Today’s wake-up is for the American people.
The NYT reported on Saturday that the Obama administration has changed the rules for American soldiers on the ground in Afghanistan. It means that our troops could have a more direct role in the fighting for at least another year. From the NYT:
Mr. Obama’s order allows American forces to carry out missions against the Taliban and other militant groups threatening American troops, or the Afghan government, a broader mission than the president described to the public earlier this year…
The new orders clarify the rules of engagement before US forces engage in combat. They can go after terrorist organizations; they can protect themselves, and they can come to the assistance of Afghan forces in need. This last rule has the potential to bog us down, despite the fact that troop levels are coming down to about 10,000.
Then, on Sunday, came this from the NYT under the headline: “Hour’s Drive Outside Kabul, Taliban Reign”. From the article:
…southern Kapisa Province has quietly become one of the greatest challenges of the war for the new government…In the absence of international troops or their air support, the Taliban have eclipsed the legitimacy of government forces there and in several other parts of the country… the insurgents…already control a crucial stretch of a highway leading into Kabul, and some local officials believe the militants are trying to carve a large area of Taliban rule across the lower two-thirds of the province.
Apparently, our generals have been lobbying Mr. Obama for a more aggressive posture on the ground, which explains the new rules of engagement.
Why is it so hard for us to quit Afghanistan? It was super easy to decide to go in there, and we seem to be bent on playing in that sandbox forever. We have failed once again to leave well (bad) enough alone.
But it was not just the generals and politicians who failed, it was the American people. We were astonishingly easy to corrupt. We can point to any number of contributing factors for that, overly emotional after 9/11, improper education about the Middle East, out-of-control capitalism, rapid social change − you name it, we looked the other way rather than think about consequences. Now, we are where we are, and none of us as individuals are in a position to do much of anything about it. But as a nation and as a people, we didn’t rise to the occasion.
And when was the last time the American people and their politicians actually “rose to the occasion”? Watergate? At least then both parties seemed to understand that a response was needed to the “mistake”. The Church Commission hearings and legislation on the CIA’s abuses? The Savings and Loan clean-up of the late 80s?
Let’s just say it’s been a while. Maybe it’s time we did again.
The question is whether we have any better understanding of what we are doing today. We seem to just recycle the same failed ME strategy. And it seems to be dictated more by the Congressional politics than by some informed sense of how to deal with the multiple threats we have in front of us.
On that happy note, here is today’s wake-up tune, “Sorry I Stole Your Man” by The Detroit-based Jessica Hernandez and the Deltas. They were on Letterman last week doing the same song, but the Wrongologist prefers this live version performed at the Magic Bag in July, 2012:
Some think she sounds like Amy Winehouse, but not the Wrongologist. Like their sound, and you can get up and dance to it.
Monday’s Links:
Mistakes were made: California officials allowed oil and gas companies to pump nearly three billion gallons of fracking waste water into underground aquifers. They were supposed to be off-limits, protected by EPA, who calls them “non-exempt” aquifers. They are underground bodies of water that “contain high quality water” that can be used by humans to drink, water animals or irrigate crops.
Don’t say it can’t happen here: Last week, Germany’s left-leaning Green party won, ending six decades of conservative rule in one of Germany’s wealthiest states. The 30 year-old party that former Chancellor Helmut Schmidt called “environmental idiots” have shaken up politics in their country.
Lower gas prices made gas stations more money: As gas stations cut the cost at the pump, they didn’t pass all of the savings along. The Labor Department reported that margins for fuel and lubricant retailers jumped by 26.1% in October, in a month when gasoline prices fell to an average of $3.12 a gallon from $3.46 in September.
Homeland Security is gathering in Ferguson MO: Facebook pictures of Homeland Security SUVs parked at a hotel cost a Navy veteran his job at the hotel.
Kill the robots: A vending machine that dispenses prescription drugs has been installed on Arizona State University’s campus, allowing any student or university employee to pick up their drugs from the dispenser.
RIP Mike Nichols. We remember you for films like: “The Graduate”, “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”, “Silkwood”, “Catch-22”, and “Charlie Wilson’s War”.
Your thought for the week: (especially you Republicans)
“The problem with doing nothing is not knowing when you’re finished.” – Ben Franklin
To a hammer, everything looks like a nail. To the military, every security problems looks like one that deserves a military solution. But what the military does not see is the damage done by their acts, and the enmity created.
There are times when a people fully accepts the terrible acts of war done upon them. The French did not become embittered toward the US (or the other allies) despite the destruction of Caen in the days after D Day. But we were truly of their culture and we understood exactly what was going on (and the Germans sucked!). But in the middle east, drones (for example) may save the lives of soldiers but they create another generation of angry Muslim youth. Yes, some of that may be something embedded in the Koran that we cannot fully fathom. But regardless, we are only making it worse.
So whether it is Afghanistan or even Iraq and ISIS, we may be better off sitting this one out. I believe we are.
But it takes real bravery to endure the punditry