A recipe of blurbs by a hungry dad-filled with sarcasm, truth, and a dash of that rare ingredient, common sense.

Monday, March 28, 2011

We Are At War, Again.

I am not sure if you have noticed it or not, but about a week ago our great nation (along with a few other nations) decided to bomb Libya. Now this was started due to a “revolution” in the country and the Libyan government under orders from the dictator Moammar Kadafi began fighting back against the “rebels”. And somewhere in the process the Kadafi forces starting bombing and killing the “rebels”.

This process of killing of the rebels went on for a few weeks until the United Nations took up the issue and decided to implement a “no fly” zone under a UN Resolution. The no fly zone was designed to keep the Libyan jets from bombing and strafing the “rebel” forces. This is where we started bombing Libya a week ago, along with the French and the British. This action was supposed to be a “humanitarian” mission in order to keep the Libyan people from being killed by Kadafi’s forces.

Now normally I don’t have a problem with some conflict like this as long as it honest and justified. In conflicts/wars during my adult life, I was for the first Gulf War, I was for the war in Afghanistan even though it was done wrong (a subject of a future post), and I was against the second Gulf War (also subject of a future post). However I do have some concerns over the United States role in this “humanitarian” mission/conflict/war.

Who are these rebels? I mean seriously who are they and who is supplying them with weapons, money, and support? What are they rebelling over? What would they do if they did get Kadafi out of the country and were able to set up a government? What if the rebels gain control and turn out to be worse than Kadafi himself? It would not be the first time that this has happened. I think these things need some seriously looking into rather than bomb first and ask questions later.

The government has said that no ground troops will be used in this conflict. And as soon as the no fly zone was established all of Kadafi’s jets quit flying. Kadafi then started using ground forces with tanks to try and squash the rebels. And we all know you can’t stop this kind of thing solely by using air forces alone. So at what point in the future are ground troops going to be used since Kadafi is not stopping using his ground forces? Remember this whole shindig is to stop the deaths of the rebels and civilians.

Why are we helping only Libya out? The same exact thing is happening in Syria, Yemen, and Bahrain where their respective governments are killing civilians who are rebelling. And our country is not doing anything there. So does this mean we are going to help those countries as well at some point in time? Why aren’t we helping them already? I am not sure of the answer but I am pretty it has to do with the fact that none of those countries have oil in the large capacities that Libya has. And we all know that the oil has to keep on flowing or this planet will look like a damn zombie movie fairly quickly.

Where are all of the anti-war protestors and Hollywood types that railed George Bush for the war in Iraq? Where are all of the Democrats who so vocally opposed the Iraq war? They are so silent today over this latest military action that I can hear the summer time crickets. The media used to bash Bush daily over the war in Iraq and yet are SILENT on this in terms of speaking against it. Yes they are reporting about the conflict, but they are not against it in any form that I have seen so far.

Why did our President wait until later today (almost a week and a half) to speak to the American people? Most of the time when a President has committed our men and women of the armed forces to missions like this they normally get on tv and address the nation. I know he has been busy but damn this is an important thing to do. Especially considering that we have got mixed messages as to what is going to happen here. One part of our government says this is only limited and we will not be removing Kadafi and other parts of government have said that they will not be happy until Kadafi is gone.

Why with all of the shit going on in our country are we committing ourselves to another conflict? We are already fighting two wars and now we are diving head first into another one. And that is not even the financial mess that our country is in right now. I have heard on the news that it is going to cost somewhere around 200-500 million to set up and then a million per day that we are involved which I highly doubt that we are going to get that money back.

Why does our country have to keep meddling in the affairs of everyone else on the planet? We have a long history of getting into another countries business or supporting one faction over another. Cuba, Vietnam, Korea, Afghanistan, Iraq/Iran, and countless others are all examples of this. Can’t we just let the idiots fight things out for themselves for a change? We are already hated in the middle east so why do more of the same shit that has gotten us hated in the first place.

I guess I just want some of my questions and concerns answered before we commit our men and women to battle in another foreign land.

34 comments:

  1. We are our own hypocrites if that makes any sense. Personally I say we just throw on Gods of War (Def Leppard) and be done with it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Some countries consider America to be the policeman of the world, others consider it to be something else altogether, America cannot be everywhere at once, I agree with you about Iraq and Afghanistan though.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I think the US has this mentality that we are the leaders of the world police, and it's our job to make sure everyone is playing by the rules we set forth. It started in 1992 with gulf war 1, and we have been doing it more and more ever since.

