As the number of troops who have lost their lives in the war in Afghanistan has now reached 1,000, the monetary cost of the war could reach into the trillions. The decade long war has had a terrible toll on both the American military and on the people of Afghanistan. The war in Afghanistan is now costing us more than the war in Iraq, both in lives and in treasure. But no one is paying any attention.
After President Obama's election and the adoption of the nineteen month withdrawal plan, the war in Iraq has faded out of the public debate. However, the war in Iraq is far from fading on the battlefield, and the violence in Iraq could be on the verge of increasing.
According to Casualties.org 4,299 American military service members have died in Iraq and March was the lowest level of American casualties (9) since the war in Iraq began. However, last month was the highest total of American casualties (19) since September of last year, and this month 17 service members have died in Iraq.
The Washington Post reported yesterday, that three United States soldiers were killed and nine were wounded while on patrol in a marketplace in western Baghdad. Also, early that day eight Sunnis where killed in a suicide bombing in Kirkuk.
In northern Iraq tensions between the Kurds and the Sunni Arabs are mounting. According to an article in the New York Times earlier this week, the Kurds have refused to recognize the Iraqi government's sovereignty over the Kurdish occupied Nineveh province. The newly elected Sunni Arab governor was not allowed to enter a Kurdish controlled town, a Sunni Arab Nineveh police chief was not allowed to cross a bridge into a Kurdish controlled area, and there have been other similar incidents in the last several weeks.
Early this month the New York Times reported on a bombing in Sadr City; that kind of violence had not been seen in the city since November of 2006. The report stated that sectarian violence had increased recently, and the victims of the attacks expressed the possibility of retaliation against those they felt where responsible.
"...the people were angry and they started talking about reacting. Some of them said that they were ready to return back to the old days, and sink deep into a sectarian war again. Until last week I would not have believed that Iraqis dared to think that there is a possibility of returning to hell."
Why the United States must look towards the future and not the past in Iran.
With the economic stimulus and recovery package set to pass a final vote and subsequently to be signed by President Obama, hopefully the new administration can begin to shift their focus in different areas. The present economic crisis has presented a difficult situation for the new administration; the entirety of the message coming from the White House has been about the economy and the stimulus plan. Most of the rhetoric that has filled the media environment and the blogosphere has been about the economy and the stimulus plan. The problem is that the economic problems facing the United States and the rest of the world are the largest stack of papers on an already cluttered desk.
One of the priorities of President Obama during the campaign was to change the tone of foreign policy; specifically Obama promised to change direction in dealing with countries such as North Korea, Iran, and Cuba. Iran should be the highest priority simple because of the volatility of the Middle East and because of the difficulty that an unstable Middle East places on our ability to eliminate terrorist networks.
The politics in Iran are not necessarily unlike the politics of any other country; there has always been a dynamic between the more moderate leaders and the hard line leaders. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad uses political rhetoric to speak to his base in the same way that any other politician speaks to his base; while the rhetoric that Ahmadinejad uses to focus on the United States and Israel is offensive and repressible it is not done without political calculation.
If American foreign policy had a gift shop, what would it sell? America the Gift Shop is an installation project that reflects the current foreign policy in the fun-house mirror of American Commerce. My palette is the vernacular of retail. Once the sugar coating of the ordinary dissolves, we are left with the hard and uncomfortable truth about where we've been as a nation. We buy souvenirs at the end of a trip, to remind ourselves of the experience. What do we have to remind us of the events of the last eight years?
I encourage you to visit it; it's worth eight years of your time.
Mon., Sept. 22nd, 6pm, Foreign Policy Meet-Up, Dan Grant Speaking, TCDP Campaign HQ!
What: Dan Grant, former Democratic Primary candidate for US Congressional District 10, will be our speaker as we discuss Foreign Policy.
(7:15pm-8:00pm is "Democratic Citizen Communication" where you present your issues important to you as a Democrat!)
When: Mon., Sept. 22nd, 6:00pm-8:00pm
Where: Travis County Democratic Party Coordinated Campaign Headquarters, 1107 N. I 35, Austin, TX (next door to CVS, in old Safeway Building at 12th and I-35)
Who: Anyone interested in networking with fun, cool, energizing, like-minded Democrats, and learning about the policies and issues important to our city, our state, and our nation heading into the November TX elections. 2nd hour is a "Democratic Party Town Hall Meeting".
Cost: FREE
You're welcome to bring food/drinks to share and you're welcome to bring your laptop (Laptop not mandatory).
PS - mark your calenders NOW for Mon., Sept. 29th, 6pm, our final "Issues/Policy Meet-Up" of the season! We'll spend our two hours summarizing all Democratic Policy Issues...it'll be our "Issues/Policy SUPERBOWL"!!!
Best,
David Kobierowski
Travis County Democratic Party Issues Committee Chair
512-413-0286
Cleanair999@yahoo.com
This is a post I have been meaning to put up for quite some time. It has knocked around in my head for months, and now is the time to put it up. I have been out of the political scene in any way for several months now, and out of traditional Democratic Party politics for almost a year and a half. I am looking at getting involved in this important work again, but I feel that I cannot do so in good faith until I do the following, if only to clear up any confusion as to where I stand.
I am sorry. I apologize for ever suggesting that the Iraq War was ever justified, wise, good, well-intentioned, properly carried out or otherwise acceptable to a free and decent people. I am sorry for trusting habitual, unapologetic and brazen liars in this administration and in the government that let this atrocity occur. I am sorry for suggesting that the war could be won, that opponents of it were weak, unprincipled, unpatriotic or anything other than the sacred conscience of our nation. I am ashamed of my former position and I renounce anything I said on this blog, in organs of the right wing press or in any other forum where people would read my words. My only comfort is in knowing that I am simply not a good enough polemicist to convince anyone of the absurdities this war requires one to believe in order to support it.
