation of funds for the Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service at the City College of New York.” -Source: CSMonitor.com/usa/politics/2010/0729

Our Nations Capitol: filled with individuals that are elected by the citizens of their states. The ones that are even more bound to uphold the highest standards of ethics, set examples. The people who have the power to create and change the laws of the USA.

This man was the Chairman of the House & Ways Committee, even!

For these gross, smug, personal agenda violations – it should be a common sense recommendation of:  immediate expulsion of service!

To go lighter than this for his ‘punishment’ basically says, “it’s okay to be unethical in lots of ways, (13 violations remember) if you are older and exiting the Hill”. Essentially sending a louder message to the youngsters in the Capitol:  ”just wait until your are older in Congress’ to do unethical, wrong or bad things and you won’t be punished as severely”.

What is wrong with these people? The House & Ways Committee needs a serious ethical overhaul themselves if they can’t see how unbalanced this response is to the amount of violations Mr. Rangel conducted not just in one year, but over the course of years.

If he did this in the business world, he would be fired, probably blacklisted within his industry and town. You and I both know it.

So why the special treatment in Congress?

Interestingly enough, they give no justification or reasoning as to why they only recommend a Reprimand.

All of  a sudden when it comes to a 2 decade congressman, they have no backbone. All the shouting matches you see that get conducted ‘on the floor’ – even a few days ago: D-NY Weiner’s ballistic rant/message about health care for 9/11 emergency responders is more empassioned than this vote.

Oh – cause he was ‘good to his constituents?

When? When he was hitting them up for donations for his own purpose? When he was breaking US laws, while his constituents were abiding to them even in the toughest of times? Why don’t you ask NYers where they want their hard earn dollars to go and who they want representing them from August 2010 on? I am not in NY, but I have 0 trust in this man now – I am sure this feeling is nationwide.

Betcha if this was a young chap from a midwestern state who was a Republican with maybe only 5 years under his belt in Congress, he would be gone/expelled. A Texas Democrat is the Chairman of the House Ethics Committee – the one who approves the final decision.

How can you see this any other way? It doesn’t take a law degree ladies and gentlemen, to recognize 13 violations is a significant number and warrants no leniency in any way – especially considering most of them involved him gaining money/donations for things he wanted to do (no surprise).

Gotta be a reason a long term, NY (powerful and influential state) Democrat (self explanatory) in Congress is being given this leniency for the enormous and significant violations he committed throughout his term.

To see the list to determine yourself go here:

http://www.tinyurl.com/rangel13

A trial is scheduled in September. I am sure this will impact the November elections for all Democrats.

$8.7 Billion of $9.1 Billion Unaccounted For

Speaks for itself: http://tinyurl.com/USmoneymissing

General McChrystal Out – General Petraeus In

Congrats Patraeus! Now I think we might just have a shot of serious impact!

I agree with South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham -the switch of hands of Commanding Officer  in Afghanistan is the perfect time to reevaluate our strategy in AfPak and ’start over’.

We all know we won’t ever ‘win’ this war – this isn’t even a war really anymore. This is just an endless battle. If it were really a war -it would insinuate there could realistically and viably be a side that wins.

But in this fight – no side does. The Taliban and Al Qaeda extremist are never going to wipe us all out…and the USA is never going to wipe them all out.

It’s an idealistic strategy that doesn’t even rank in worthiness for the time to do the probable/possible test. It’s quite clear to see the answer anyway.

But – if we are going to pretend this is war – and we are going to have US Military engaged in battle overseas- now more than ever, we need to give a Serious Sustainable Kick in the Butt to these terrorists!!

Now more so than ever  - McChrystal doing the fine job of making some of the top  US  leaders & US Government look even more like a bunch of jokes (more so than what maybe we all have our personal opinions on anyway). We are now even more the laughing stock to the Taliban and Al Qaeda members…I can only imagine how long and how loud they were laughing when they heard McChrystal’s daring words.

At this point it is crucial, McChrystal’s stupidity or not. It’s been 9 years now and we haven’t made really an ounce of progress. We can’t keep doing this as we approach our 10th year at war. We need to send Petraeus overseas with a serious and dynamite blow-you-up plan to really shake these Taliban out of their hiding cells!!!

He needs to arrive with explosive umph and such power, that the fear we are trying to put upon these terrorists actually works for a change – and not only works – but works instantly – completely taking them off guard!

