The Des Moines Tea Party

Well, I'm not a military strategist, but here goes nothing.  If the current rules of engagement are to be used in Afghanistan as were used in Iraq, I would say it's time to bring these men and women home.  I've never believed in fighting a war with one hand tied behind your back.  That's what is happening here.  You don't court marshall soldiers for doing their duty either.  It's time to get politics out of war planning.   Generals plan wars.  Not Presidents or their staff.  Questions should be asked.  But in the end, battle ready Generals are the ones we should be looking to.  Now...if the rules of engagement should be changed, I would recommend dropping leaflets on each village and advising those villagers they've got 24 hours to vacate, no more, no less.  Destroy those areas where the enemy is believed to be located.  Will innocent people be hurt or killed?  Yes.  Is death part of war?  Yes.  Will America be feared and or respected?  Yes.  But on the other hand, I don't care.   I'm not looking for approval.  All I want is for our troops to be able to do the job they were trained to do.  Let's let them do it.  If not, bring them home.

I feel sick @ heart for the boys fighting this war and saddened for my country.The message sent by Obama was clear.

1. The long delay in sending help to our boys.

2. The refusal to send  the number of troops asked for

3. A date of WITHDRAWL given

4.The comments about the cost of this war

5. A WEAK PRESIDENT

EITHER SUPPORT OUR BOYS OR BRING THEM HOME

DON'T PLAY POLITICS WITH OUR CHILDREN....

Anthony, I think you nailed it. Unfortunately, friendly fire and civilian casualties are a part war.  Don't send our troops over if you can't accept the consequences.  And if the Afghan people are tired of our presence, well hey, maybe they should take control of their own nation?

As a disabled OIF and Enduring Freedom veteran, I can say with certainty that the rules of engagement only apply to us. Our enemies use them to their advantage to a great extent! If I am only allowed to fire when fired upon I am already dead. Guerilla warfare cannot be combated with strict rules, policies and bureaucracy! It can only be defeated by guerilla tactics.

Wars should be fought to win; the longer a war lasts the more collateral damage there is. What good is having the best technology, training and equipment if we are not allowed to use it? I have seen with my own eyes the defeat of the most elite military force in the world by the most primitive paramilitary force imaginable, all due to the rules and the fear of the consequences of not following them! We, the fighters on the ground, should never fear the repercussions of doing whatever it takes to survive and accomplish a just mission that will ultimately save many lives!

Wars are ultimately won by intimidation; whoever instills the most fear in their enemies through their actions wins. Our enemies cut off our heads on television while we put up our POWs in cushy cells, give them good food to eat (better than our troops), time to pray, and do extracurricular activities. We afford them all the rights of an American citizen and postpone their trials for many years. If I were to be captured by the enemy, my platoon had a death pact (we would kill as many enemies as we could and try to escape…if escape was impossible either force them to kill us or kill ourselves before they could use us to instill fear or for a monetary advantage)! Diplomacy does not win wars, our fighters do.

Another issue that kills me is the fact that we rebuild everything that we destroy during a war. Not only do we rebuild, but we make everything 10 times better than it ever was! This is all paid for with the tax payer’s money! I don’t see the Middle Eastern countries pooling money together to rebuild our World Trade Center or Pentagon! There is no consequence for picking a fight with America, only benefits! This makes me sick!

   I agree we need to leave Afghanistan. The men and woman who serve in the military are risking their lives for “What”?

   Throughout history war is a means of monetary gain for those who supply those involved in the conflict. There have been times when those who supply one side in the conflict also supply the opposing side.

    One of the reasons I feel we are in Afghanistan is because of the poppy fields. We are not burning the poppy fields. At this time our troops are helping poppy farmers grow their crops which in turn end up on the streets of America being used by our citizens. Here is a site you can read about our involvement in helping the farmers in Afghanistan; (http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2024366/us_army_national_guard_brings_farming.html?cat=75).

The CIA runs drugs

 (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/drugs/archive/gunsdrugscia.html)

    I have read that this is how they fund their operations which they don’t want Congress to know about.

    I may be off on my numbers. We have 200,000 military personnel in 144 nations. Some have been there for years. To have one troop in the Middle East for one year costs the American tax payer $178,000. To have a gallon of gasoline shipped over to the Middle East the cost is over $400.00/gal., this country can not afford to be spread out all over the world. We need to clean our own back door before we try monitoring the world.

    The loss of life, families and friends being split apart for over a year at a time, and having troops serve in more than one tour in unacceptable in my opinion. We need to stop policing the world and mind our own business unless we are truly threatened.

    Did Congress approve going to Afghanistan? I don’t think they did. Where was Article I Section 8; “To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;” used?

    We need to bring our men and women home!