Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Letter to Obama

I just got a TrueMajority email prompting me to write a letter to Obama about our Afghanistan War. They had a boilerplate letter ready to customize, which seems to me to take the ludicrous position that no one had bothered to tell Obama that the war was bankrupting the country. Well, see for yourself. Here's their version:
Dear President Obama,

Afghanistan is just about the most remote, difficult to access part of the world there is. Which is why it costs almost $1 million a year for every soldier we send there.

Of all the reasons not to send more troops - and there are a lot - the cost of the war is one of the most important.

That's why I urge you to stop sending more troops to Afghanistan, and instead develop a clear plan for bringing everyone home.

Maybe I'm just being needlesly picky, but here's what I sent:
Dear President Obama,

There is no compelling reason to maintain our military presence in Afghanistan, much less increase it.

There are, in fact, numerous compelling reasons to withdraw our military immediately from it.

1) it's counterproductive in every important respect, especially those purported to be our reasons for being there. In fact, the only groups who are benefiting from the war are defense profiteers and drug lords.

2) it's horribly costly both in manpower and resources. More costly than we can afford.

What happens when someone wants something that is more expensive than they can afford? If they are prudent, they refrain from buying it. You are in the position to reclaim the responsible path by refusing to continue buying into this costly disaster.

That's why I urge you to stop sending more troops to Afghanistan, and instead develop a clear plan for bringing everyone home.

And what difference do I think this letter will make? My guess? None whatsoever.

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Deja Vu

Much as we hoped we were wrong, I guess we could all see this one coming...

A Tiny Revolution:

War Libs

I believe the federal government could achieve significant cost savings by getting rid of presidential speechwriters and replacing them with a Mad Libs-like form.

warlibs2.jpg

Barack Obama today:

"I will be making an announcement to the American people about how we intend to move forward [in Afghanistan]...it is my intention to finish the job."

George W. Bush on June 18, 2005:

"We're moving forward with a five-point plan for Iraqi self-government...When America says we'll do something, we are going to do it and finish the job."

—Jonathan Schwarz

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