Like most Americans, I can recall precisely what I was doing, who I was doing it with, and most importantly, how I felt, when I learned of the September 11 terrorist attacks almost ten years ago. I wanted blood, I wanted revenge, I wanted satisfaction. It only makes sense to want to punch back the man who socks you in the gut while you aren’t paying attention.
Now, Osama bin Laden, the 9/11 mastermind, has been killed by Navy SEALS in Pakistan. Now, we have gotten our pound of flesh. Now, our insatiable bloodlust has been quenched. Right?
I certainly applaud President Obama’s successful completion of a mission President Bush started almost ten years ago, and President Clinton claimed to have been focused on to the point of distraction (I’m sure) years before. After reading about the mission, I’ve become more and more impressed with the brave men and women who brought it about. Still, the last thing in the world I feel is refreshed and at ease because bin Laden has perished.
What do we do moving forward? According to Wikileaks documents (which have thus far proven to be quite accurate—whether or not they ever should have been released is another question for another day) al Qaeda has promised nuclear attacks should their leader be killed. While I can’t say with any certainty whether or not they have any nuclear material to attack us with, it only stands to reason that our enemies, who revere martyrs in all their forms starting with Mohammed and culminating with douchebags with bombs strapped to their chest killing peaceful people in coffee shops, will attempt something, somewhere.
Moving forward, what are we, the American people, to do? First, we need to look at our presence in the Middle East. First, let us examine Iraq, which supposedly, but not actually, had ties with al-Qaeda. April was the deadliest month in the country in two years, but since we aren’t “officially” there anymore, that shouldn’t concern us, right?
And how about Afghanistan? We invaded that nation in October 2001 under the guise of capturing and killing as many of the bad guys who attacked us as possible, and to displace the regime friendly to their efforts. We quickly dislodged the Taliban, but the longer we stay there, the greater their strength in numbers grow as they attempt to dislodge the Americans, the “evil foreign invader infidels.”
And that isn’t even mentioning the fact Osama bin Laden just happened to be in Pakistan, and had been there for years, in a bedroom community of Islamabad, the capital. Now that bin Laden is, in fact, dead, and the terrorist network he leads is on the ropes, though by no means defeated, why should we give them any more ammunition in our continued presence in Afghanistan and Iraq?
Please, Mr. President, you claim to be a good liberal. You say you are anti-war. With this boost in popularity, not only in my eyes, but in the eyes of the American people, please strongly consider leaving Iraq and Afghanistan tomorrow, or as soon as possible. Do not claim to stay in the best interest of those nations, for most of the average citizenry certainly doesn’t want us there. Whether we stay two more days or ten more years, you can expect the nation to fall into the hands of those we are trying to keep it away from the moment we leave (see: Vietnam.)
Please, Mr. President, we have won the war. Now please, win us the peace. We have put far too much on the line for those God-forsaken deserts that it seems an insult to those who have fought bravely and died for this nation to cut and run without victory. But what is the greater sacrifice? Leaving the fight, conscious of what it has cost us as a nation, and unwilling to pay a further price for no true objective or continuing on with a fight, sacrificing more and more men, women, and precious resources in vain attempt to make up for the mistakes of previous administrations?
Mr. President, I am no fan of your domestic policies, but I swear with all that is holy and avowed, I shall support your re-election if you can save further American lives by leaving Afghanistan for the Afghanis, Iraq for the Iraqis, and Libya for the Libyans. Let this victory you had last week bring about a new age of American foreign policy. We do not have to be the world’s policemen. We do not have to be interventionists. We don’t have to be imperialists. We can be strong, stable allies to the nations we are friendly with, giving support for the defense of Israel, Britain, Canada, or any other ally which needs it. But we have no right to install and topple governments simply because can, or believe we have the right to do so.
Now is the time to act. Now is the time when you have all the cards, and you can deal them out however you like. With this great victory, you have given America the blood it so richly desired (and possibly deserved.) Don’t blow it!
