Article: We must not escalate in Afghanistan

We worry about sending more troops to Afghanistan; we know the history that no foreign army has ever defeated the people who live there. In recent times the USSR, now called Russia was humiliated by a group of fighters called, the Islamist Mujahideen Resistance now called the Taliban. How could this gorilla group defeat the military might of the USSR, and make them withdraw?

The resistance had support from powerful nations, America among them, with Saudi Arabia and other Islamic nations on the side of the fight against the invaders. The war lasted about 10 years, the losses on both sides were horrific, the nation of Afghanistan was destroyed, The Soviet Union was almost bankrupt and the world did not care. The wars in Afghanistan in the 80's and 90's were part of the struggle for dominance between the East and West. The West thought they had a great victory and now looked to other lands for conquest.

Fast forward to today, President Obama wants to win the war in Afghanistan, not just pacify it, but also win. The problem is that we do not know what a win will look like and any exit strategy is based on knowing when you win and can get the hell out of the � ��"Graveyard of Empires.� �� There is another problem and that is drugs.

Afghanistan produces 90% of opium which is used to make heroin and that is a big problem for any army and especially for an army that is worn out from fighting two wars for the last 8-9 years. We will produce more and more heavy drug addicts for our cities to deal with in the coming years. The army tells us they have not had a major problem with drugs use, but the army lies.

The VA has always been the dumping ground for the army's screw ups and this promises to be a huge issue for all of us in the coming years. Karzai, the man we depend on to secure the country with our help is one of the top officials who runs the drug trade in Afghanistan. He also was caught rigging the election and now has to do it all over and may just lose. This is a place we must not invest one more solider, but Obama wants to win a war. Bush wanted to win a war; Cheney thought he did win a war. We must get out now; just say no Mr. President and the American people will support you. We could help from the outside; construction does not mean you have to have troops on the ground. If you go in and escalate, you will lose not just a war; but your very soul is part of the bargain. What happened in Vietnam with drugs is well known, what happens in Afghanistan will surely be a repeat of the army telling you, � ��"Just give me more troops and I will win this war.� �� The army, our generals lie!