Defense Secretary Robert Gates spoke very candid to the Cadets at West Point on Wednesday. Secretary Gates is known to be a well thought out Defense Secretary who has served under both President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama. Secretary Gates reminded the Cadets that since the 9/11 attacks 80 West Point Graduates have fallen in the line of duty. They were serving our Nation in both the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.In what could be considered a slight jab to former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld Secretary Gates gave a word of warning to our future leaders. He quoted what General MacArthur said to President Kennedy in regards to the build up to the Vietnam War “Any future defense secretary who advises the president to again send a big American land army into Asia or into the Middle East or Africa should 'have his head examined,'. I guess you can say that Secretary Gates made it pretty clear about how he feels about deploying our troops in these areas of the world.
I understand why we first got into Afghanistan but we have to figure a way out of there soon. I guess the older you get you realize that history does just repeat itself over and over again. First it was the Russians and now it's the Americans in Afghanistan. We just pulled out of the "Pech Valley" that was supposedly critical to our success in Afghanistan. We are pulling out of the Valley because it's consuming to many resources.
Look what happen to the Roman Empire, they spread themselves out around the world fighting needless battles and depleting there resources. Then internal politics became corrupt and they could not satisfy the needs of the Republic. Then society began to break down from within and no one cared anymore. Does this sound familiar ?
Ny Times - U.S. Pulling Back in Afghan Valley It Called Vital to War
Christian Science Monitor - Gates's warning: Avoid land war in Asia, Middle East, and Africa
No comments:
Post a Comment