Labor day Weekend is over and the morning traffic jams snarl the cities of America. Commuters are barraged by a constant stream of topics; health care, Obama's appearance before school children, and the AP's publishing a photo of a dying marine in Afghanistan.
The soldier had been hit in the leg. The RPG tore off both his legs. He didn't stand a chance to survive such a wound and this moment was captured by an Associated Press photographer reporting on the Marine patrol through a desolate village. Defense Secretary Robert Gates was enraged by the AP decision to show the photo to the public.
'I cannot imagine the pain and suffering Lance Corporal Bernard's death has caused his family.'
The marine hailed from my home state of Maine. His family had asked AP to shelve the photo. AP took the other path, for this war has long been hidden from the TV viewers and radio listeners. The number of dead soldiers pile up in the thousands and the civilian dead number in the hundreds of thousands. The USA entered Afghanistan to oust the Taliban regime who had sheltered Osama Bin Laden, the supposed mastermind of 9/11, yet we have stayed to combat the Taliban for small villages dotting the lunar landscape. High tech versus age-old tactics and we are losing this war. The only reason we remain in that the war does not touch most Americans.
We drive the same big cars, eat fast food, and watch TV without ever really thinking about the sacrifices of our troops and the suffering of the Afghanis.
It is now time to re-adjust our troop levels in Afghanistan to the right level.
Zero.
We elected Obama to the presidency on his vow to end the war.
It's time to stop saying, yes, we can' to 'yes, we will'.
Bring the troops home.
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