His presence needs to shake the ground so hard they fall to their feet and say ‘uncle’. He needs to whip massive transformation across the remote training camps, hiding villages and roadside bombs and stop at nothing – going full force 24/7- until our US military is actually the dominant fighter -not the tail chaser we have been for 9 years (not their fault, they are following orders).  General Petraeus needs to do a complete 180 of how things are done there if he wants to bring himself and our soldiers home alive, early and victorious.

We now have an open window of opportunity to seriously shake things up & make significant progress – as our soldiers will be lead by one of the best. So we should take complete advantage of this in every way we can. If anyone can do this – General David Petraeus can! But don’t send Petraeus over without a new strategy, without a new plan. It’s pointless if you do.

Maybe McCrystal committed professional suicide for a reason. Maybe this is a blessing in disguise.

He obviously did this purposefully. No one of his experience, age, stature, ranking is that stupid to make mistake after mistake after mistake in what you say to a magazine reporter. It was too instant and too easy for it to be a mistake. To me, this was akin to having drinks with Bin Laden himself. Mocking the US to the enemy.  No General is that careless – drinks or no drinks.

Makes ya wonder if McChrystal’s a double agent. Not too far fetched — there was so much disloyalty not only to those specific individuals he mocked, but to the US in general, to the US Military in general. I wonder if he realizes the actual reprecussion his words had in more ways than one.

Either way, McChrystal, Petraeus, Snoopy – this is AfPak fight is still what I call an mission impossible – and it really doesn’t make a difference who is Commanding General.

Sensational State of the Union Address President Obama!

President Barack Obama delivered one of his most exceptional speeches before Congress and the American People tonight!

He is truly a natural and remarkable orator!

His knack for speech writing hasn’t slipped one iota – you could tell he wrote almost all this himself.

His speech was so amazing simply because he really just spoke to every one, the way he would if he was on the street and talking to them about America and his Administration and his goals for the future on a Saturday afternoon.

He used tonality to perfect his message by making very basic, common sense statements, actually quite softly, but their strength was never lost because of  the simplicity and every day language he chose to make those very relevant points.

He spoke powerfully and with fortitude. He spoke with conviction and exceptional pride!

He confronted the shameful, pathetic, immature ways and attitudes of Washington and Wall Street (to include the media) that he always challenges in his daily repertoire and speeches, but this time he did more – he clearly stated and showed his intolerance and exhaustion of the old Washington ways, and encouraged and inspired for the new. He made demands for things that would call for more transparency from Congress.

He also did his usual great job of interweaving the history of our great nation into his message.

I forget that he does this time and again, and for some reason tonight, perhaps because of the words he chose, this stood out more for me to realize it, or shall I say,  it impacted me more – enough for it to gain mention here. It was a valuable reminder lesson myself of the beginning of America.

I think he just locked in his 2nd term with this baby!

I dare any one to say one thing negative about his speech or his deliverance of it. Anyone who does, is a fool – because it will really just make them look bad.

I would say his speech was flawless, both in words and how he delivered it!

Kudos Obama! You really shined tonight! I am so proud you are our President of the United States of America!

God Bless You and your family President Obama

7.0 Earthquake crumbles Haiti’s Port-au-Prince

Tuesday, Jan 12, 2010 at around 5pm, Haiti got it’s first taste of catastrophic disaster for this year. An earthquake of devastating proportions. Estimated death toll is to exceed 100,000. And they still haven’t recouped from the 4 Hurricannes in 2008.

Already the most impoverished country in the Western Hemisphere, this devastating earthquake will test their community spirit and will present challenges that no one in the world can imagine – on top of the challenges they already have daily to survive and live a decent life.

The global world’s response has been tremendous; the world rushing to save them. The Dominican Republic, it’s neighbor, was the first to send help, with every country including Iceland, and even businesses following thereafter and continually -sending enormous amounts of money or items of necessities.

I am very proud to inform that our our own Los Angeles Fire Department is one of the first Search and Rescue teams heading there with 72 men and dogs, also bringing searching equipment and medical supplies. The French have deployed their own Search and Rescue team, as well as other countries to follow suit.

Examples of donations include: The NY Yankees donating $500,000 to help, and of course the Pitt-Jolie Foundation donating $1M to Doctors Without Borders to assist with getting medical help to the Haitians.

