How Al Qaeda Won

Tonight President Barack Obama addressed the nation to announce the pullout of combat troops in Iraq. This is somewhat misleading, but the fact is we have decreased our presence there by over 100,000 troops, and those that remain are personnel who will train Iraqi troops to secure their own country.

In his speech he was more than courteous in his appraisal of George W. Bush, something the Republicans should take note of. He made a few things very clear, the most outstanding of these points was the economic debt our country incurred in fighting the war in Iraq. It is undeniable that the current economic situation is directly tied to the hundreds of billions of dollars borrowed since the start of the war seven years ago. The numbers are incomprehensible, and the burden for the war is now at the feet of the American taxpayer.

We did not win in Iraq, if anyone can claim victory it is Al Qaeda. They had a singleness of purpose, to destroy the United States by whatever means necessary, and although there was loss of life, not only on 9/11, but also the service men and women who gave the ultimate sacrifice on the ground in Iraq, the true damage done was to our economy.

Wars cost a lot of money, and although they used to stimulate economies and generate production, in the day of over the horizon technology, against a military that had no chance in responding to a shock and awe campaign, we started throwing money away with the first shot. The cost of the munitions used in the initial campaign alone is staggering. Tomahawk cruise missiles are not cheap, neither is the arming, fueling or air time of warplanes. Sitting an entire naval fleet off the  coast of Kuwait is  also not a cheap endeavor, estimates of expenditures per month in Iraq are as high as 10 billion dollars. Al Qaeda did exactly what it set out to do, to weaken our country, to turn us against each other. To promote political and economic instability within our borders, and they succeeded. The Republicans and Democrats point fingers and rev up the rhetoric, but the average American is paying the real price. Of course the politicians want to blame everything under the sun except themselves for the current situation, but it still remains that they signed on for this war, and now they must face the music.

There is a way out of this mess, but much like an alcoholic or addict, America has to hit bottom first. We are now in a position where our economy must crash, we must hit a painful bottom before we can rebuild. America has resolve, and she will rebuild, her economy will once again flourish, but not yet, for now America faces tough issues, high unemployment, skyrocketing national debt, and stock market instability. Hopefully the lesson will be learned, and America will be more cautious, a little less naive, and a lot more frugal.

Al Qaeda may have won this battle, but we must never allow them to win the war. Americans must now look at the similarities instead of the differences, embrace their freedom and realize it is not free. It is time for Americans to stop the petty bickering, stand up to Washington and exercise their political right to vote those out who cannot or will not serve the will of the People. It is time for every politician who signed on to the funding of the Iraq war to get a new job, somewhere other than Washington DC, it is time for Americans to stop voting Democrat or Republican, but to start voting American. It is time for Americans to say ENOUGH, and to stop allowing SIG's and PAC's to buy our politicians, and keep them in office for 20 or 30 years. It is time to set term limits, and to make the politicians accountable for things such as national debt and military spending. It is time Americans make Washington pay for every drop of blood spilled in Iraq. It is time We the People take back what is rightfully ours, guaranteed by the Bill of Rights and the Constitution. It is time to show Al Qaeda and the world that politicians in the United States of America have abused the right to represent this great nation, that they have served the interests of others, not the will of the People, and that we as Americans have the guts and the power to stand up and step proudly once again.