If only we elect Barak Obama to the presidency, things'll get a whole lot better. It's time that America quits poking its collective nose into the affairs of other countries, so Obama'll be a much-needed breath of fresh air. Uh...wait....
Actually, Obama wants to increase defense spending. He wants to add 65,000 troops to the Army and recruit 27,000 more the Marines. Why? To fight terrorism.
He wants the American military to "stay on the offense, from Djibouti to Kandahar," and he believes that "the ability to put boots on the ground will be critical in eliminating the shadowy terrorist networks we now face." He wants to ensure that we continue to have "the strongest, best-equipped military in the world."
Obama never once says that military force should be used only as a last resort. Rather, he insists that "no president should ever hesitate to use force -- unilaterally if necessary," not only "to protect ourselves . . . when we are attacked," but also to protect "our vital interests" when they are "imminently threatened." That's known as preemptive military action. It won't reassure those around the world who worry about letting an American president decide what a "vital interest" is and when it is "imminently threatened."
Nor will they be comforted to hear that "when we use force in situations other than self-defense, we should make every effort to garner the clear support and participation of others." Make every effort?
Conspicuously absent from Obama's discussion of the use of force are four words: United Nations Security Council.
Roh-roh! Things are shaping up a little differently than expected. But would he follow through?
But wait! There's more! Buy now and we'll give you... uh, sorry, wrong spiel. Got sidetracked by that ad over there. Let's see - oh yeah, here's the item: folks, there's more bad news coming out of Afghanistan. While your attention was diverted by the Breck Girl's $400 haircuts paid for from campaign funds (just a simple mistake; it could happen to anyone), the news from Afghanistan is both grim and largely overlooked. Since them Tale-bans were removed some five years ago, infant mortality in the country has decreased by 40,000 a year.
According to the preliminary results of a Johns Hopkins University study, the infant mortality rate has declined to about 135 per 1,000 live births in 2006, down from an estimated 165 per 1,000 in 2001.
The researchers "found improvements in virtually all aspects of care in almost every province," the public health ministry and World Bank said in a joint statement on the findings.
This is terrible news, from a number of perspectives. Although neither NOW nor NARAL has yet commented upon these disturbing findings, it is readily apparent that abortion is not gaining traction in-country; we can only assume for the moment that this is all the fault of George W. Bush.
As well, there are other dire implications: although the World Wildlife Fund, AlGore, and Greenpeace have yet to weigh in on the matter, it seems clear that the addition of 40,000 live births per year in this destitute country - all of them exhaling CO2 into the atmosphere with every breath - represents a markedly increased "carbon footprint" that the country is ill-equipped to deal with. Clearly, the exhuberance of the Afghan repoductive sector was underestimated, and presently continues unabated. So what does this really mean?
It means that you will pay - and dearly - for the climatological effects of all of these children. Their dumping of CO2 into our atmosphere will doubtless accelerate Global Warming, and so you'll have to plant more trees and buy carbon offsets in order to counter these horrific effects. And once again, it is obvious that the architect for this global disaster in the making is none other than George W. Bush. Clearly, this was a case of poor planning of the highest order of magnitude. Planned Parenthood and similar agencies should have been brought into the situation, but were somehow overlooked, even though available intelligence at the time clearly indicated that giving women access to reliable healthcare would inevitably result in an upsurge of greenhouse gas emissions.
If the Tale-bans were still in power, none of this would be happening. Fortunately, you idiots can't elect Bush to a third term in office, so the insanity should end soon enough.