Do we want to win?

Do we want to win?

I was watching the news the other day and a reporter asked a question. He wanted to know if the war in Afganistan was winnable? Can we win, and he was told we could win, if we made it into a home game. Meaning don't treat it as an away game, make it into a home game. I was watching that clip, and thinking, Wolf Blitzer is asking the wrong question. The question is not can we win, the question should be, do we want to win?

For me that answer is no, not at any cost. Not because I am a defeatist, not because I want the other team to win, but because I am a realist and I know the price that winning is likely to be too high. Not at the continued loss of life of the troops, not at the continued loss of moral, and democratic freedoms that I see being eroded in these democratic countries. The economic cost of the war is also not great, the monies being spent to secure these victories, could have secured a hundred small victories for those in need at home. Feeding the poor, helping the sick and homeless, but instead those monies are put into the war machines. I personally believe that that price is too high.

Do the people want to win this war? I don't think they care to, I think what concerns the people most is getting the troops home, that's what they really want. I don't think they care if it's a home game, away game, or whatever. There is no victory when the cost is so high for both sides, and the cost has been high. Not just financially, but in freedoms.

These wars began with the premises that if we don't go in there and don't destroy the enemy on their turf, they will destroy us. I include the U.K., Canada, and all the other allied countries in this. The problem is that Iraq was not invaded due to the 9/11 terror scare. It was very much invaded on the false premise that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction, which was false, but regardless, he is gone, some troops are still there, the situation is still messy, and though battles can be fought and won, the question with the remaining war is do the people want to win?

The last time I checked the American election was won not based on can we win, but it was won on the promises of we will end this war. We will get the troops home. That is where the hearts and minds of the American people were, it was not on can we secure a victory in some far away land. The other factor is not even if a victory can be secured in some far away land, because while that battle is being fought far away, the war at home is being lost. It is being lost in freedoms and liberties. These wars were supposedly fought to secure freedoms, but if you look at these democratic countries several years later it's hard to recognize some of the freedoms that are supposedly being fought for, when these countries are starting to resemble mini fascists states in various ways. It makes no sense to secure a victory abroad, if freedoms are lost at home.

Is the other side going to benefit from this great war? Are we really securing freedom for these people? Do these people really want these occupying forces in their land? Looking at the Iraq war, things were not great under Saddam Hussein, but several years later have things truly been made better in the long run? When all is said and done, the people have been brutalized, their spirits were broken, the women raped, children tortured, civilians killed, lives destroyed. Out of this sick and sin, they have been infected with an informant network, which will destroy the internal character of their country, the way it is destroying the internal character of these countries, and will the end results be worth it? Will the ends really justify the means, there or at home in these democratic countries?

Do the people really want to win? Soldiers are coming home from these wars, and getting into conflicts with these militarized police forces that have sprung up, they are coming back to cities that they don't always recognize. I have read of a few different cases where men who have served abroad came home, only to be brutalized, humiliated, or killed by some of the newly militarized forces at home. Is this truly what they are off fighting for? There is no victory, there is no win, if the freedoms that are supposedly being fought for are evaporated. We can win, but at what price, and at the end of the day, do we want to win?

Iraq is being rebuilt. From this great sick and sin a great city will be spawned, but will the price have been worth it? Someday the great city of Babylon will be rebuilt and rebirthed, if rumours are correct. Will the loses be worth a true victory?

When WWII was being fought, the danger was real for many people. They knew that if the Germanic forces were not stopped, they might well lose their way of life. The threat and danger was very real for people in the U.K., and in other nations. The war was coming to those shores and if victory was not won, the way of life would change. During that time, people were engaged, the objectives were clear, and the threat was very real, and securing the victory was the only option.

Today people are not as engaged as they were in many ways. Most kids care more about their Xbox 360 than if this war will be won. Some people are so far removed from this war, that they probably have trouble remembering that there is war ongoing. The world has changed, people's views, values and perspectives have changed, and today, I am not sure that the question is can we win? I think the question today is do we want to win?

http://157.166.255.31/TRANSCRIPTS/1006/29/sitroom.02.html

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/mood_of_america/war_on_terror_update

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2007/mar/19/iraq.topstories3

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1907831,00.html

http://icasualties.org/iraq/index.aspx

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/05/us/05list.html