Wall Street Not The Only Crisis Spot

Gen. McKiernan

While the nation is concentrated on the proposed bailout of Wall Street its attention is diverted from another crisis that has been brewing for some time. This one, on the battlegrounds of Afghanistan.

There has been a renewed insurgency in Afghanistan. The safe haven the Taliban and al Qaeda has found in northern Pakistan has proven problematic as well.

Many of us feel that the war in Iraq diverted the military’s attention from the real enemy, concentrated in Afghanistan. Now the top U.S. military commander there is, in essence, echoing those concerns.

Gen. David McKiernan is making an urgent public plea for more troops and resources in Afghanistan. His comments came during a briefing with Pentagon reporters.

How sad it is that the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, responsible for the prosecution of the war against the true terrorists who attacked the United States on September 11, 2001, responsible for the safety and well being of U.S. and, by extension, NATO troops in country, has to resort to a public plea for help.

His commander-in-chief, President Bush, has, obviously, been asleep at the switch here. It’s increasingly clear that Bush has no vision of his own. That there are others in the administration, most likely led by the elusive Vice-President Dick Cheney, who are telling him what to do and what to say.

Apparently, Cheney and his cronies are far more concerned with Iraq than they are with the true battle ground – Afghanistan.

Like the lack of services for our returning veterans, the failure of our administration to properly provide for its standing army is reprehensible. We saw this in the beginnings of the Iraq war, when we saw soldiers paying for their own armor to protect them. Only a public outcry resulted in properly equipping those we’ve put in harm’s way.

Gen. McKiernan is asking for 10,000 more troops “as quickly as possible.” We know that the administration and Congress are obsessed with the economic bailout. And we know that members of Congress are anxious to get out of Washington as quickly as possible to campaign for their re-elections. But the people’s business will not be completed until McKiernan gets a positive reply from Washington.

If an economic bailout bill can be pushed through in a week, so can a supplemental military spending bill. Let’s see Congress respond as quickly to the general’s plea as they have to Wall Street’s.