I enthusiastically await the presidency of Barack Obama. I have a very good feeling about his personal ethics and his intelligence. His awareness of the world outside America is a resource this country rarely has access to. Many of you reading these words share this sense.
I was devastated and appalled by the events of September 11, 2001. That led me to the acceptance of the legitimacy of military intervention in Afghanistan as the host and facilitating state of the terror plot. I was prepared to overlook any and all consequences to be meted out inside Afghanistan against the innocent as much as the guilty. Many of you reading these words shared that instinct.
I felt emotionally and intellectually vindicated on election night. A candidate who had boldly and squarely stated that Iraq was a dumb and botched endeavour that distracted America from the real issue, bin Laden and 9/11 was elected president. Many of you reading these words shared these sentiments.
Let us now stop and ask ourselves and our president-elect what we really want to do with, or about, Afghanistan. Consider the empires and conceits that have died in its hills and on its plains. There is NO victory. There is NO gain. There is only more tragedy. And it has less to do with 9/11 than Iraq did.