A Nobel decision?

It truly is amazing the difference one week can make. The president of the United States went from being the face of the failed Chicago bid for the 2016 Olympics to the nobel peace prize recipient (it was like a kid getting a lollipop after being beat for insubordination). I have to admit our president receiving the nobel peace prize came as a major shock to me (of course I'm sure no one was more shocked than the recipient himself). I could not understand how someone who has only been officially on the job for 9 almost 10 months could be worthy of such an honor. Don't get me wrong, President Obama has done quite a bit in terms of restoring America's image in the world. For the first time in a long time, people realized that change really can happen (they also found out that American's aren't as dumb as they thought. I mean who would've taken us seriously if Sarah Palin was our vice-president. Brrr, Gives me chills just thinking about it.) I also believe that President Obama has the ability and the support to make major changes in America as well as the world. However, I can't seem to put him in the same category as Woodrow Wilson, Martin Luther King Jr., Al Gore, and countless others just yet. Most importantly, it amazes me that the nobel PEACE prize has been given to someone who is contemplating sending additional troops to Afghanistan to fight the WAR on terror.

I have purposefully avoided discussing Afghanistan and the president's impending decision because I have such mixed feelings about the situation. On the one hand, we know that at one time Afghanistan was home to Al-Qaeda aka Osama's banditos. We also know that the Taliban was in control and absolutely terrorizing Afghani citizens particularly women. Finally, we know that the 9/11 attacks was the "are these "bleep" crazy?, don't they know we are the U.S of freaking A?" moment for this country. Yes, we had more than enough reason and motive in 2001 to invade Iraq. Wait a minute, what happened to Afghanistan? Well, we did send some troops to Afghanistan to "search" for Osama and company, but the all out war was launched in Iraq because they had "weapons of mass destruction". You know, those same wmd's that were used to bring down the twin towers and destroy our Pentagon. I guess the bottom line is that we had plenty of reason to attack Afghanistan in 2001, and yet here we are in 2009, and our new nobel peace prize winning president has to fix the mess that our (i think we all know the appropriate adjectives) ex-president made. Ultimately, I do believe that it is a mess that has to be cleaned up.

On the other hand, I question whether this mess needs to be cleaned up now and if it should be done militarily. The unfortunate truth of the matter is we waited too late to catch the bad guys. I don't know any criminal that would allow himself to be caught after 8 years (ok, there is always an exception to the rule, Roman Polanski). Our objective in Afghanistan has now changed from finding Osama and the crew to stabilizing a country that is whirling out of control. When it comes to this issue of us getting deeply entrenched in Afghanistan, I have so many questions such as: When are our troops stationed in Iraq coming home? If they do come home, will they only be here long enough to give a quick kiss and hug to their mother, wife, husband, father, daughter, son, etc. before they are shipped to Afghanistan? Where will the money come from to support not only this new war effort but maintain troops in Iraq? Why are we maintaining troops in Iraq, Korea, Germany, etc. again? Do people know how much money it takes to maintain this empire that we know of as America? Is our maintenance of all of these bases around the world really keeping us safer? How would we feel if a foreign country invaded us and decided to set up shop in the American heartland? Are we as bad as those European countries who colonized Africa, India, South America, and yes this great land that we call home? Didn't they too rob people of their natural resources and culture? Can I blame another country for hating mine so much when we claim to build a country up but only end up destroying it in the end? Could we employ one more man, educate one more child, or provide healthcare for one more woman if we cut back on our defense spending? I always heard that you should take care of home first and then you are better able to help others, isn't our home broken?

I don't know the answers to any of these questions, but I am hoping that our commander in chief is pondering at least some of these questions as he contemplates sending more troops to Afghanistan. I have to admit that it does give me some peace of mind to know that he is taking the time to make a decision versus just rushing in and invading Iraq, I mean Afghanistan. Ultimately, there are human lives that are depending on President Obama to make the right decision, and I'm not only speaking of the soldiers but their families, our families, and thousands of Afghani citizens. We can not afford to make another mistake when it comes to fighting the war on terror. The price is simply just too high, and I am not talking economics.