Just like the “Iraq War”, Obama is now putting a projected “deadline” to end the “Afghan War”, is this even possible?
How can he say that the 2014 deadline will mean that “the Afghan War as we understand it is over” –it appears he doesn”'t understand “war”. If he is in a real “war”, then the “war” decides when it is over. If he can “end” the “war” whenever he wants to, and just walk away””what he is partaking in is equal to a video game.
And if he does have the power to “end the war” whenever he wants, why not just “end it” now and save a lot of lives and money? They give themselves way too much freedom once they have defined their actions as a “war”.
Let”'s say bin Laden attacked New York City and Washington with a military and Bush attacked Baghdad with commercial passenger jets slamming into buildings”¦how would we process it””what it seems to come down to is what we”'re familiar with. If bin Laden attacks America with a military within the “laws of war”, is his violence seen as more legitimate, and if Bush using commercial jets to attack Baghdad, is his violence seen as less legitimate?
There is a right way and a wrong way to murder people””bin Laden is a mass murderer, Bush is a “war” starter. Bush murdered people the acceptable way, and Obama is doing the same thing, murdering people the acceptable way within the “laws of war”.
Since day one in Iraq, the only thing they have to claim legitimacy is that they”'re within the “laws of war”””but you cannot get the freedom to kill based on how you kill. They are now playing the same game with their “drone war”, that they are cutting down “suspected militants and terrorists” and also civilians within the “laws of war”.
The “laws of war” were the worst idea ever; they alone give and create an easy access to “war”. You don”'t even need a reason to “war”, just do it within the “rules” and you re safe.
Using the U.S. government”'s “drone war” logic”¦that they believe they have the right to execute people who are planning to do harm to Americans or harm to American interests””Iraq in 2003 before the U.S. invasion, when the “war” was being planned, would have had every right to fly drones over the skies of Washington and execute U.S. officials who were partaking in the planning,
Iraq would have had every right to do this, to “protect the Iraqi people and advance their nation”'s security goals”. It appears that only the U.S. gets to execute people “suspected” of planning to do harm to their country.
Frank Erickson