Anderson Cooper – 360 is the first American reporter (CNN) on the ground in Haiti providing a minute by minute update account of what is going on.

With that said, many have already tweeted that he should stop reporting and just start helping. I tend to agree with the consensus on this.

He walks by people screaming for help burried in rubble, puts the microphone up to them so you can hear their screams, but doesn’t nothing to help them.

To me, that is atrocish reporting. There is a time and a day for reporting and there is a bigger time when lives are at stake you stop thinking selfishly about your ratings and your possible next new book and you just help the people you are reporting on! What is wrong with this man? Is his ego that big? We now see how much this man really cares.   I now will no longer give his blog or him the time of day.

US Congressional members are starting to form a bipartisan delegation that will be heading to Haiti quite shortly. As of yet, President Obama won’t be going, but Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (in Hawaii currently) has cancelled her trip to Australia, etc. and is returning to D.C. to handle this better.

But even with all the millions being donated,  they still need so much more of your help.   Please take $1 out of your pocket or more and donate throughhttp://www.clintonfoundation.org/haitirelief

to be a part of the global mass response to help this desparate country and their people who have a very tough and long battle ahead of them.

My thoughts and prayers go out to all the Haitian’s and to our 45,000 American citizens that are in Haiti currently, especially those on a  UN mission.

Massive FBI Sting Operation goes Undereported

During the last quarter of 2009, a nation-wide, FBI led sting operation titled Operation Cross-Country IV netted 691 suspects who were indicted on charges related to child prostitution.

52 children, the youngest reportedly being 10 years old, were freed as a result of this operation. Enforcement actions took place in 36 cities; in Miami alone, 85 individuals were apprehended.

Despite the scope and severity of this sting operation, from the minimal amount of media attention it received, one would think the FBI had busted a pirated video game ring.

Of course, the media’s focus on more political issues such as the health care bill, breach of security at the white house, and airport security, etc.

This gross negligence of the media to address the startling results of this operation demonstrates our general obliviousness as a society towards the expansive threat of Human and Sex Trafficking.

Human Trafficking is the transportation of human beings as goods, or the illegal dealing and trading of human beings, most often for purposes of sexual exploitation or forced labor.

Such unawareness, partnered with misconceptions, has enabled Human Trafficking to proliferate largely unchecked. CEO and founder of Project Meridian Foundation Nathan Wilson states, “Almost invariably, when I inform someone of my line of work, I am asked if Human Trafficking is actually that big of a deal in the United States. Well, you would never know from the scant attention which Operation Cross Country IV received, but its results clearly indicate that yes, yes it is. ”

Human and Sex Trafficking is not an isolated phenomenon; it is an enormously substantial issue. Sex Trafficking of children and young women makes up almost 80% of Human Trafficking; and labor Trafficking is a much lower percentage.

What is transpiring behind our backs is nothing less than a systemic corruption of our youth and our society. This problem goes beyond isolated incidents of sexual exploitation. Sex Trafficking has become a viable criminal enterprise which has proliferated within our borders; and most Americans are oblivious to the gravity of the situation. Human Trafficking is not merely “modern-day slavery,” as it is so frequently, and arbitrarily, termed, but it is a pivotal player in a wider, intricate web of corruption.

Human Trafficking, along with weapons and drugs, comprises the three largest sources of funding for worldwide terrorism. Likewise, organized crime and gangs rely on Sex Trafficking just as much as arms and drugs to keep their illicit operations going. Furthermore, the expansion of Human Trafficking networks, often for purposes of sexual exploitation, vastly increases the chances of spreading HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.

As long as we refuse to acknowledge the scope of – or stay oblivious to -the extent of Human and Sex Trafficking, we allow its criminal corollaries to spread and further threaten our national security at a time in which our safety is paramount.

Furthermore, while these 52 children have been rescued from this atrocity, their futures are still hazy. At the moment, there are no sufficient safe havens for victims of Sex Trafficking to receive the proper and secure conditions for rehabilitation. This is a vital point of concern.

Most of those involved in the sex trade, despite what Hollywood might depict, are not hard-on-their-luck women looking to make some money to raise a family. Most are young children and young women forced into this inhumane ring of degradation against their will, and remain there under the constant threat of violence.

