Afghanistan! Need I say more...

Well, Atlantans took to the polls yesterday to elect a new mayor and city council president, and we technically still don't have a mayor yet. However, the likely winner is Kasim Reed. (the young, GA state senator who came from relative obscurity. Remind you of anyone????) The winner for city council president was Ceaser Mitchell (another fortyish, black male. I must say it is shaping up to be a rather good year for youngish, black males.) There are some interesting similarities between the Atlanta mayoral race and the democratic primaries of 08. However, I will have to review the run off after we officially have a mayor (come on Mary Norwood, let's not drag this thing out forever). I would like to take a moment to express how proud I am that the citizens of Atlanta actually had a more than decent showing at the polls yesterday(who knew that more people would turn out for the run off a couple of days after Thanksgiving than the general election?? Is there some recall on turkeys due to them being stuffed with "unknown substances" that I don't know about? ). Compared to the elections in November, it was an absolute triumph. If we are truly going to make a difference in this town, this is the type of turn out that we must have at every single election.

Moving on, I really want to address the president's decision on Afghanistan. Last night, President Obama announced that he would be sending an additional 30,000 troops into Afghanistan as part of a "surge" effort. He said that this is necessary to ensure the security of the United States and her interests. He also mentioned that we would only be there a grand total of 18 months, but, of course, that will depend on "conditions on the ground" (code for if we haven't made progress in 18 months, this could start looking like another Iraq). He also made very little mention of funding this war. The president did a wonderful job of informing the nation on his decision. However, for the first time during his tenure as commander-in-chief, I don't think he sold it. He has been able to sell a majority of this country on bail outs, healthcare, and most importantly hope that things will get better. Until last night, it seemed as if everyone (excluding our "buddies" in the Republican party) was on board the Obama express. I hope that this is the right decision for our country, and this war may very well prove to be successful. However, I'm not sure Obama will be able to claim victory.

As it stands, president Obama has made a decision that elates Republicans and has severely fractured his own base in the Democratic party. I repeat: Obama has made a decision that elates Republicans and has severely fractured his own base in the Democratic party. The question becomes, can Obama trust Republicans enough to support him in this war effort? Could this all possibly be a set up by Republicans down the line? I honestly think that president Obama is an intelligent, thoughtful, and kind man, but there comes a time when you have to put down the white flag and throw up your middle finger to the opposition. I don't know if this war in Afghanistan will be successful, but I do know that you can not alienate your base and expect to win an election. Now, over years, your base may become more moderate (conservative Republicans need to take note) and be more willing to compromise with the opposition on certain key issues. However, the Democratic base has not grown more moderate and, last time I checked, are staunchly anti-war. Hmmmm, could it be that some wise Republican realized that all we have to do is divide the democratic party over key issues (healthcare reform, blue dog democrats need to "GET ON BOARD"), and in 2 years we will waltz back into Congress. 2 more years after that (provided the right candidate comes along), we are back in the oval office sitting pretty.

It is precisely for this reason that Democrats need to support the president in his decision to send more troops into Afghanistan although, many Democrats fundamentally oppose sending anymore of our resources (human or monetary) over to the Middle East when we should be taking care of home, first ( I would have to agree with them on this point. Actually, Obama campaigned on this very premise). I say this all the time, and I think it bears repeating: no matter how upset the Republican party got with Dubya, when he made a decision, everyone fell in line and supported him to the hilt. The bottom line is united you stand and divided you fall. Unless this democratic party wants to be on the outside looking in come 2010 and 2012, they can not allow themselves to fall.

Finally, in the mean time, president Obama needs to check himself about the people who are his true supporters and have his back. I will always respect him for having his own mind in making decisions, but some of those decisions better start falling the other way and quickly. Things like escalating a war in Afghanistan and bailing out Wall Street ( people who are now making record amounts of money while American citizens are still jobless and homeless) are not the type of decisions that endear you to the hearts of the people. Healthcare reform could honestly be the best Christmas present that this president ever receives.

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.