President Obama ordered a review concerning our foreign policies in Afghanistan and has already announced his decision in that regard. The same commitment should be made for our foreign policy around the globe. The status quo will not serve the changes that have taken place, nor will it protect our national security in the future. President Bush after the tragic events of 9-11 proclaimed that the U.S. was in a global war on terror. But there is no global war on terror going on.
The unnecessary war in Iraq cost the taxpayers over half a trillion dollars, over 30,000 U.S. casualties and when no WMD were found, the war was put in the category as part of the global war on terror, even though it was the unnecessary war that brought the terrorists to Iraq. When Presidents make tragic mistakes they like to link their actions to some grand scheme. All the while it is the people who pay the price.
President Obama has some serious thinking to do before he gives the go ahead to install a missile shield in Russia's back yard as Bush planned to do and that would cost the taxpayers billions of dollars. Bush said the reason for the shield was to protect the U.S. from a missile attack from Iran. Obama needs to test that theory. Any missile launched from Iran towards the U.S. would be lights out for Iran and its leaders. Iran knows that and that is not how they operate. The Soviet Union during the cold war was a super power and would not dare to attack the U.S. because they knew what the response would be.
The notion that Iran would let some terrorists launch a missile from its soil to attack America is nonsense, because the U.S. response would be the same. The U.S. has the capabilities through its intelligence systems to pick up the preparation steps needed to launching a missile before it is ever launched. Terrorists actions are much harder to pick up and stop, that is why terror tactics are used.
After the lessons of Viet Nam, who ever thought we would still be in a 6 year war with Iraq and still counting and a soon to be 8 year war in Afghanistan and still counting. Our generals running the war say we still do not know the outcome of the Iraq war even though there is a time line for withdrawal because they say the situation can still be reversed. Our generals and secretary of defense tells us after almost 8 years we are not winning in Afghanistan.
One foreign policy decision to start a war in Iraq over WMD that did not exist was a tragic mistake and error and the one to go to war in Afghanistan was done on a shoe string. The tragic cost in American casualties and money is a betrayal of what America stands for and President Obama needs to reassess our foreign policies all across the globe.
President Obama has his work cut out for himself, but our foreign policy reassessment can not and should not wait any longer. We can no longer have policies that create more terrorists and unrealistic policies that do not address what is really taking place across the globe. The U.S. has the military power and capabilities to protect the country with sound policies that are thought out and related to what is really happening in the world today.
