Broken promises. Betrayal. Lying.
This is the language of politics. This is what they do best.
Today, Barack Obama announced, through his Secretary of Defense, that it’s time to go back to Iraq. Oh, we’ve been nibbling around the edges of deployment for a good bit now, but this campaign promise is officially kaput. There is no apparent way to stop Daesh without manpower.
I don’t quite know what to say. I’ve been caught here saying that we should send the entire weight of the American military to crush these motherfuckers. Alternatively, I have said the damage is irreparable; it was just a matter of time before Iraq went to shit again.
Upon reflection, these thoughts are not irreconcilable. I can wish for their destruction while expressing remorse that Iraq is fucked. One thing is clear; nothing will ever be the same again for the people of Iraq. And that is the worst part of all of it, unless I consider the tens of thousands of American soldiers who cannot awake from the horror that war truly is. Some of them will never wake again.
Fuck it. I don’t care that Obama broke a promise. What a surprise that a politician will say one thing and do another. He painted himself into a corner and stepped in the wet stuff anyway. I still believe that at heart Obama is trying to do the right thing and exigent realities have caused him to change course. In reality, I would expect no less. I want my politicians to grow and evolve. But I don’t want to get cold-cocked with a broken promise either. Perhaps, all I am looking for is a good reason. If he could just come out and say it and give it to us straight, I’d be mollified.
In the absence of any good decision, I will say this- give ’em hell, mighty 101st. Hooah!