CONFLICTS GALORE IN THE MIDDLE EAST!
(Wikipedia/Frazer Chronicle)
Right off the bat, let me be perfectly clear, "I am against war in any way, shape or fashion," I've stated my feelings on war in the past.....and it hasn't changed. That said, clearly well over 50% of Americans want "us" out of that money pit that the Middle East has turned into. I say "money pit," because that is exactly what Iraq and Afghanistan are. And even though we've exited Iraq, killed Osama bin Laden, and are "winning the hearts and minds," the cost of the effort is astronomical.
The Middle East has been embroiled in war, skirmishes and border disputes for well over a hundred years. Sometimes it's the same people at one anothers' throats, other times it's brother against brother, or father against son, and sometimes the countries that were fighting last year against each other have banded together to fight a new "common" foe.
We do not understand these people, their way of life and how they manage to make a living so as to take care of their families. It is obvious that these people, Afghans and Iraqis are a religious lot, they are either on their knees praying in the morning, or wailing the praises of the Lord in the evening. Hey that is all well and good, if that's how they want to conduct their lives.....it's there own business, and we should "butt out."
A huge misconception many Americans have regarding Russia, and how they, "Russians," were brought to their knees by poor business practices, and the people's uprising which was somehow brought about by President Ronald Reagan is fool-hardy thinking.
I'll tell you exactly who brought Russia to it's knees and beyond.....it was Afghanistan and the Taliban. Oh sure, the U.S. gave aid of all sorts to the Afghans, but Russia over-extended itself and were forced to remove their war machines, leave behind billions of rubles worth of infrastructure and buildings. Russia in the end simply couldn't afford the price tag that fighting nomadic tribes people of Afghanistan, with little or no overhead presenting an enemy that they, "Russia," simply couldn't beat.
And here's the real stickler for the United States and how we are going against our Afghanistan enemies. We are going down the same path as the Russian did during the 1980's. Russia learned a painful lesson during the decade of the 80's, Russia prayed for more money to pump into their war effort, and the Afghan's prayed for a stick, that they would use at every opportunity to beat the Russians over the head with.....and the "stick" won out. Don't believe me, look it up.....oh and by the way, while your looking up why Russia lost the war in Afghanistan, look up the price of a stick.
THE MIDDLE EAST HAS BEEN AT WAR FOR..........A LONG TIME:
How long has the Middle East been free of a conflict somewhere within their borders, well the search surprisingly didn't take very long. To be exact, since 1902, try a great big fat ZERO. Not even one day actually since 1902.
Since 1902 almost without exception, some Arab, Islamist, or Middle Eastern citizen has died from a conflict in their "corner of the globe." Millions have died because of wars and conflicts, ideals, or because of religious beliefs.
To give you an idea of what the United States is up against, let me open your eyes to a few facts about our Middle Eastern "brethren," it will surprise and shock you, much the same it did to me. Before we take this ride through Middle Eastern strife, death and degradation, let me clear up one bit of silly political rhetoric. Some folks figure that Afghanistan is in South Asia along with Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Maldives and Bhutan.
Go ahead, if you want, group Afghanistan in with the above mentioned countries, but keep in mind that Afghanistan also borders Iran, so I guess one might consider Wisconsin and Illinois as separate, "which they are," yet both are in the mid-west, and if either lobbed Scud missiles into say, "Kentucky," it wouldn't be considered a southern war, rather a mid-west war. "Wow" a person could go along these lines all day and never figure out who was fighting who.
Anyways for the sake of this blog, I'll make an executive decision and say that Afghanistan "shall be included in with other Middle Eastern countries. There.....see how easy that was, I didn't have to make any phone calls, no emails, or summit meetings, just a simple decision.
All told, in the Middle East there has been, or still is a total of 82 different wars, conflicts or disputes. Some have lasted as long as 84 years, "Iraq-Kurdish conflict," with as many as 300,000 casualties. Some like the Yazdi revolt was just months long and took as many as 200 lives.
Rebellions, revolutions, insurgencies, conflicts, uprisings, coup d'etats, clan battles, family squabbles, student riots, invasions, border conflicts, massacres, protests, crackdowns, and the two U.S. invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan.
The loss of life, although not an actual count has been tremendous, 3,355,978 dead, and uncounted millions more who have lost legs, arms, hands feet and the ability to independently move around. It's like half of Chicago suddenly ceased to exist and many of those left need assistance for the simplest things in life.
IT'S WHY WE CAN'T WIN!
These people are hardened, battle tested, and war to many is just a part of life, sons and daughters are raised to be warriors. You think that I was making a "funny" about the stick, well read on my friends.
These people aren't used to tanks, airplanes, or sea going ships, they don't have flashy uniforms, aren't provided for with back-ups, good food, or time away from a war zone. In many cases, it's the life that has been lived by sons of fathers, fathers fathers.
The United States killed Osama, we removed ourselves from Iraq and now are fighting the longest war in America's history. Afghanistan will be our undoing, we can't continue to fight in a land where nobody knows which people are the enemy. We can't speak the language, we basically don't know the customs, and the "foot-print" that some feel we need in the Middle East comes with a price-tag many in this country are unwilling to pay.
