The Great Disappointment of Obama’s First Year
by
Scott Camil
Last year on the pages of www.afgn.org, I wrote about the optimism due to the election of President Barack Obama.
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After a year, that optimism has turned to disappointment as President Obama continues many of Bush’s policies. We strongly disagree with President Obama’s escalation of the war inAfghanistan Pakistan Yemen
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The war inAfghanistan
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TheUS
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The UN has not authorized us to use force againstIraq Afghanistan Afghanistan
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This escalation shows that Obama is not the leader of Hope and Change, he is just another tool in the pocket of the “Military- Industrial-Congressional Complex.”
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This war is now Obama’s War. It is his legacy. Last year when Obama was elected we had 32,000 troops inAfghanistan Iraq Iraq Afghanistan Iraq U.S. Afghanistan
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The Congressional Research Service reports the number of contractors inAfghanistan will likely jump by 16,000 to 56,000, adding up to a total of 120,000-160,000 contractors in Afghanistan
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According to the Department of Defense there are only about 100 Al Qaeda fighters in the entire country of Afghanistan Afghanistan
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These numbers don’t add up.
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After a year, that optimism has turned to disappointment as President Obama continues many of Bush’s policies. We strongly disagree with President Obama’s escalation of the war in
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The war in
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The
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The UN has not authorized us to use force against
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This escalation shows that Obama is not the leader of Hope and Change, he is just another tool in the pocket of the “Military- Industrial-Congressional Complex.”
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This war is now Obama’s War. It is his legacy. Last year when Obama was elected we had 32,000 troops in
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The Congressional Research Service reports the number of contractors in
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We are told that Gen. McChrystal needs these troops to accomplish his mission inAfghanistan
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OnApril 22nd, 2004 Army Corporal Pat Tillman, a former NFL star, was killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan
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Within 24 hours of Corporal Tillman’s death, Gen. McChrystal was recommending a Silver Star for him and lying about the circumstances to the nation and to Corporal Tillman’s parents. Can we trust this guy?
We are told that Gen. McChrystal needs these troops to accomplish his mission in
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On
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Within 24 hours of Corporal Tillman’s death, Gen. McChrystal was recommending a Silver Star for him and lying about the circumstances to the nation and to Corporal Tillman’s parents. Can we trust this guy?
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Obama has expanded the war inPakistan Yemen
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Obama has rejected comparisons betweenAfghanistan Vietnam Vietnam
Obama has expanded the war in
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Obama has rejected comparisons between
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Just as the Viet Cong were Vietnamese citizens opposed to the foreign occupation of their country, the Taliban are Afghan citizens opposed to the foreign occupation of their country.
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Just as the Viet Cong weren’t going to pack up and leave, the Taliban are not going to pack up and leave.
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Soon after taking office, President Richard Nixon introduced his policy of “vietnamization.” The plan was to encourage the South Vietnamese to take more responsibility for fighting the war. It was hoped that this policy would eventually enable theUnited States Vietnam
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From President Obama’sWest Point speech: “After 18 months, our troops will begin to come home. These are the resources that we need to seize the initiative, while building the Afghan capacity that can allow for a responsible transition of our forces out of Afghanistan
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This is the same plan – and if you remember, right after we left, those Vietnamese forces that we trained folded.
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Nationalism trumps politics when dealing with a foreign occupation. The Obama claim of a draw-down in July of 2011, is his “light at the end of the tunnel” propaganda. No one, including Obama, really believes that in July of 2011 we will actually start ending the war.
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When you look at Robert McNamara’s book, In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons ofVietnam
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Just as the Viet Cong were Vietnamese citizens opposed to the foreign occupation of their country, the Taliban are Afghan citizens opposed to the foreign occupation of their country.
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Just as the Viet Cong weren’t going to pack up and leave, the Taliban are not going to pack up and leave.
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Soon after taking office, President Richard Nixon introduced his policy of “vietnamization.” The plan was to encourage the South Vietnamese to take more responsibility for fighting the war. It was hoped that this policy would eventually enable the
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From President Obama’s
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This is the same plan – and if you remember, right after we left, those Vietnamese forces that we trained folded.
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Nationalism trumps politics when dealing with a foreign occupation. The Obama claim of a draw-down in July of 2011, is his “light at the end of the tunnel” propaganda. No one, including Obama, really believes that in July of 2011 we will actually start ending the war.
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When you look at Robert McNamara’s book, In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of
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- We misjudged...the… intentions of our adversaries... and we exaggerated the dangers to the
- We viewed the people and leaders of
- We underestimated the power of nationalism to motivate a people... we continue to do so today…
- Our misjudgments of friend and foe alike reflected our profound ignorance of history, culture, and politics of the people… and the personalities and habits of their leaders...
- We failed then — as we have since — to recognize the limitations of modern high technology, military equipment, forces, and doctrine in confronting unconventional, highly motivated people’s movements. We failed as well to adapt our military tactics to the task of winning the hearts and minds of people from a totally different culture.
- We did not recognize that neither our people nor our leaders are omniscient...We do not have the God-given right to shape every nation in our own image or as we choose.
Afghanistan is known as The Burial Ground of Empires...a place where empires go to die.
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We are taught in the military that it is our Duty and Obligation to disobey an unlawful order.
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We are not taught how to distinguish between a lawful order and an unlawful order. We are not taught a process for disobeying an unlawful order.
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Years ago I wrote the Pentagon to find out the definition of an unlawful order. Their response blew me away: “All orders are considered lawful.”
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We are taught in the military that it is our Duty and Obligation to disobey an unlawful order.
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We are not taught how to distinguish between a lawful order and an unlawful order. We are not taught a process for disobeying an unlawful order.
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Years ago I wrote the Pentagon to find out the definition of an unlawful order. Their response blew me away: “All orders are considered lawful.”
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So this duty and obligation to disobey an unlawful order is used only to protect the asses of those up the chain of command, not to keep the troops from using unlawful behavior.
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Logically speaking, any order to deploy to an unlawful war has to be an unlawful order.
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It is the Duty and Obligation of those in the military to disobey unlawful orders.
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Other Obama disappointments
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- His refusal to prosecute those responsible for torture and his protection of them.
- His refusal to join the international ban on land mines.
- Universal Single Payer Health Insurance is the only real solution to the monopoly that the insurance industry has on our health care system. From the beginning Obama refused to allow single payer to be part of the health care reform debate. This stance runs counter to Obama's statement that he believes health care is a right.
- The continuation of renditions, secret abductions and transfers of prisoners to countries that use torture
- His acceptance of the military coup in
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All of this suggests to us that the corporate takeover of our government is about complete and that the two major political parties are there to serve corporate interests, not the public interest.
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What we have learned from the election of Obama and a Democratic majority in Congress is that we need to commit ourselves to stepping outside of these two parties if we want real change.
All of this suggests to us that the corporate takeover of our government is about complete and that the two major political parties are there to serve corporate interests, not the public interest.
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What we have learned from the election of Obama and a Democratic majority in Congress is that we need to commit ourselves to stepping outside of these two parties if we want real change.
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As we said last year, “Putting a new person in the White House will not dampen our commitment or activities”.
