Crim did indeed.
Posted on 12/21/2009 4:23:40 PM PST by rabscuttle385
For eight long years under George W. Bush, conservatives endorsed a don’t ask, don’t tell foreign policy–they did not really ask why their country was at war and Republican leaders did not tell, or bother, Americans with any of the gory details. Missions were accomplished, we fought them over there so we didn’t have to fight them here and troops were supported by simply supporting the wars they fought, with little to no dissent. But why were we fighting? What was “victory?” How many had to die? What was the cost? Conservatives did not ask-Republican politicians did not tell.
But some Republicans are finally asking. Regarding President Obama’s decision to escalate the war in Afghanistan, columnist Reihan Salam writes: “Rep. Jason Chaffetz, a Utah Republican known for his independent streak, has made a conservative case for withdrawal.” Says Chaffetz: “Our military is not a defensive force for rough neighborhoods around the world. They are trained to be an offensive, mission-driven military force to protect the United States of America. They are not trained to be nation builders or policemen… If our mission in Afghanistan is simply to protect the populace and build the nation, then I believe the time has come to bring our troops home.” Is Chaffetz’s position on Afghanistan a sign of things to come? Salam thinks so, writing: “my guess is that by the 2010 congressional elections, dozens of Republican candidates will be doing the same across the country.”
We can only hope. As a conservative, I have long found it perplexing that to a large extent the American Right has been defined by its enthusiasm for going to war virtually anywhere, for virtually any reason and often for no good reason.
The notion of defending one’s country is something patriots of all political stripes can subscribe to. But that every military action our government commits to should automatically be considered righteous and unassailable is a bizarre position for conservatives, given their natural distrust of government in every other sphere. The Wilsonian idea of “making the world safe for democracy” has never been the language of hard-headed conservative realists, but maniacal ideologues, and yet the liberal dispensation and celebration of such utopian rhetoric by the last Republican president, his party and most self-described conservatives, left the Right a confused mess.
That’s what makes sane conservatives like Congressman John J. Duncan, Jr. of Tennessee so refreshing. Says Duncan: “There is nothing conservative about the war in Afghanistan. The Center for Defense Information said a few months ago that we had spent over $400 billion on the war and war-related costs there. Now, the Pentagon says it will cost about $1 billion for each 1,000 additional troops we send to Afghanistan… Fiscal conservatives should be the ones most horrified by all this spending. Conservatives who oppose big government and huge deficit spending at home should not support it in foreign countries just because it is being done by our biggest bureaucracy, the Defense Department.”
Indeed. Democratic Congressman Barney Frank has said that there would be enough money for national healthcare if we hadn’t spent so much money on the Iraq war. When debating liberals like Frank, it would be nice if conservatives could point out that Americans shouldn’t be spending so much money, period–instead of just arguing in favor of a different government program.
As our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan inch closer toward the decade mark, it seems many Americans are beginning to realize that their own security, both personally and nationally, is more at risk from big government than protected by it. Support for Obama’s outrageously expensive agenda, his performance and his popularity continues to plummet and a recent Pew survey found that 49% of Americans believe the U.S. should start minding its own business globally. Says Duncan: “We have now spent $1.5 trillion that we did not have–that we had to borrow–in Iraq and Afghanistan. Eight years is long enough. In fact, it is too long. Let’s bring our troops home and start putting Americans first once again.”
If current trends are any indication, the basic conservative sentiment that government should mind its own business might be seeing new light, even concerning foreign policy. Writes Antiwar.com’s Justin Raimondo: “it is clear that a great many conservative Republicans are undergoing a transition: faced with the consequences of eight years of dangerous and debilitating militarism, some are beginning to question the basic premises of interventionism.”
It’s about time. And at this particular juncture, conservatives who still cannot muster any skepticism toward big government abroad-while hypocritically railing against it at home–should finally give up any pretense of being for limited government, concede Barney Frank’s argument, and quit calling themselves “conservative” altogether.
