Olive... you often say that you oppose most if not all wars. On the other hand you seem to willingly accept expressing no opinion about a question where it clear did make a difference regarding fighting a war.
And, for that matter, if you listened to what McCain said about Viet Nam... (We should have stayed until we WON) McCain applied exactly the same thought process to Iraq... defeat the enemy.
That from the "Obama's Memorial Day washout" thread prompted me to post this article about President Obama's military policies.
When I have said in the past that I didn't see differences in the military policy campaign promises of McCain and Obama, what I meant and should have been clearer about was that both scared and disappointed me equally.
Well I was wrong. Apparently Obama is going even further than the previous administration.
I shouldn't be surprised but I find myself disappointed just the same.
U.S. 'secret war' expands globally as Special Operations forces take larger role Beneath its commitment to soft-spoken diplomacy and beyond the combat zones of Afghanistan and Iraq, the Obama administration has significantly expanded a largely secret U.S. war against al-Qaeda and other radical groups, according to senior military and administration officials.
Special Operations forces have grown both in number and budget, and are deployed in 75 countries, compared with about 60 at the beginning of last year.
my bolds
That rhetoric is not much different than Bush's pledge to "take the battle to the enemy . . . and confront the worst threats before they emerge."
Bush-era clashes between the Defense and State departments over Special Operations deployments have all but ceased.
The United Nations, in a report this week, questioned the administration's authority under international law to conduct such raids, particularly when they kill innocent civilians. One possible legal justification -- the permission of the country in question -- is complicated in places such as Pakistan and Yemen, where the governments privately agree but do not publicly acknowledge approving the attacks.
Former Bush officials, still smarting from accusations that their administration overextended the president's authority to conduct lethal activities around the world at will, have asked similar questions.
snip
Many of those currently being targeted, Bellinger said, "particularly in places outside Afghanistan," had nothing to do with the 2001 attacks.
Wow is all I've got to say.
