Joseph Homoki, of Monroe Township
The oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico has overshadowed our very costly involvement in Afghanistan.
June has been the deadliest month since our involvement in Afghanistan with 59 American troops killed for a cause that remains questionable.
Gen. McChrystal was the answer over a year ago, and now he’s been replaced with General Patraeus. Nothing will change except heavier casualties and escalating costs in supporting a corrupt government whose main interest is to keep America involved with troops and get economic support for the Afghan regime.
With the infusion of thousands of American troops by the order of President Obama, it is now his war. It is a political war with Washington setting down the rules of war. These rules of engagement tie our troops’ hands making them less effective.
Over a period of years, we have killed numerous “high ranking leaders,” only to be replaced almost immediately. It seems that there are enough misguided Afghans and Pakistanis who buy into this ideology of violence.
Everybody supports our troops. But, to me, true support means that we allow them to do their job effectively. We cannot be “nice” and “politically correct” in defeating a force that operates with no rules at all.
It is estimated that it costs one million dollars a year to keep just one of our troops in Afghanistan.
Economic conditions at home are very poor with high unemployment, home foreclosures and cutbacks on many essential services. We cannot afford to spend billions of dollars on Afghanistan while there is this urgent need at home.
The question is simple. Why are we there?
