A long, hard war

investmenttool.com Opinion

The recent sniping between the White House and Senator Tom Daschle has made me wonder weather the U.S. Congress is prepared for the long war that began in 1993 and hit home in 2001 on September 11. The American people if polling has anything to say about it seem to be prepared to make sacrifices for the war effort. They seem to understand that to eradicate terror we may have more military casualties than we suffered in the September 11 civilian toll. Congress though seems ready for the same old partisanship.

First of all, the facts of the war. Though the Taliban regime was smashed and al Qaeda was sent scurrying for parts unknown, their remains a great threat from both forces. There are thousands of fighters hidden in remote regions of Afghanistan, moving on both sides of the border with Pakistan with impunity.

Ossama Bin Laden's first attack on U.S. Forces began in Somalia in 1993. Attacks continued on U.S. forces in 1995 and 1996. Then there was the embassy bombing in 1998 and the U.S.S. Cole in 2000. The common factor between these events is they all elicted a timid U.S. response and occurred during a Democratic administration, unconcerned with foreign policy.

The offensive launched by the U.S. and Afghanistan is probably the first of many against an enemy that will not give up until the last fighter is dead. Take into account that the regime in Baghdad is hostile and would use weapons of mass destruction if it got hold of them. Further understanding is that Iran is supporting terrorism in Lebanon and is pursuing weapons of mass destruction. The fact that the Iranian people are against this has not slowed down that government a bit.

Senator Daschle pointed out late last week that if Ossama Bin Laden is not captured or killed along with Taliban leadership then the war in Afghanistan should be considered a failure. The republican response was to launch a nasty partisan attack on the Senator. My response was "Duh!, didn't we already know that Tom?"

Get real Senator, of course we have to get rid of the terrorist leadership. Further, we need to change the regimes that support terror and eliminate a couple of hundred thousand terrorist fighters around the globe. Tell us something we don't know.

Did the distinguished Senator think the Bush Administration who has stated that they want Bin Laden "dead or alive" lead you to believe that this goal had somehow changed?

The Republican leadership got all self righteous, surprised that the Senator could attack the president during wartime. He really didn't attack the administration; he made himself look like an idiot, stating the obvious.

It might be important to note that there is a finite possibility that Bin Laden is already dead. This would make the point moot. That measure of wartime success may have already occurred. They aren't sending a team out to take DNA samples from his family members for no reason at all.

The facts of this war are clear. It will last a long time, quite probably beyond the term of President Bush, whether he is in office for four or eight years. There will be casualties and families will lose loved ones. More than likely, there will be more attacks in the U.S.

The time has come for the United States Congress to start acting in a mature fashion. It is not proper to criticize the war policy in public. It is proper for Congress to demand more information from the president. In private. The war powers act applies here and can be used to pressure the administration into providing a level of consultation that makes Congress happy.

It is unacceptable for any man to run for president saying that he would conduct the war differently than the current administration. That has not happened yet, but it is not an issue that will gain my vote. President Bush was the man in office when the war started and I'm counting on him to make progress and with a united nation and congressional support bring the war closer to a successful conclusion.

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Shmuel Protter
investmenttool.com

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