Let's put most of that blame on the administration which talked about a "religion of peace" while allowing so many Islamists to continue breathing air for seven years.
“Anybody who ever made the mistake of going into Afghanistan with an army got their ass kicked “
Not true, but oft repeated anyway.
That’a another thing I find comical about so called anti-war, their readiness to just wipe out over one fifth of the world’s population because they disagree with their religion.
And, we wonder why Muslims just might have a problem with us?
If the goal is to win this thing, like it or not, agree with their beliefs or not, we will need Muslims on our side informing us and infiltrating the enemy.
Crim did indeed.
Likewise we do not have to wipe out every Muslim. We do, however, have to wipe out those who insist on the imposition of sharia. Sooner, or later.
I’m holding you responsible for the PC attitudes of our “leaders” who never mention the words “jihadists” or “dhiminitude”, being too afraid to upset their leftist friends and losing their “respectable” conservative lable. Enough of your Political Correctness and blame shifting, have a good day I’m done responding to you.
Your my kind of war monger, I could vote for you, simply because I’m tired of the PC and the people responsible for the PC who are destroying this country with their spendthrift ways and their hate America attitude.
True but Alexander’s social engineering program failed as well.
Here, Here, any grouping of jihadis spouting off about sharia and dhiminitude need a dose of JDAMs followed by an infantry sweep to kill off the survivors. BTW the following might be unPC and upset the respectable conservatives, I don’t care where those jihadis are residing even if they have official Saudi funding they need JDAMs and they need em now.
Wasn’t just Alexander that took over the joint. The Arabs, Mongols, and others did so for hundreds of years at a time.
I pity them, what a dessicated hell hole.
Spoken like a true Paulistinian.
Hold yourself responsible for the anal cranial inversion disorder you hold.
Oh yes, if you ask anybody that knows me, I am hte least PC person you’ll ever meet.
But, you continue with your own religious bigotry and see where it leads you, especially when we need people on the inside.
Agreed, but how do we do that while condemning the entire group and lumping them all together?
No, we'd be trying to stop the Wehrmacht from crossing the Mexican border.
Yeah right, probably a Saudibot who thinks playing footsie with the wahabbis is smart genius politics, yeah right.
In 2010, the ugly acronym, “Afpak,” will bedevil, befuddle, and consume the Obama White House that so unwisely and rashly ignored Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s wise warning to avoid land wars in Asia.
http://www.lewrockwell.com/margolis/margolis173.html
Why, then, after eight years, are we still there? And why was our southern border left open all during the Bush years and why is it yet open to this day? No, it was never REALLY about our security, it was and is about reshaping the mid east to OUR liking, something that won’t happen in a MILLION years, let alone our lifetimes. Get our folks home NOW, so we can prepare for what we have to do HERE.
It is NOT a conservative value to have our young people all over the world as they are now. It never has been.
Sorry, but you are not the sole owner of the term “conservative.”
I agree on borders not being sealed, but no one has effectively gotten any sealing other than Duncan Hunter, who no one wanted to support in 2008.
As for fighting terrorists, we ignored and poo pooed them for three decades while they continued attacking us and got September 11, 2001 in return.
And, it isn’t “reshaping the middle east to our liking,” but giving them the chance and security to esxcape the oppressive arm of the Jihadists and choose a free path for themselves.
Funny thing is, you Pauliacs keep crying about not having any of our people where they currently are by agreement with those countries, yet everytime such a policy has been followed, we end up attacked.
Anybody with an ounce of brains knows that should you succeed and pull everybody back, not only are weleaving our flanks unguarded, the left will begin dismantling our Military, as they did after WW1 and after we saw through the Clinton years.
How will that “prepare for what we have to do HERE.”
Oh yes, your shouting neither impresses me nor intimidates me. Sometimes, I wonder what some of you learned in the Military.
Care to name a western power that DIDN’T? I’m waiting.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.