If you think Obama is right in continuing the occupation of Iraq...

[cherokeeprogressive]

and escalating the war in Afghanistan, consider these things:

1.9 American servicemen and women have died for each day we've been in Iraq. 4312 lives lost / 2275 days in Iraq

1 American serviceman or woman dead for every four days we've been in Afghanistan. 704 lives lost / 2807 days in Afghanistan

Those two actions are responsible for hundreds of thousands if not millions of dead and displaced innocents.

Those two actions have caused resentment within the Islamic world that will last for DECADES. If we are ever to repair the damage that the last administration wreaked, the time to begin is NOW.

Here's a tally of the cost, constantly updated:

http://costofwar.com/

Here's what we could have provided with that money, and this counts for ONLY California:

47,305,588 People with Health Care for One Year
-
204,784,939 Homes with Renewable Electricity for One Year
-
2,053,320 Public Safety Officers for One year
-
1,623,657 Music and Arts Teachers for One Year
-
17,273,009 Scholarships for University Students for One Year
-
21,483,103 Students receiving Pell Grants of $5350
-
344,035 Affordable Housing Units
-
42,963,476 Children with Health Care for One Year
-
13,748,158 Head Start Places for Children for One Year
-
1,650,766 Elementary School Teachers for One Year
-
1,451,653 Port Container Inspectors for One year

Go to the following link and find out what YOUR state could have funded with the tax dollars it has contributed to the war in Afghanistan and the illegal occupation of Iraq...

http://www.nationalpriorities.org/tradeoffs?location_type=1&state=6&program=577&tradeoff_item_item=999&submit_tradeoffs=Get+Trade+Off

That's one hell of a lot of good reasons to begin total withdrawl from both countries IMMEDIATELY. Now, before you step in with your excuses about how Obama said he'd prosecute the war and the illegal occupation, consider this: I've heard the excuse that he said some things during his campaign because he needed to say them to get elected. That he's not immediately setting about doing them can be excused for that reason. Apply that same logic to what he said about going forward with an illegal occupation in one country and a war of aggression in another. I'll forgive him for changing his stance on these two issues.

Mr. President, I urge you to begin withdrawing from Iraq and Afghanistan post haste. NOTHING would be a bigger "stimulus" for our economy than to be spending tax dollars on the above mentioned items rather than giving them to the military industrial complex.

[Balbus]

1. It's not right.

But what can you do... :shrug:

[babylonsister]

2. Where have you been? There's a time table to get out of

Iraq, just as Obama promised.

[Indydem]

14. It's the same timetable as *

Big achievement!

[Oregone]

17. And, you know, until its over, it can be redrawn....

"based on the conditions on the ground"

I honestly don't think we are abandoning that mammoth embassy anything soon. If a force is needed to secure contracts and protect interests due to escalating violence, a force will be redeployed.

[Bandit]

22. Obama made two timetable promises during his campaign

"Beginning on Day One" and "One Brigade a Month" :shrug: Five months of his sixteen/nineteen are passed now..

[spanone]

23. don't confuse folks with facts

[UrbScotty]

25. THANK YOU for saying this!

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/promise/126/begin-removing-combat-brigades-from-iraq/

[EFerrari]

3. Happy to be the first rec.

:kick:

[EFerrari]

4. Dupe.

:kick:

[Wwagsthedog]

5. And let's quit the drug war also while we're at it.

Another huge waste of lives and resources too.

[Indydem]

15. And free non-violent drug offenders! n/t

[cherokeeprogressive]

16. I would not only quit the drug war, I'd cull the prison population of any drug related offense

that didn't include violence associated with sales.

[Rhiannon12866]

6. K&R. I'm certainly on board...

We keep hearing (now) that Iraq was a "war of choice," while Afghanistan was the war that we should have fought. Obama obviously feels that way, now making Afghanistan the priority. That may have been true nearly eight years ago, but Bush* dropped the ball, lying us into a second war, getting us into a quagmire in both places, while brave Americans continue to die, and for what? :shrug:

I listened to an ambassador on one of the news shows a couple of days ago, pointing out the uselessness of our remaining in Afghanistan, not to mention the growing anger of the Afghans over civilian causalities, which brought it home to me. Leaving Iraq is a no-brainer, which I could have said before we even went there, but nobody asked me. The Iraqi people are going to have a chance to vote on continuing US occupation and I'd be willing to bet on the outcome. We need to end both of these endless wars and bring our troops home. They've done enough and have lost way too much... ;(

[EFerrari]

8. Our government is trying to tank their referendum.

:(

[Rhiannon12866]

11. Yikes! If they're pissed off now...

x(

[leftstreet]

7. K&R

[frog92969]

9. "IMMEDIATELY"

Yes, I'm down with that!

[ClayZ]

10. No More War!

K and R

[cherokeeprogressive]

12. I made a mistake with my OP that I need to correct. I apologize.

The things that could have been provided with the money we've spent in Iraq and Afghanistan should have been separated by OR. Not all of them could have been provided with the money we've spent. The first could have been provided, OR the second, OR the third, OR the fourth, and so on.

That makes my OP more than a little misleading, and I'm sorry for that. I was in a hurry because the Ms. was in the hot-tub calling for me to join her, not that it's to be blamed on her.

My sentiment about getting out of both of those quagmires still stands though, and I apologize for the misleading nature.

[deaniac21]

13. Apparently he wasn't very truthful in the campaign.

[nosmokes]

18. Excellent thread cherokeeprogressive!

We don't need to be involved in the imperialism/colonialism industry.It's never done us a bit of good except for immediate gratification(and usually not so immediate or gratifying) and has always come back to bite us in the ass. Hard.

And I'm not thrilled with the almost cavalier attitude he seemingly has toward military action in Pakistan either. I'd like to see someone a helluva lot less hawkish as SecDef than Gates in there. In fact there are far too many dimson holdovers in high positions in the Obama admin for my liking.

I'd like to see a 'War on 'monolithic-corporatism' but I'm not naive enough to think Obama or either major party has the people's interest at heart nearly enough to even consider that for more than milliseconds.

.

[Vidar]

19. K&R.

[stray cat]

20. I don't think a beam me up scotty situation will work for our troops in Iraq or Afghanistan

I know a timetable is in practice in Iraq - unlike yourself I'm not sure what to do with Afghanistan.

[Mari333]

21. we need to leave both occupations

knr

[UrbScotty]

24. Truth is truth

I'm not the most staunch Obama defender the world has ever known.

But truth is truth - and the premise of this thread ignores a very important truth: Obama has begun the process of ending the war.

So notes PolitiFact, which isn't afraid to call him out.

[Jack Sprat]

26. second that emotion. n/t