My turn: Afghanistan one of many government failures

In response to Luke Morgan's "My Turn" in the December 3 issue of The Progress, I disagree completely. As a conservative, only twice has President Obama gained my approval. I know I have zero effect on his decisions and policies, but I think it is quite shocking to see a president make such liberal and massively unpopular decisions so often.

Both former President George W. Bush and current President Obama made detrimental decisions for our efforts in Iraq. Though I cannot justify the actions in Iraq either by my own definition or through St. Thomas Aquinas' "Just War Theory," it is important we leave an area better than we found it.

We have not done that.

In Iraq our goals were not clear, we did not supply enough troops for hasty and massive surges, nor have we left it a better nation than we found. The removal of troops in Iraq will mark our failure.

The story is much the same for Afghanistan.

Although our goals have been clear, our actions have not. There were never enough troops and we failed to initiate the surges necessary to end "evil" when it was before our eyes.

I find it hard to believe we are incapable of finding Osama bin Laden. I do not believe there is a conspiracy, just misguided efforts.

Last Monday, President Obama announced there would be 30,000 troops sent into Afghanistan.

In my opinion, there will still not be enough.

Thankfully he has failed to maintain enough support for reelection, but regretfully, President Obama has failed to successfully fight the good fight.

As President Bush infamously stated over and over, "We must stay the course."

This is not war, but more of a police action to capture those guilty of planning terrorist attacks on American and foreign soil. Those guilty must be found and tried for crimes in tribunal courts, not civilian courts in New York City.

By giving terrorists the same civilian rights we enjoy, we give them the opportunity to spew their messages of hate in our court systems. We are also creating an obvious target for more attacks on American soil.

I have to disagree with Luke's idea that domestic issues trump foreign policy in this situation.

Our government's role is not to create jobs. Jobs are to be created in the private sector, where competition can breed productivity and ingenuity. I hear so many people cry out for military aid in Darfur, but when it comes to saving those lives in the Middle East, there is no call for protecting human rights.

From my perspective, I see hatred. I see a prejudice among many Americans towards Arabs, Muslims and those from the Middle East.

It is time we change this and commit fully to helping our brothers and sisters in such a turbulent region.

Actions speak louder than words and the left has proven jobs are more important to them than human lives.

In a time when we have the opportunity to positively change the outcome of human lives in the Middle East, we have considered them pariah and allow the government to regulate too many aspects of our lives in America.

From light bulbs to televisions, our government has assumed the right to tell us what we can use.

Detroit failed due to poor management on behalf of GM and Chrysler, and they should have been allowed to fail.

Rather, the government became involved in the private sector, bailing out two of three major American car manufacturers.

Their massive spending failed. Now the government wants to take over healthcare, which will double the cost of healthcare for those who currently have their own and will force 85 percent of those Americans who are satisfied with private healthcare to buy into a system they do not want.

If that was not enough, Congress has banned incandescent light bulbs and plasma televisions, requiring them to be phased off of the market by 2012. Incandescent light bulbs kept the lights on for many Kentucky families, but the misinformed believe new compact fluorescent bulbs save energy.

There has been enough focus on fixing domestic issues.

I do not mean we should not try and solve domestic issues, but the ones the current administration is focused on are the wrong ones. Healthcare needs to be reformed, but not mandated. The economy needs fixing, but not more government control.

As the late and great Ronald Reagan once said, "Government is not the solution to our problems; government is the problem.