    I don't think it is any specific president's fault, I just think we set a precedent that's not easy to just stop. Meh.

    This is costing our nation way too much money, and not in a wise way.

    ReplyDelete
  4. @ Copyboy, you got that right for sure.

    @ Lurker, that is also true.

    @ Lost, I don't think it started with the Gulf war #1 (that was a legit war in my mind). It started after World War 2 to be honest with you.

    ReplyDelete
  5. We are the one true country and we want all others to conform or we will make them do so...

    (Methinks we have outgrown our American britches!;-)

    ReplyDelete
  6. I don't even have anything to contribute to these discussions because there is so much conflicting information out there, whether you're talking about today's conflicts or those from the 1990s.

    I was just a kid when the Gulf Wars were going on, and in my decade and a half of schooling my instructors probably spent about one week's worth of class talking about those wars (although I'm not sure I would even trust a textbook or high school teacher to show me accurate, relevant information). It is for this and other reasons that most of my peers and I either live in blissful ignorance of the state of the world, or adopt dogmatic views about what should be done in a misguided effort to "take a stand."

    I'm trying to learn enough to form an opinion, but I'm ashamed at how little I actually know and understand.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I think we're all distracted and overwhelmed with the devastation in Japan. I know I am. To try to even comprehend it all, plus war on Libya...I agree with a preschool kid I taught who pronounced "War is not the answer." Iraq was supposed to be a quick and dirty "smoke 'em out." It's still going on.
    xoRobyn

    ReplyDelete
  8. I really wanted you to know I'd been here and read what you had to say, and as someone who isn't American, I don't know that I can tell you my opinion of what is happening, but I am glad you wrote this. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  9. @ Momma, I guess so.

    @ Becca, yep.

    @ Bagel, yep that is also a good point.

    @ Robyn, you summed it up quite well.

    @ Cinderita, thank you for stopping by.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I have the same issues with this and no answers.

    Makes me sick.

    Pearl

    ReplyDelete
  11. great post!

    this is like a whore giving handjobs during church.

    everyone says they don't like it but they don't say shit if they have a mouthful, if they are on the receiving end.

    we are involved in everything we do in the middle east because we need to have oil.

    just because one hilljack left office does not mean the next fucktard can do anything different.

    i have said on many occassions..the system is fucked. broken and fucked.fucked and broken.

    as long as we are dependent on foreign oil, we will be invovled in *humanitarian bullshit* like this fiasco.

    the silence on the republican side is what puzzles me?

    they hate O, but they are not screaming about it...that right there is the scariest thing...

    silence = compliance...

    and when they are both on the same side of something, you the untimate reciever of an ass fucking?

    all of us...

    sandpaper dildos, coarse grained, 40 grit flaming and razor ribbed up our asses...

    oh.. and.... no reach around and definitly no meal, not even a fast food burger, or a kiss...

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hey OT, as a Canadian I have been wondering myself why we sent a bunch of fighter jets to police the "no fly zone."

    It is evident to me that the US likes to "take charge" and be involved in everything to (in my opinion) remind everyone of their strength.

    I don't believe that I have all the facts about the situation, but my opinion is that we, as Canadians anyways, should mind our own business and let the Libyans figure out their own conflicts.

    And don't even get me started on our soldiers dying needlessly in Afganistan......


    Oooo too much politics for my head this early on a Monday morning....

    Kelly

    ReplyDelete
  13. Being Canadian OT, some of the things I notice on our news is that there is an expectation from other countries that the States should step in, then what happens is they do and they get bad press, but if the States does not step in, they get bad press that way as well. The Americans are damned if they do and damned if they don't. You guys are between a rock and a hard place. And it is unfortunate.

    ReplyDelete
  14. @ Pearl, I am glad you agree.

    @ Bruce, thank you sir. I could not have summed it up better than you just did. Sand paper dildos has to be funniest thing I have read in a long long time.

    @ Joy, you bring up some valid points. Sorry for the "politics" so early in the morning.

    @ Average, yep we are fucked regardless of what we do.

    ReplyDelete
  15. You have so much common sense. You should be president. You made such awesome points about the celebrities and the left, in general, making so much racket over Bush/war and, seriously, you're right- crickets now. Disgusting.

    ReplyDelete
  16. 'We aren't gonna make it, are we'?
    'It is in your nature to destroy yourselves'.
    You can't argue with a big cyborg.

