Allen L Roland

As Obama continues to equivocate and lose the political capital he gained with his election and mandate of change on January 20th ~ I am struck by the sheer audacity of his do nothing presidency as well as his cavalier approach to an illegal Afghanistan occupation which is destined for a humiliating defeat, despite winning a now tainted Nobel Peace prize:

Saturday night Live hilariously tallies up the scoreboard of the Obama administration's broken promises in this 5 minute must see video clip ~ http://ampe
dstatus.com/saturday-night-live-rips-no-change-do-nothing-obama-video

But Afghanistan presents something far more dangerous than broken promises. Afghanistan has been the graveyard of many imperialistic powers, from the ancient Macedonians to the Soviet Union, but now it is feasting on the global aspirations of the United States ~ who, like lemmings, are willingly marching toward their pre-ordained fate.

Obama obviously answers to the military/Industrial complex and their vast lobbying efforts as well as AIPAC and their ability to convince us to fight Israel's wars ~ while the vast majority of the American Public wants us to reduce or withdraw troops from Afghanistan.

If you think the Afghan War is increasingly unpopular in the United States, try Europe. A recent German Marshall Fund poll(http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125382797428838875.html) offered these figures on the question of the "share of population who want to reduce or withdraw troops" from that country: Romania, 71%; Poland, 68%; United Kingdom, 60%; Germany, 57%; Italy, 55%; Spain, 54%; France, 51%; Netherlands, 50%.

So once again, like Iraq, we are rapidly becoming the coalition of one but this time we are fighting a unified people who do not want us occupying their country and are capable of driving us out. And for this, Obama wins the Nobel Peace Prize ?

Chris Floyd recently bitingly reviewed the debate about our deepening American military involvement in Afghanistan and concluded: "No, I don't think we will see Obama emulating Ike in ending a pointless, unpopular war, or channeling Truman in resisting the political agenda of an ambitious general. If Obama is as intelligent as he is reputed to be, he already knew the score when he threw himself body and soul into the pursuit of the presidency; he went into it with eyes wide open, and made his deal with the devil. ... And in the unlikely event that he is actually clueless enough to believe that he can now back out of the deal, and tries to cut down ~ or even seriously curtail the militarist machine ... then he will very likely find himself stretched out in a pine box beneath the Capitol rotunda, a much-mourned victim of the usual 'lone nut' gunman." http://www.ufppc.org/content/view/9029/

As TIME's Mark Halperin notes on The Page, "Barack Obama's critics have long accused him of being a man of 'just words,' rather than concrete actions and accomplishments. The stunning decision to award him the Nobel Peace Prize for, basically, his rhetoric, will almost certainly infuriate his detractors in America more than it will delight his supporters."

Without concrete determined action, Obama's Presidency is heading for disaster ~ despite his tainted Nobel peace prize.

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Allen L Roland http://blogs.salon.com/0002255/2009/10/09.html

Freelance Online columnist and psychotherapist Allen L Roland is available for comments, interviews, speaking engagements and private consultations ( allen@allenroland.com )
Allen L Roland is a practicing psychotherapist, author and lecturer who also shares a daily political and social commentary on his weblog and website allenroland.com He also guest hosts a monthly national radio show TRUTHTALK on www.conscioustalk.net

Cartoon courtesy of Pat Oliphant / Washington Post

Allen Roland’s weblog: http://blogs.salon.com/0002255/
Website: www.allenroland.com
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