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On why pulling out of Iraq is the "must-have-happen" issue of many in our country, and one of the reasons why people who are voting for Sen. Obama claim they are voting for him.
We "won" the Spanish-American war in 1898, and until 1992 had forces in the Phillipines.
We "won" World War I in 1918, and pulled troops home the following year. This, in large part, allowed the militarization of Germany to go unchecked in the late 1920's and 30's.
We "won" World War II in 1945, and still have around 75,000 troops in Germany (over half of what we have "occupying" Iraq and Afghanistan) and 50,000 in Japan.
We signed a cease-fire in Korea in 1954, and still have around 50,000 troops stationed in South Korea.
We "lost" Vietnam in the mid-70's and brought everyone home. What followed was a pretty sizable destruction of the culture, infrastructure and human rights in the land.
We won the Persian gulf war in 1991, brought many of the troops home in 1993, and Saddam Hussein spent most of the next 10 years harassing US airplanes enforcing UN sanctions, dealing with terrorists and generally being a detriment to good order and discipline throughout the world.
Now many say that "our troops have to come home". Sen. Obama's original plans (being out of the country for most of the summer, I don't know if they have changed) was a categorical "rydo not pass Go, bring the troops home within 6 months" or something strategy that seems as if the Senator has never read a book on military history. It puzzles me that General Powell would endorse the Senator's plan for this. (Though to be fair, almost every other military authority of the last generation is endorsing McCain -- http://rightwingwizkid.blogspot.com/2008/10/colin-powell-endorses-obama-excuse-me.html -- sorry for the partisan take, but I think those names are facts).
Just as an analyst of history, and someone who has spent the latter half of my short life in one uniform or another in leadership capacities, it seems that herding the sheep of America into bleating for troop withdrawal, and then appeasing them is not the mark of a good leader/executive. The "common man" can't pick Iraq out on a map, and doesn't realize that having a well-trained, stabilizing force allows economy and infrastructure to grow. Japan, Korea and Germany seem to be doing pretty well with a sizable American military presence.
We "won" the Spanish-American war in 1898, and until 1992 had forces in the Phillipines.
We "won" World War I in 1918, and pulled troops home the following year. This, in large part, allowed the militarization of Germany to go unchecked in the late 1920's and 30's.
We "won" World War II in 1945, and still have around 75,000 troops in Germany (over half of what we have "occupying" Iraq and Afghanistan) and 50,000 in Japan.
We signed a cease-fire in Korea in 1954, and still have around 50,000 troops stationed in South Korea.
We "lost" Vietnam in the mid-70's and brought everyone home. What followed was a pretty sizable destruction of the culture, infrastructure and human rights in the land.
We won the Persian gulf war in 1991, brought many of the troops home in 1993, and Saddam Hussein spent most of the next 10 years harassing US airplanes enforcing UN sanctions, dealing with terrorists and generally being a detriment to good order and discipline throughout the world.
Now many say that "our troops have to come home". Sen. Obama's original plans (being out of the country for most of the summer, I don't know if they have changed) was a categorical "rydo not pass Go, bring the troops home within 6 months" or something strategy that seems as if the Senator has never read a book on military history. It puzzles me that General Powell would endorse the Senator's plan for this. (Though to be fair, almost every other military authority of the last generation is endorsing McCain -- http://rightwingwizkid.blogspot.com/2008/10/colin-powell-endorses-obama-excuse-me.html -- sorry for the partisan take, but I think those names are facts).
Just as an analyst of history, and someone who has spent the latter half of my short life in one uniform or another in leadership capacities, it seems that herding the sheep of America into bleating for troop withdrawal, and then appeasing them is not the mark of a good leader/executive. The "common man" can't pick Iraq out on a map, and doesn't realize that having a well-trained, stabilizing force allows economy and infrastructure to grow. Japan, Korea and Germany seem to be doing pretty well with a sizable American military presence.
