Allen L Roland

President Obama's national approval poll numbers continue to tumble especially among veterans who increasing feel neglected, betrayed and sold out . Obama's political Afghanistan exit strategy may very well eventually result in his own one term exit:

As our self proclaimed war president, Barack Obama, receives his tainted Nobel Peace Prize today in Oslo, Norway ~ his national approval ratings continue to dramatically tumble. His obvious Nobel anointment by the global elite seemingly legitimizes Obama's illegal wars and occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan as well as the attacks on Pakistan as necessary Wars for Peace ~ further enslaving the people of those countries and strengthening the ignorance of the public ~ who will now begin to assume, as Orwell predicted, that war is peace.

In his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech this morning, President Obama rightfully called his own accomplishments "slight" in comparison to past winners and spoke at length about the irony of winning the award as a wartime president. He evoked the concept of "just war" to argue for the use of force that is "necessary" and "morally justified."

Tell that blather to the active soldiers and veterans, including myself, who are shaking their heads in disbelief at Obama's current Afghanistan surge strategy ~ which is obviously politically motivated.

The following open letter to President Obama is written in response to my column OBAMA IS A NATIONAL TRAGEDY / A SYMBOL OF OUR TRAGIC TIMES written on December 2, 2009. http://blogs.salon.com/0002255/2009/12/02.html

Allen, the Following is the text of my e-mail to President Obama:

Dear Mr. President:

As a retired businessman, educator, father of OIF and Desert Storm Marines, Vietnam Vet, long-time Democrat, and outraged citizen, I can only shake my head in disbelief at your announced Afghanistan strategy.

How long will you pander to militarism? This decision counters much of your campaign rhetoric and violates the trust of millions of your fellow citizens who went to the proverbial wall in support of your recent candidacy.


From the health care crises bills pending that are an insurance industry-friendly travesty to the bail-out of the banks and Wall Street, to the continued sanction of torture and continued operation of Guantanamo to the continued loss of employment and collapse of State tax revenues, to the mortgage crises you have sold us out.

I can promise you that progressive Democrats and millions of us whose lives have been effected (and affected) by war and the continued militarism of this nation are fed up.

You've certainly lost me in the next electoral cycle, along with nearly everyone I know who went to the polls buying your rhetorical sap.


This move to deepen the Afghanistan occupation is a tragic mistake. I participate in a VA PTSD group and it breaks my heart to see so many young men and women suffering flashbacks and all of the hells of having participated in the killing in Iraq and Afghanistan. Like the generation of men and women before them, they have been betrayed by political calculation, graft and the hubris of their leadership.

Two of my youngest son's Marines have committed suicide since returning home, as has the husband of a neighbor, a young Marine whose pending third deployment sent him `round the bend.

The human tragedy wrought by Bush is being escalated by the one man we pinned hopes on of standing up to the military establishment.

Harry Truman had the courage to stand up to McArthur. You, however, have pandered to Patraeus and McChrystal in what seems an ill-disguised tactical gambit, posturing for the next Presidential election.

Our Nation is in a moral and economic meltdown unprecedented in our history. What we need is a courageous scrapper and advocate for peace and economic recovery, not another yes-man.

The perception and the reality seem to be that we put our trust in another yes-man.
For the first time in my 64 years I will look to and work for a third party."

Dan Kelly
d.kelly.aer@gmail.com

Multiply this anger by thousands, if not millions, and things could really get interesting in the 2010 mid-term elections.

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Allen L Roland http://blogs.salon.com/0002255/2009/12/10.html

Freelance Online columnist Allen L Roland is available for comments, interviews and speaking engagements (allen@allenroland.com) This weblog is sustained through donations from people like yourself. Please send check or Money Order to Allen L. Roland, PO Box 1221, Sonoma,CA 95476

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

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