Fighting, wars, lovers spats, whatever it is, the United States government needs to get their collective heads out of where they sit. These generals, these military minded jerks really need to grab a weapon, take "their children," and serve a 12 month tour of duty in a war zone, and see how things really are when somebody is shooting at them.....I'm thinking their tune would change in a hurry.
There really is only a very few people that benefit from wars in far off lands, the military industrial complex, and those idiot leaders that like to establish control through fear, interrigation, murder and war. We need to re-think our foreign policy.....and bring are people home!
We do not understand these people, their way of life and how they manage to make a living so as to take care of their families. It is obvious that these people, Afghans and Iraqis are a religious lot, they are either on their knees praying in the morning, or wailing the praises of the Lord in the evening. Hey that is all well and good, if that's how they want to conduct their lives.....it's there own business, and we should "butt out."
A huge misconception many Americans have regarding Russia, and how they, "Russians," were brought to their knees by poor business practices, and the people's uprising which was somehow brought about by President Ronald Reagan is fool-hardy thinking.
I'll tell you exactly who brought Russia to it's knees and beyond.....it was Afghanistan and the Taliban. Oh sure, the U.S. gave aid of all sorts to the Afghans, but Russia over-extended itself and were forced to remove their war machines, leave behind billions of rubles worth of infrastructure and buildings. Russia in the end simply couldn't afford the price tag that fighting nomadic tribes people of Afghanistan, with little or no overhead presenting an enemy that they, "Russia," simply couldn't beat.
And here's the real stickler for the United States and how we are going against our Afghanistan enemies. We are going down the same path as the Russian did during the 1980's. Russia learned a painful lesson during the decade of the 80's, Russia prayed for more money to pump into their war effort, and the Afghan's prayed for a stick, that they would use at every opportunity to beat the Russians over the head with.....and the "stick" won out. Don't believe me, look it up.....oh and by the way, while your looking up why Russia lost the war in Afghanistan, look up the price of a stick.
THE MIDDLE EAST HAS BEEN AT WAR FOR..........A LONG TIME:
How long has the Middle East been free of a conflict somewhere within their borders, well the search surprisingly didn't take very long. To be exact, since 1902, try a great big fat ZERO. Not even one day actually since 1902.
Since 1902 almost without exception, some Arab, Islamist, or Middle Eastern citizen has died from a conflict in their "corner of the globe." Millions have died because of wars and conflicts, ideals, or because of religious beliefs.
To give you an idea of what the United States is up against, let me open your eyes to a few facts about our Middle Eastern "brethren," it will surprise and shock you, much the same it did to me. Before we take this ride through Middle Eastern strife, death and degradation, let me clear up one bit of silly political rhetoric. Some folks figure that Afghanistan is in South Asia along with Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Maldives and Bhutan.
Go ahead, if you want, group Afghanistan in with the above mentioned countries, but keep in mind that Afghanistan also borders Iran, so I guess one might consider Wisconsin and Illinois as separate, "which they are," yet both are in the mid-west, and if either lobbed Scud missiles into say, "Kentucky," it wouldn't be considered a southern war, rather a mid-west war. "Wow" a person could go along these lines all day and never figure out who was fighting who.
Anyways for the sake of this blog, I'll make an executive decision and say that Afghanistan "shall be included in with other Middle Eastern countries. There.....see how easy that was, I didn't have to make any phone calls, no emails, or summit meetings, just a simple decision.
All told, in the Middle East there has been, or still is a total of 82 different wars, conflicts or disputes. Some have lasted as long as 84 years, "Iraq-Kurdish conflict," with as many as 300,000 casualties. Some like the Yazdi revolt was just months long and took as many as 200 lives.
Rebellions, revolutions, insurgencies, conflicts, uprisings, coup d'etats, clan battles, family squabbles, student riots, invasions, border conflicts, massacres, protests, crackdowns, and the two U.S. invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan.
The loss of life, although not an actual count has been tremendous, 3,355,978 dead, and uncounted millions more who have lost legs, arms, hands feet and the ability to independently move around. It's like half of Chicago suddenly ceased to exist and many of those left need assistance for the simplest things in life.
IT'S WHY WE CAN'T WIN!
These people are hardened, battle tested, and war to many is just a part of life, sons and daughters are raised to be warriors. You think that I was making a "funny" about the stick, well read on my friends.
These people aren't used to tanks, airplanes, or sea going ships, they don't have flashy uniforms, aren't provided for with back-ups, good food, or time away from a war zone. In many cases, it's the life that has been lived by sons of fathers, fathers fathers.
The United States killed Osama, we removed ourselves from Iraq and now are fighting the longest war in America's history. Afghanistan will be our undoing, we can't continue to fight in a land where nobody knows which people are the enemy. We can't speak the language, we basically don't know the customs, and the "foot-print" that some feel we need in the Middle East comes with a price-tag many in this country are unwilling to pay.
Fighting, wars, lovers spats, whatever it is, the United States government needs to get their collective heads out of where they sit. These generals, these military minded jerks really need to grab a weapon, take "their children," and serve a 12 month tour of duty in a war zone, and see how things really are when somebody is shooting at them.....I'm thinking their tune would change in a hurry.
There really is only a very few people that benefit from wars in far off lands, the military industrial complex, and those idiot leaders that like to establish control through fear, interrigation, murder and war. We need to re-think our foreign policy.....and bring are people home!
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