As such, there are significant dangers in rehabilitating Trafficking victims within city limits, where they can be susceptible to the reaches of organized crime and gangs or vulnerable to running away from their new shelters.

This is a critical issue which Project Meridian Foundation (PMF) is ardently working to address. PMF is actively advocating for the establishment of safehouses far outside of city limits, where victims of Trafficking can be recuperated with the proper health and psychiatric care, education, and vocational training.

Despite PMF’s passionate efforts, we have much work to do before this vision can be realized. Because Congress has failed to appropriate money to establish safehouses for victims of Human Trafficking, PMF is looking for concerned individuals who share our goals and our passion for justice and Human Rights.

If you are interested in learning more about Project Meridian Foundation and our work, or just educating yourself about Human Trafficking, please go to our website at www.projectmeridianfoundation.org . Even acknowledging this threat is helping to combat it.

*This blog information was taken from PMF’s press release on Jan 9, 2010 and altered slightly. PMF’s January press release is to inform the public about “Domestic Human Trafficking Awareness Day” which is now observed on January 11th of every year.

So please mark your calendar for this Monday, January 11, 2010 and go on my friend Nathan’s website to see if you can do something to contribute to erradicating this atrocity or helping increase awareness about it.

And remember to transfer this important date (1/11) every year in your calendar. Remember, this isn’t something that just happens in ungovernized regions, this happens in some of the biggest cities in America: Atlanta, Miami, Richmond,VA etc.

Here’s some more information:

About Project Meridian Foundation

Project Meridian Foundation (PMF) works to assist International, Federal, State, and Local law enforcement agencies by offering education and awareness training so they may identify and recover victims of human and sex trafficking. PMF strives to bring awareness to the most vulnerable youth in the United States between the ages of 11 and 17, as well as educating University students; and provides our country’s leaders, civic groups and other organizations with factual and relevant information empowering them to take action against human and sex trafficking. Project Meridian Foundation is preparing for the launch of Operation Safe House; an initiative to provide the victims of human and sex trafficking with shelter, healthcare, education, and vocational training so they can resume a normal life. Project Meridian Foundation is a tax deductible 501(c) (3) Organization with Federal Tax identification number EIN # 20-5052942.www.projectmeridianfoundation.org

5 Blackwater Guards go Free – Iraq Infuriated

Oh boy. Just when we thought things were steady and okay with Iraq and US relations, the recent U.S. District Judge’s ruling on New Years Eve day to allow the 5 Blackwater guards to go free  - is just asking for serious problems.

I forsee the Taliban and extremist groups trying to make their way back into Iraq and gather up all those angry Iraqi civilians and say “hey, you mad enough at America now?, come join us in our fight against America” I wouldn’t be surprised if they got new recruits from this.

Round 2 in Iraq with the Taliban…so much for troop withdraw there.

I am aware a judge does not need to make his ruling with geopolitical considerations in mind, and I would never want a judge to rule on anything but the facts and the law, but also be sensitive to our current 21st century and global community (ie: technology, terrorist situation, etc).

So, perhaps due to the delicacy of this situation, U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina might have let some White House Administration members know his ruling before he issued it, so they could do some damage control before this went globally viral on the news. I am sure this ‘tip’ could have happened – this is D.C. afterall.

The biggest problem with this court ruling is that Iraq’s claim/perception (”America is above the law”) will dominate  - as the truth (prosecutors messed up) gets muddled, reduced to one line in small print, and glossed over very easily, depending on who will be reporting it.

But as a criminal justice major and a former paralegal, and from the information reported about why the judge  ruled the way he did, the judge ruled correctly.  The fact we all know these Blackwater guards committed murder freely and openly is another story, and the judge didn’t deny that. But his final ruling is based on the U.S. Constitutional Law, and on evidence.

The event: These Blackwater chaps allegedly opened fire during the day in September 2007 in Nisoor Square, in Baghdad on innocent Iraqi civilians without provocation as the roads were being cleared by Iraqi police for Blackwater’s convoy to pass through (a usual routine) as they were guarding the State Department. They killed 17  Iraqi’s and wounded dozens of others.

So these 5 Blackwater guards aren’t going free because they didn’t commit this atrocity on innocent civilians in Iraq, but on a technicality that the federal prosecutors messed up on.  So the prosecutors are at fault, not the judge, or America.

