This Is What You Voted For

In the wake of President Obama's recent announcement that he plans to deploy 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan, I've noticed a lot of my liberal leaning friends (and a lot of liberals in general) are up in arms. There have been accusations that Obama is acting no different from his predecessor and that the U.S. has no business fighting wars in Afghanistan. I like to remind them that is exactly what they voted for when they cast a ballot for Obama.

One of Obama's major platforms while campaigning for President was that he wanted the U.S. out of Iraq. At the same time, he did always say that he felt the U.S. needed to finish the job in Afghanistan. Somewhere along the line, a lot of his supporters started seeing Obama as a peace sign flashing hippie that was going to pull the U.S. military out of every foreign country they occupied. Many focused so strongly on the fact that he wanted out of Iraq that they completely ignored his constant reminders that he planned on being aggressive with Afghanistan. Now they are all crying foul. And I just like to remind them that this is exactly what they (and I) voted for.

Personally, I don't believe the U.S. will leave Afghanistan until Bin Laden's head is on a stake or that intelligence can confirm that he has died of natural causes. But, even with the head of the snake removed, there will still be a push to make sure his successors are eliminated. With the tragedy of 9/11 weighing heavily on our collective minds still and for years to come, I believe no President, regardless of political affiliation, is going to want to stop going after Al Queda on their home turf of Afghanistan until there is concrete evidence they have been defeated or at least had their resources so badly depleted that they cannot be a threat for the foreseeable future. So, instead of bitching and moaning that Obama "lied" or is committing some great injustice by doing EXACTLY what he said he was going to do, let's just hope that we really do get the job done in the 3 year time frame he has predicted.