Issue Position: Wars

Issue Position

STOP THE WARS

I have become convinced that we can provide for national security without having to chase "terrorists" in caves located in a foreign land.

America's national security has everything to do with keeping our citizens safe in their homes and little to do with U.S. troops occupying a foreign country.

Why do we continue to throw money and lives at a conflict that has no specific goal other than to stop terrorism? Common sense dictates that terrorism is not an object that can be bombed, killed or otherwise rendered unthreatening. It will not go away and thinking we can make it do so is diverting our attention from the more important task at hand.

What we can do is use our considerable intelligence network to identify, root out, and stop viable and suspected threats on a case-by-case basis. Deploying our armed services in the hills of Afghanistan has little effect in stopping threats to our security on our soil. As intelligence officials admit, the most recent Al Qaeda attacks have been planned in Europe and elsewhere.

A bigger risk to our security is posed by "cells" or groups of individuals, devoted to the cause of hurting the U.S. and its citizens by any means available to them. Over the last few years we have all read about the discovery and apprehension of many of these groups. These groups are the real threat; not the terrorists in the hills of Afghanistan.

We are using our tax dollars to prop up a corrupt and unsustainable government in Afghanistan and to what purpose? A rational person realizes that the moment our troops leave the country the citizenry of Afghanistan will revert to their way of tribal law. If so, then we need to be prepared to keep an expensive military presence in that country indefinitely, as we have in Korea, Japan, Germany, and so many other nations. It is my opinion that we can no longer afford to sustain these endless military campaigns, while borrowing money from the Chinese and indenturing our grandchildren, if we expect to continue in our role as a great nation.

The amount of money being spent daily in both the occupation of Iraq and in doggedly pursuing the Jihadist in the Afghan hills is staggering. This waste of cash and the expenditure of lives and limb must be brought to an end.

Our military personnel could be brought home, and those resources redirected to more fruitful endeavors such as securing our own borders. That one simple step will make us more secure as a nation against terrorist's threats, while at the same time deterring drug smuggling and violations of our immigration laws.

It is past time that we as a nation realize there are better, most cost-effective ways to secure our safety and freedom than through our current policies. We must begin to define and adopt alternative strategies as quickly as possible.

Let us bring our warriors, our children, husbands, wives and daugthers home, now. Let us give them the grand welcome home and thank you for serving they deserve, along with every benefit our government promised them for their years of service and duty that they are counting on. We owe them a great debt and we should spent the money on their future.

Source