“War, huh, yeah. What is it good for?”

A post by "J. Mal" To see more posts click here

On Thursday January 22nd I read an article on WashingtonPost.com written by George McGovern, a former senator from South Dakota. He was expressing his views on how President Obama should approach the war on terror.  He specifically looked at how Obama should approach pulling out of Iraq and the situation in Afghanistan.   Below are brief excerpts that I think hit on some good points.   If you have the time, the article is short and an easy read.  You can find it here .  Let me know what you think.

“I have believed for some time that military power is no solution to terrorism.  The hatred of U.S. policies in the Middle East — our occupation of Iraq(and Afghanistan), our backing for repressive regimes such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia, our support of Israel — that drives the terrorist impulse against us would better be resolved by ending our military presence throughout the arc of conflict…..Like you, Mr. President, I don’t oppose all wars. I risked my life in World War II to protect our country against genuine danger…So let me suggest a truly audacious hope for your administration: How about a five-year time-out on war — unless, of course, there is a genuine threat to the nation?“

The article goes on to detail the amount of money spent on the war.  It also provides solutions and ways that we could help curb the hatred that the Muslim world has for us by using the money saved from stopping war, to help educate and feed the children in those battered nations.  One way, in McGovern’s view, to stop people from hating us is to get them while they are young.

It’s either kill the children’s  fathers fighting the ”war on terror,” hoping they don’t grow up hating Americans, or stop the “war on terror,”  while feeding and educating the progeny of extremists with hopes they come to recognize what America stands for, namely freedom.

Food For Thought

Udothedishes…and I’ll hope.