Here is why. The federal prosecutors had originally promised these guards that their information/testimony wouldn’t be used in court, but it was necessary for part of the internal inquiry.

But because the prosecutors didn’t have their own sufficient evidence to hold all 5 men accountable for this crime, they used these testimonials from which to build their case upon and gather information.

So, in essence, when they tried to use these testimonials, they were thrown out. Subsequently, anything that was related to these testimonials as evidence became null and void.

Since the prosecutor’s case was too weak to prove evidence was sufficient beyond a reasonable doubt without this, the judge ruled there was lack of evidence and dropped the charges on 12/31/09.

The judge did his job and did his job appropriately. The federal prosecutors did not, because they went back on their word. Now, most likely, America will pay dearly for this.

I restate: I doubt many will understand or accept this fine point -the validity behind this ruling – as the majority of the public globally likes to focus on the negative or on incorrect information to help justify their rage. So the rage of  ”America thinks they are above the law” will build powerfully day after day as we start off a new year.

A new hatred has just formed against America – and it’s not just by the civilians, it is by the Iraqi officials as well, and this one will be powerful.

It’s power will stem from 3 primary reasons:

1. The crime and ruling being more current (2007 & 2009),

2. The recently surfaced information of how significantly horrendous the Bush W Administration for 8 years justified and orchestrated America’s actions overall, but more specifically, in terms of the Iraq war

3. The global community – even many Americans like myself, believe these 5 Blackwater Guards should be found guilty for these senseless and brutal murders. But most likely, the bandwagon rage will surface from other countries

This is a contagious new hatred. All facets of American power (US Military, White House Administration, Congress, The Federal Reserve, Wall Street) need to pay attention to to this seriously, as the trickling effect will happen quicker than America will be prepared for it. I surmise it’s already happened.

I am sure President Obama and his team will do all they can to reassure Iraq that we should keep good relations, etc. but it was our US Government that dictated terms of allowing  immunity for Blackwater guards to not be tried in Iraq for any crime they commit, and it is our US Constitution that just dictated their freedom. If Obama puts himself in Iraq’s shoes, he might realize a lot of smooth talk won’t really work in this situation.

So now Iraqi officials are determined these Blackwater guards will be held accountable in Iraq. I don’t blame them. If the situation were reversed, you better believe America would be doing the same.

I am not sure how Iraq is going to do this without declaring war on America or something like that – unless Obama and his government counterparts do some quick inking and allow these 5 men to be tried in Iraq.

To me, this wouldn’t be such a tough a decision – logically. Make 5 men who are a member of a mercanary style organization take accountablity for their actions and face court in Iraq, or put millions of Americans (and any others on America soil) and our US troops in Iraq in serious and imminent danger relatively immediately.

Remember, the Taliban still exists in Iraq and can pull together quite quick for retaliation on Americans. Although at this point, the rage is so strong, I don’t even think you need the Taliban to do anything, there are so many Iraqi civilians right now that probably want to shoot Americans and American soldiers dead. I think the civilians would be willing to pick up a gun and do it themselves.  They might even call themselves a new insurgent group: “Blackwater Revenge”.  Boy, this is a mess.

But wait, I said logic & Obama (US Government). So most likely that means it won’t happen.

There will be all these political ties and secret threats and special requests from so many and from a million different angles that Obama will be pushed into a very tight corner.

The only saving grace Obama has is if the Justice Department appeals the ruling or goes for different indictments which is what is on the agenda it seems.  I imagine if they don’t do this, some in the Justice Department will be looking for a new job soon. Obama will almost demand it. It’s his America that is on the line, (aka: it’s his ratings).

The global world will be watching how America handles this delicate situation as we begin a new year.

*Suggestion: If you are an American or other country citizen and are unfamiliar with this event, and/or are questioning in your mind whose story you believe (Iraqi’s or 5 Blackwater guards), please read” Blackwater” by Jeremy Scahill. It was an international best seller.

*Notation: Since this event in 2007, Blackwater changed its management team and changed it’s name to Xe.

Happy Holidays!

Wishing everyone a festive holiday season and a magnificent New Year!

May we all be champions for transparency back to our global governments, agencies and people who work in them  - much louder, firmer and demand more or better in 2010!

Thank you for supporting TOWP, a venue to expand minds globally.

Be safe, happy holidays and Cheers to 2010!

