"It is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it."

Marines in Afghanistan

The title for this article comes from General Douglas MacArthur. Starting in 1941 the United States fought on two fronts during World War II. Two fronts that covered two oceans, on opposite sides of the world. Four years later the Germans and Japanese surrendered. We have been in Afghanistan since October 2001, so for 11 years U.S. forces have been in combat in a country the size of Texas.

Enough is enough it is time to get out of Afghanistan. Soldiers and Marines in some cases are on their fourth deployments.


"Afghan officials said the soldier left a NATO base in Kandahar late Saturday (March 10th, 2012) and walked more than a mile to the village of Balandi. They said he burst into three homes, shooting as he went.
According to villagers, the man then gathered up some of the bodies and set fire to them. Then he walked another mile to the village of Alkozai, killing four more Afghans, before returning to the base, where he surrendered and remains in custody.
He was identified as a 38-year-old staff sergeant from Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington State who had served three tours in Iraq. His name was withheld until charges are filed.
Meanwhile, U.S. officials condemned the attack. At the U.N. today, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called the shootings inexplicable." - from PBS

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's comment calling the shootings "inexplicable" is a poor choice of words. She should have said the shootings were a crime and there was no justification for the shootings. The shootings are explainable.

Sending Marines and Soldiers to "nation build" for 11 years is a misuse of American lives. For 11 years we have fought Afghans who wear no uniforms, and our Afghan "allies" that are in uniform are also killing Americans. American forces are living in miserable conditions and sent out on the same roads day after day making it easier for the enemy to use roadside bombs to kill and maim them. The feeling of isolation American forces have must have received a real morale boost when President Obama apologized for the Quran burning at an American base, Qurans that had been desecrated by Afghans by writing coded messages in them.

I do not condone the murder of the Afghan civilians on Saturday March 10th, but I can understand how it happened. When you see American citizens as servants of the state and not as individuals that have their own hopes and dreams, that do not include four or more tours in combat then our government has a problem.

Our Marines and Soldiers have served with courage and honor it is time they came home. It is time to let the Afghans do what they do best, what they have done for centuries, and that is to kill each other.