We were taught in school that there was a time in our history's past when learning seemed to stop. It was called "The Dark Ages." Who ever thought history would repeat itself in the 21st century? The past seven and half years has been a repeat for our leaders who have failed to learn and then stopped learning from their mistakes altogether.
The present Dark Age covers a broad spectrum and I will discuss two of them in this post that came to light just in the last few days. Nothing needs to be said about Iraq because the problem is so obvious. Now it is Afghanistan and Iran.
Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, visited Afghanistan and said more foreign fighters including al Qaeda militants are operating in Pakistan's tribal areas then in the past and they are flowing into Afghanistan more freely this year compared to last. Attacks in Eastern Afghanistan where American forces operate along the border with Pakistan are up 40% this year. June was the deadliest month for U.S. and NATO soldiers since 2001.
This Dark Age of leadership goes back to our invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 when we failed to seal the borders. It was known before our invasion that the border region between Pakistan and Afghanistan was a haven for training al Qaeda and the Taliban. After the tragic events of 9-11, Mr. Bush said his administration would make no distinction between the terrorists and those who harbor them. Not only did our leadership fail to carry out that policy with Pakistan, but seven years into the war in Afghanistan, our Chairman says the problem is still there and worse.
Now we have Secretary of State Condi Rice who just warned Iran that its latest launching of rockets was a provocative act and that the U.S. has the ability to counter them --- another example of this Dark Age of leadership failure where our leaders have learned nothing. Our leadership has a policy of provocations and going along with the threats of Israel's leaders to other countries. When leaders fail to learn, innocent people pay the price for their mistakes.
Mr. Bush failed to learn that two can play the same game he tries to play. That failure is darker than dark. He played the game in Iraq over WMD that did not exist and went on to destabilize Iraq and the middle east. Iran does not have a history of invading other countries nor of launching a war against other countries. Our own intelligence people said they stopped working to produce a nuclear weapon several years ago. If they are in fact working to acquire such weapons, the U.S. can contain them like we did the Soviet Union for over 40 years. We don't need a failure in leadership that will push the U.S. into yet another unnecessary war.
This Dark Age of leadership and learning has put our country and its people in peril. We see the economic repercussions for this failed leadership that touches the people's lives in almost every situation. Russia was bogged down in Afghanistan for 10 years and then withdrew. Our leadership furnished the Taliban weapons to fight Russia and they are now using those weapons we supplied them against our own troops. We also supported Saddam during his invasion of Iran and ten year war. We even gave Saddam U.S. intelligence gathered on Iran's military movements. What has our country learned from those Dark Ages? ---Apparently, nothing.
Can our nation escape this present Dark Age where our leaders have stopped learning. Have we run out of leaders who understand what America is all about and how to use our military power wisely? Hopefully the next President will answer those questions, in the way that they need to be answered.