Abbey

Can we win the war in AfPak?

Obama’s recent announcement to send 30,000 more US troops to Afghanistan disgusts me.

The President claims it’s ‘to help our existing troops fight there’ and it’s the only way we can ‘deter, dismantle and stop the Taliban’ and the terrorists that constantly want to and plan to kill us.

But this war isn’t even our war anymore.  What are we truly fighting? Our troops should have been brought home years ago. We are never going to win this AfPak war.

Why? Because we are always chasing them, and never ahead of them.

Logic tells me the one that is chasing is always at the disadvantage/always behind, and will always loose more than gain or even win at all.

The only way we will win this war is if we know where all the roadside bombs are, know where all the next attacks (for at least another 5 decades) on the US will be and how they will be orchestrated, know every single Taliban member so we can recognize them before they kill us, etc etc. So you see, this is simply not a reaslistic situation, there is no real win.

Indeed, it doesn’t even make a difference if we find Osama bin Laden – as he isn’t even leading anymore. His ‘image’ really isn’t making or breaking the strength in recruiting people to join the Taliban. It helps, but it certainly isn’t the breaking point.

This is all irrelevant anyway, as so many sub groups of insurgencies have formed that even if the Taliban was halted, these other serious terrorists who hate the US and our western ways and are powerful enough to do damage. This will go on for centuries.

So, it’s just  not worth it anymore for the less than 1% chance we could actually accomplish Obama’s mission in our lifetime or within this century. It’s not worth the lives or the billions of taxpayer dollars we are spending on this.

I am not a quitter. And this by no means in my eyes or in the eyes of many against this war is saying the US and our allies are giving up – this is simply being smart. Business smart, street smart – whatever you want to categorize it as – it’s just smart.

But the government has always lacked in that area. The government doesn’t know how to be smart, they know how to follow the leader. We fought hard for 8 years already, that is not quitting.  Time to be smart. Time to be done.

Troops can return home victorious because we are basically sending a stronger message to the terrorists:

Message: That we are smart. And we won’t spend our time, money or precious lives on them anymore. You terrorists aren’t worth it.

Meaning behind the message: That essentially tells them they hold no power over us.

The one who truly wins the war is the one that takes the high road and the one that takes control. By us not waisting our time on this anymore, we do those 2 things. That’s a dignity and a respect that is insurmountable and will overcome all naysayers.

But the more we stay their to fight them, the more power they do hold over us. The more we play into their game, the more they keep playing us.

That reverts back to the statement before, remember, they have the advantage (they are planting the IED’s, they are moving around countries quicker than we can get there to stop them, etc).

Terrorists are part of the organized crime world. I have yet to hear President Obama make a speech to the American Citizens or in front of Congress saying he is going to deter, dismantle and stop Organized Crime.

Why? Because he knows he can’t. These families and chains are so tight, so closely integrated, and so predominant for centuries, globally, that no military, no amount of fighting or technology and certainly no president can even remotely touch this organization enough to make this type of change he wants to have.

So again, Obama’s goals are unrealistic. In order to stop the Taliban, to win this war, he needs to stop organized crime too.

Even if you remove the fact of organized crime from this assessment of winning the war, realistically, we all know the Taliban will never stop. The Al Qaeda network won’t either. C’mon, really think about this for a moment.

For every one we kill today, there are hundreds if not thousands more already trained, ready to jump in and fight or kill us. They want us Westerners dead. That is a very strong motivating factor and gains power in numbers.

Anyone who truly believes Obama – that we can ‘deter, dismantle and stop the Taliban’ and Al Qaeda is an idealist. I am not faulting Obama or you for being that idealist -it’s great!

But this is an exorbiant amount of our taxpayer dollars and this is numerous young soldiers lives being lost. You have to really ask the hard question of the benchmark measure between the costs and deaths vs what we really can achieve there, and if we can really win this war. And Obama’s goal is just off the charts in realism.

We can’t afford to have a president making these kind of idealistic decisions at the expense of the global troops’ lives and the higher tax costs to the citizens.

And our soldiers and our allies soldiers just don’t need to shed blood or die for this ridiculous war anymore. Again, it’s not even our war anymore. The US just likes to tell the global world it is.

We can’t see our enemy at all times, so it doesn’t make a difference what we do in Afghanistan, when there are terrorists sitting here in America, in Canada, all throughout Europe and Africa in sleeper cells just waiting.

