27
Aug
During his recent interview with pastor Rick Warren, Senator John McCain described General David Petraeus as a “great leader. . .who took us from defeat to victory in Iraq.” Obviously, General Petraeus deserves all the acclaim he is usually afforded by citizens and politicians alike for making the Surge an effective strategy. The Surge, together with the Sunni Awakening and the stand-down by Shiite militias, have successfully reduced violence in Iraq. But what must have surprised some is McCain’s claim to have achieved “victory” in Iraq. Previously, the Senator has repeatedly stated that he will never leave Iraq until US and Coalition forces had achieved “victory.” McCain has chided Senator Obama for trading votes for victory, for wanting to leave Iraq before we had a chance to win, thus not putting America first-something McCain claims he will always do. Now, it seems as if we have done exactly that-achieved “victory.” Has McCain suddenly realized that we have achieved his end goal? We are left to wonder if we have, indeed, achieved “victory,” what do we do now? What is our exit strategy? Did he mean that the Surge has “worked”? And that now we must move on toward “victory”? Or did he simply mis-speak? Did he, perhaps, mean to use a different verb tense-not “took us to victory” but rather “is leading us toward victory.”
If the latter be the case, what then constitutes “victory” in Iraq? The Administration is always speaking about “the facts or conditions on the ground.” So what are those conditions or facts that warrant declaring victory? Perhaps they include some or all of the following: Numbers of casualties Binding agreements amongst Shia, Sunni and Kurd Viable oil sharing laws Conducting future elections Using oil resources to fund reconstruction Functioning of civic organizations-free press, keeping schools open, viable market place and a Continue Reading »
26
Aug
Iraq has always been the hub of the Middle Eastern country politics. The reason to stay in Iraq is quite easy to decipher. Not only it is important strategically from a nuclear point of view but also its stability means a lot to the peace of the world overall.
As we are aware that when Iraq was engaged in a fierce battle with Iran (for about ten years on an average), the President Saddam Hussein had all the funds of the country directed to the development of the defense arsenal. He and his sons not only amassed billions via selling of oil to the world, but also started stockpiling weapons of mass destruction. This was the main reason behind the United States of America declaring war on Iraq. Even after the war was over, there were reports of political instability which was a good enough reason to stay in Iraq till the new regime started functioning well.
Another good reason to stay in Iraq was the weak Saudi Arabia where retraction of troops would have meant some another form of retaliation by the hidden anti social Iraqi elements. Saudi Arabia shall always be a high target on the elimination list of religious fundamentalists. This is because it allowed the US President Bush to set up his base on the soil exposing all the strategic defense locations of Iraq for the missile attacks that weakened and exposed the strong defense of Iraq to the American missile attack during the war.
After the capture of Saddam Hussein, people thought all over the world that finally the terror was over. But the threat is very much the same and this is a big reason to stay in Iraq to monitor the movement of the rebel Iraqis who are getting safe passage in other countries. Only the focus has shifted to the Asian countries predominantly. These countries include the friendly fundamentalist forces of religious bigotry encompassing the likes of Afghanistan (Os Continue Reading »
25
Aug
It is upon us again, every four years we watch as the candidates for President take over the television, radio and print media in an effort to win the nomination for their respective parties and our vote to become the leader of the United States of America. Over the years I have heard many people (friends, family and total strangers) explain why they voted for a particular candidate and it has been full spectrum, from the way they (the candidate) smiled, to the way they (the candidate) talk (not to be mistaken with what they say), to I always vote for the republicans or democrats or whoever, or some issue that they feel strongly for or against that makes them feel compelled to try to justify their vote and choice to me.
Yes make no mistake, I was one of them, the justifiers, you know the general public that wonders if they can trust the candidate to do what they promised and be the person we believed in and voted for. And yes I know I said I was one of them. Over the years I came to realize that it did not much matter who won the election or if it was the candidate I voted for or not, that come Monday morning I still had to go to work and provide for my family, as I am sure you do. But I thought about all the research I had done to pick the correct candidate with views that I most agreed with and then it hit me that maybe my views were not that important, maybe I was thinking to small, just maybe life was a little bigger maybe the whole picture was bigger. Monday morning and I am off to work just like every Monday morning, providing for my family, my family, that was it my family, that was the most important thing, providing for them that was why I went to work, that and the fact that I was not born with a silver spoon in my mouth. (Not sure what or who to blame for that slip up)
New understanding of the important matters at hand, I se Continue Reading »
