DO WE EVEN KNOW WHAT IT IS WE ARE FIGHTING, OR FOR WHAT END?

After the President's speech tonight, Keith Olbermann talked to someone who was in Germany who spoke about a key issue not being addressed being the Pashtuns. I've heard the word before, was not sure of the spelling, and was surprised to learn they are the majority of people in Afghanistan. My next question was, "Is Karzai a Pastun?" Yes he is. "Hamid Karzai, an ethnic Pashtun of the Popalzai tribe, was born in the village of Karz,[1] which is located on the edge of Kandahar City in southern Afghanistan." Read the whole biography here. Like many American politicians, Karzai seems to have forgotten just whom he represents. While his reportedly crooked family is being protected, I find it hard to believe it is because they are Pashtuns and Afghani citizens rather than all the money involved for all the family...but I guess I am just a cynic.

We are, as a country, fighting the damage that is without explanation estimation. The Bush Doctrine is one of the worst possible atrocities not only let loose on the world but thought by some to be reflective of the character of the United States. It should be unacceptable anywhere that is governed with humanity and logic...which we apparently missed in the US for eight years.

The Bush Doctrine brought us to Iraq (which did not have weapons of mass destruction hanging around ready to be brought to us, nor did it have any connection to 911 or al Qaeda) and has us mired in debt, the censure of the world at large, and is finally being changed by ourt newer President whose major energies are being taken up by tryng to clean up the mess made by the last Administration (blaming GW Bush when we all know he only began to try to administrate towards the end of his presidency, having spent the most of his term vacationing, blustering and bragging while Cheney, Rumsfeld, et al were busy bringing the country to an almost terminal illness.

Obama is left trying to put out a fire, started with a huge match and left to burn for eight years or more, with a garden hose. Oh well, we might get lucky and only lose a few more thousand of our military forces but we will try to pretend we have won something which has no gold ring to grab to get there.