Obama Intoxicated by atmosphere of Situation Room?

Mr. Obama, End the War!

Situation Room, Where Boys Play Ultimate Games of Life and Death, After Pizza

It must be an intoxicating atmosphere, the “situation room” in the basement of the White House. Presidents there become fascinated with the technology and “power” of the military. They see satellite photos, and military reports and confidential messages from CIA operatives and grunts of power from uniformed generals and suddenly become entranced with it all.

But, we don’t need to continue this war, against tribal leaders, poor mountain people who are ill educated, fiercely independent and living a religious cultural spectrum that is hundreds of years old. As for the Taliban, those clerics are poor, mean spirited, and will still be preaching violence and hatred 100 years after we have gone. It is more reasonable to pity and ignore them, than to spend our children's blood killing their disciples. Truth, education, economic development will do far more than wars to change their world.

We don’t need to spend another 100 Billion Dollars, or lose another 4,000 American lives.

We don't need the moral weight of killing more civilians.

We don’t need to bomb houses, wedding parties, caves and highways with impersonal drones controlled by some 20 year old kid with a joystick 1000 miles away.

We don’t need the moral problem of it all, Mr. Obama.

What we do need is another "situation room" with just as much sex appeal, to deal with our economy. People are hard hit. Kitchens have no food. Children, are going to school hungry. Mothers and fathers are crying every night because they have lost their jobs.

That situation room, the "War Room", I wonder what they are smoking down there?

I wrote Mr. Bush a letter just before he announced the war on Iraq. I was told by one of his staff that our "friendship" was strained because of it. But I was right then, and am right now.

I voted for you, Mr. Obama, and write you a similar letter. My letter is not out of cowardice. Not out of selfishness. Not out of a lack of patriotism.

I simply love our nation, our children, the people of the world enough to know, that we are tired of bloodshed. Money spent in Iraq, Afghanistan, in that entire sector is not well spent. When we leave Iraq, we will leave a nation deeply divided, and in worse condition than when we occupied it. They will continue their ethic and political strife. And we will not have made a difference to them. We will only have hurt ourselves. The same is true of Afghanistan.

Now, as Osama Bin Laden would say: “the U.S. is captive to Afghanistan”. As long as we fight these wars, we are the captives, we are the losers. Every time we blow up an innocent civilian, we are the losers. Every time we terrorize a child, we have lost.

I listened on NPR today as an American general said: “We need to chose our wars. Afghanistan is not one worth fighting.”

We have been told repeatedly that the very presence of American troops there, destabilizes the nation, and creates more hostility. We don’t understand their culture, their religion, their traditions, their politics. And there is nothing there for us. Spilling our children’s blood on the hard dry sands of Afghanistan is a price to high to pay.

Let’s bring them home, Mr. Obama. You will get over the intoxication. It passes. What seems to be a heady power is truly an addiction that only leads to pain.

Let's get back to America, living, and dealing with our problems here at home. Bring our boys home quickly Mr. Obama. It will shorten your hangover.