How do we forget?

In our history as a country we have seen the horror of War. Two world wars, Korea, Viet Nam, to name a few, and now Iraq and Afghanistan. One thing has remained constant no matter the conflict and that is the undeniable fact that a war kills the innocent as well as the combatants. It seems quite ironic that most wars are brought on by those who would proclaim to believe in a higher power, a God, a religion supposed to be based on forgiveness, not judging others. How can this be? How could a person be willing to blow themselves up along with innocent men, women, and children, to show or prove that their way of thinking is the intended path that their "God" chose for them?

Most Americans know by now that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan can not be won. There is no way to win these types of conflicts unless you eliminate your enemy completely. As long as there are people dressed like civilians who will strap explosives to themselves, or fill their vehicle with them how can you possibly win? It was not that long ago that we found this out in Viet Nam, or that the Russians learned this in Afghanistan. Remember? One has to wonder what the purpose of these wars are? Do our leaders today think things are different? Is there a magic weapon that an change the out come? I don't think so. What is the ultimate goal that is pushing the ever increasing cost both monetarily and in human life? What could be so important? CAN SOMEBODY TELL ME?

What can be gained by years and years of war with an enemy who will never go away? I see nothing to be gained unless you have a stake in making money off of war. The Military Industrial complex. I believe it was President Dwight D. Eisenhower that warned leaders of our nation to beware of this. Greed, the all mighty dollar. Could a leader really go to war as a way to make money? Are there people out there who would sacrifice their citizens for the sake of wealth? We have reduced our troop levels in Iraq and now have approximately 65K in our other conflict. Only the Afghan military has greater numbers in Country. Some of our leaders want to send more troops into this war, say we can't win without them? I say bring them all home. If the Afghan people want to get rid of the Taliban, then let them. If they don't go after Osama Bin Laden and get him out of their country, then they don't. If we want him, then get him!

Both these latest wars were supposedly started due to the tragedy of 9/11. I have heard and read many things to the contrary. If we wanted to get certain individuals it has been said also that we could have. So why must we continue to live in this delusion of victory? Why do we need to go to another country to sacrifice our people, our economy, our world image, and in the process kill and mame thousands upon thousands of people who did nothing to us? The headlines are sounding more and more like those from the days of Viet Nam. The body counts for both sides tallied like a football score. They say the definition of Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. So why are we? Whether we pull out now or we stay another 5 years the outcome will be the same.

The people of their country will decide what is best for them. It is not for us to decide nor can we. So why stay? We are not willing to eliminate those who are extremists, so why do we continue when history has shown us that even the most powerful nations on the planet can not win this type of war? Without complete and total victory there is nothing to be gained by staying. We should not have entered into this war without looking upon history and taking a hard look at the reality of what has gone on before us. We have all seen it, we have lived it, we have tasted the bitterness and seen the ugliness of it. So how do we forget? MyRantasaurusRex