We saw this clearly with attack that almost was pulled off from the terrorist in Colorado in Fall 2009 on the NYC public transportation system with the planned date on the 8 year anniversary of 9/11!

Ladies and gentlemen, we don’t need to go to Afghanistan to deter, dismantle, stop (fight) the Taliban, they are right here in the US, and are a much graver and more immeninet threat to all of us unarmed citizens than anything happening overseas! Military voluntarily signs up to fight, possibly die for their country. American citizens don’t sign up to possibly be blown up one day on a NYC subway.

Yet 2 months later, President Obama still makes this announcement of troop increase overseas. Where is the logic?

More of our soldiers are dying from roadside bombs and IED’s than actually being killed in shootouts. So it’s not like this is a ‘fair’ gun to gun battle and the increase in troops will even out the score.

Sending more troops just means more will be killed by these roadside bombs, untrustworthy Afghanistan police that turn their guns on the US soldiers that trained them one day, etc. All we are doing is increasing the number of injuries or deaths that will occur, and we won’t be accomplishing much more at the end of the day.

Wait and see. July 2011  starts the beginning of the troop withdraw (of course, they set no numbers for how many, and that is IF Obama keeps his word)

So, let’s see what the report is for their accountablity and measurement. Let’s see what we really achieved, let’s see if we even won or are closer to winning, let’s see if another attack happens on US soil before or after that, and lets see how many soldiers were mamed or died for nothing,  and don’t forget to look at your paycheck to realize it’s lower because you paid for all this.

I’d rather have Obama take these troops that are already in Afghanistan and bring them home and/or take these 30,000 troops ordered to go, and strategically place them in the cities that we know have the sleeper cells and start taking care of the problem right here in the USA!

Now that I would support and would not mind my taxpayer dollars being spent on. To me, that is smart.

But again…”smart”, “logic”, “makes sense” — all words unfamiliar with the underpinnings of government, congress and the president.

I believe we can’t win this war in AfPak. I say stop the troops going over and bring the ones there home earlier.  The world will rally around all those that fought this war, for all the bravery they displayed and all the hardships and suffering they endured for 8 years. There are more of us against this war than for it and we want our troops home and will thank them loudly.

My prayers go out to all the troops – including our allies troops – being sent to Afghanistan in December 2009 and Spring 2010.

30,000 more troops being sent to the wrong country

President Obama has decided that an insurgency in Afghanistan -akin to the one done in Iraq – would at this point, be the best way to ‘deter, dismantle and stop’ the Taliban and the Al Qaeda network that still significantly threatens the US and the global world.

I disagree 100%.  This is lacks any common sense. It’s completely senseless in cost, and more importantly, senseless in the lives that will be lost to fight this long, drawn out, going on 9 year war.

The Taliban is more predominant in the Pakistan area and that is where Osama bin Laden is reportedly hiding – along the border of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

So why would he send 30,000 more troops on top of the 68,000 that were sent when he first came into office in January 09 to Afghanistan, if that is not the country where the bigger problems really are?

I would think that if you are going to try to make sure a terrorist group doesn’t take over a country, it would be the one with nuclear arms.

Not with the country that we train their men to fight USA style and they turn around and shoot and kill 2 of our own USA soldiers for no reason at all while they are patrolling along with them. You can not trust these Afghanistans. They turn on us in an instant – they have no loyalty to us, so we can’t expect anything but distrust.

I would also think it would be the country where this powerful and growing terrorist group is more heavily infiltrated. The terrorists are not stupid, the more you move into Afghanistan, the more they just simply move into Pakistan and gain even more leverage than they already have there.

But that’s just me talking logic -and the government doesn’t work on logic, they work to support their own agendas…except Vice President Biden.

Biden seems to be the only smart one in the national security team pack. He has repeatedly stated he does not agree with this Obama/General McCrystal strategy. Biden’s solution (unmanned drones and special ops) is much smarter in terms of dollars, efficiency and less lives lost. And Biden thinks if we are sending any troops over, it should be to Pakistan.

Finally, a refreshing thought in government and one that is logical!

Extra prayers are sent to these 30,000 troops that will be sent to Afghanistan: 1000 Marines last week in December 2009 and the remaining during the Spring 2010.

Next Page »