    ReplyDelete
  17. @ Kelley, thank you very much for the compliment. I know I should be president but I don't have a billion dollars to spend to run for office. And since I am the only one in the Common Sense Party, I doubt I can raise the cash needed to run. Also I have lied to too many women in the past to get them out of their panties so yea I can't run for office.

    @ Tony, that right there is an excellent quote for this post. And I know it all too well.

    ReplyDelete
  18. I like your perspective here and the questions you posed. While there are no easy answers to such serious issues, there are always consequences to any actions taken including simply doing nothing at all. Add in the fact that human lives are at stake and the whole thing is a major bloody mess...

    Thanks again for helping me make it to the next round of the blogging tournament. I re-jigged the voting link for Round 2. Please let me know if you still are having difficulties. HUGS!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Mostly I just get tired of the Super left wingnuts. Oh, it was a terrible mistake for Bush to get messed up in Iraq, but Obama can do whatever the hell he wants. I'm sure he knows what he's doing. And the Super Right Wingnuts are too busy working to fight about it. I'm cool with us being in wars (I don't think they solve much, but whatev), what I can't stand is being in wars without us knowing why, and Far Leftwingers who have a double standard.... There's my rant on the issue.

    ReplyDelete
  20. As you may have read in my profile, I don't comment on serious things because I'd much rather laugh. But, I soooooo want to comment (I'll leave it a mystery as to which side I'm on-although it probably wouldn't take Sherlock Holmes to deduce where I fall on most issues). So, I won't put my two cents in, although it's killing me.
    But, this is an extremely well-written post!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Methinks that the reason why the media don't say squat is that this lastest flareup is run by their personal messiah and heaven forbid they should criticize their personal messiah least that twit Bill Maher call them....GASP!....racist.

    ReplyDelete
  22. I love George so in jest, whenever something happens in the world I say, "It's all George Bush's fault" because he got blamed for it all, never thanked and no one seems to hold anyone else to the standards they held him to.... Poop clogging the toilet?? -Darn George Bush!

    ReplyDelete
  23. @ Empress, thank you.

    @ Paul, yep I agree with you. The hypocrisy smells really bad right now.

    @ Al, thank you very much sir.

    @ G, you summed it up perfectly. god forbid someone say something bad about their messiah.

    @ Kristen, yes it is always George Bush's fault. I am pretty sure that it is his fault for why we have to bomb Libya in the first place.

    ReplyDelete
  24. I do believe the US intervening in other countries affairs started when We scuttled the main in Havana's harbor to start the Spanish American war though you could argue it was the Mexican war. The real issue here is that the US is in the tank the president wants a shot at getting reelected and needs a distraction from the economy. But hey the americans perfected Three card monty.

    ReplyDelete
  25. I agree with this to a certain extent ie. a bloodbath was about to take place. I think Nato should have intervened in Bosnia much earlier. However, there's a case for stepping back a bit now, arming the rebels and hoping they overthrow this maniac.

    ReplyDelete
  26. All of the questions that you raise and the points that you make are brilliant. I still have to read the transcript of the President's speech last night. It's exhausting (and depressing) to keep up with this situation.

    ReplyDelete
  27. I've always wondered why we took it upon ourselves to put our men and women in danger as World Police :-/

    ReplyDelete
  28. @ Runew, that is a very valid point that I had not thought about.

    @ David, that is true.

    @ Katsidhe, I saw his speech and still was not impressed.

    @ Cake, I have no clue and if I had the answer I would be a lot richer than what I am today. Ok I am poor today but you get the point.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Thank you!!! Right on target!!! Really glad you wrote this!

    ReplyDelete
  30. Kristen, you must not have gotten the memo yet, but Bush has recently gotten something of a reprieve, and now everything is Sarah Palin's fault. You should be getting your newsletter soon regarding Palin as the current scapegoat of choice. ;)

    What I want to know, is why the hell we sent three B2 stealth bombers from MISSOURI to Libya and then back home, when we have air bases in Italy, Germany, and the UK? I'm no geography expert, but I can look at this map and see that these countries are MUCH closer to Libya than the U.S.:
    http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=map+africa+europe&view=detail&id=5A7E8FE6B913E3EE62BDBC31C99EB0D2289D1985&first=1&FORM=IDFRIR

    ReplyDelete
  31. I hear you OT! It's a waste to Americans that our own government would rather help other countries than their own.

    ReplyDelete
  32. @ Opto, you are correct. And you are dead on with the geography lesson.

    @ Ditz, yep you summed it up.

    ReplyDelete

I love comments, so please leave one for me.