Obama's adventure in Libya
vs. Medicare coverage.
Bush's misadventure in Iraq
vs. Social Security benefits.
Presidential peccadillo in Afghanistan
vs. education and other social needs.
OK, my ox is being gored. I admit it.
Surely, go after Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden and his cohorts, but do we need to send in thousands of military personnel on the ground and more thousands to support attacks from the air?
In a word: No.
The Iraq war has been over for some time; Bush II declared it over, remember? Unlike Japan and Germany after the second of the world wars of the 20th century, the locals are more intent on killing each other than they are in rebuilding their county, to which I add: Let the US remove itself from their country so that can get on with killing one another.
As for Libya, what is the US' interest there? Libya contributes only 2 percent of our inflated oil needs. Countries go to war for a purpose, the US' attacks on Libya are based on pure altruism - we have no business involving ourselves in Libya's civil strife. Unlike Egypt - where we managed to avoid military interference - the (Libyan) army has proven to be on the dictator's side; that has to say something to even the greatest Gaddafi hater.
Despite our growing deficit - the US is owned by China, which may account for the US governments continuing to allow dangerous goods from that country to find sales here - the political powers-that-be of both parties continue to make the US the world's policeman.
In the meantime, seniors and others receiving "entitlement" (remember that word, "entitlement") benefits from the US treasury are being squeezed from both ends.
Social Security Cost-of-Living (COL) increases will be smaller and smaller and the eligibility age will climb to - what?
Medicare benefits will be more and more difficult to receive, taking life and death decisions farther from the patient's and doctor's hands and making life-or-death a politico-financial decision.
As an aside, how is it that my Medicare payment that is given over to AvMed, a Medicare Supplement provider, buys me so much more than it would if I let Medicare keep the money? And why are medicines so much less expensive in Canada than in the US? Or how can Target and Wal-Mart and some others charge $10 for a prescription that until those companies' plans came into effect cost much, much more for people on Medicare?
If, as some insist, countries go to war for gain, what did the US gain from its incursion into Iraq?
What has it gained by its adventure in Afghanistan? What benefit will Americans gain from taking sides in Libya's civil war?
Is Gaddafi another Saddam Hussein who tortured his opponents and gassed non-Sunnis by the hundreds? Another Hafiz al-Assad of Hama fame, or his son Bashar al-Assad who carries on his father's "traditions." Perhaps Sudan's Omar al-Bashir of Darfur fame, whom the UN blames for “murdering, exterminating, raping, torturing, and forcibly transferring large numbers of civilians, and pillaging their property.” Bashir’s military campaign has been accused of driving 2.7 million people from their homes since 2003." Or on the other side of the word, is Gaddafi another Kim Jong Il or his despot-in-training son, Kim Jong Un. Never mind comparing Gaddafi with the ayatollahs.
For a list of Parade magazine's pick of the "Worlds Worst Dictators" (of which Gaddafi is at the bottom of the Top 10), see http://www.parade.com/dictators/.
At the beginning of this tirade I asked "do we need to send in thousands of military personnel on the ground and more thousands to support attacks from the air" to eliminate Bin Laden?
No, no, and no again.
What the US should have done - and perhaps should be doing - is sending in a relative few well-trained people to assassinate Bin Laden and his top associates. Navy Seals perhaps? Problem is, finding an American who can infiltrate Bin Laden's inner circle is more than a little difficult; perhaps "renting" an assassin is in order.
Apparently someone in Washington had the same idea; in the May 2nd blog entry, Bin Laden is reportedly killed by a team of Navy SEALs; see http://tinyurl.com/3tsyhmd.
I cannot see the US getting involved in internal conflicts such as Egypt or Libya or Iraq or the Balkans. Iran, because it threatens the world, yes. North Korea the same answer for the same reason. But Saudia or Syria?
It does nothing for the US and after things settle down, the US is hated no matter which side prevails.
And my ox lies bleeding, dying for presidential misadventures.
