To say the war in Afghanistan is Barack Obama's war is wrong. It began some seven years before he took office as president of the United States.
Those countries involved are there in response to a terrorist attack that killed some 3,000 people of varying nationalities. The unwillingness of the Taliban to assist in the capture of the people involved is what led to the war. I would hope that if our country were attacked, our response would be the same.
Yes, the war is being seriously questioned. It has been since Day 1. That’s the way it should be. Wars should never be entered into lightly.
Are wars expensive? Yes. Are they costly in terms of human life? Yes. These are the sad realities.
Coalition forces are there not to suppress the Afghan people, but to help free them from the oppression they suffered under an extreme Islamic government named the Taliban.
I would say that winning and losing this war are not going to be seen in the conventional way of armies, but rather in the slow and steady progress of the Afghan people to move without fear in their own country. For women to be free to attend schools and live without oppressive laws.
This is going to take a long time to accomplish – much longer than originally thought – but freedom comes at a cost, and our soldiers have served well in helping to realize some of those freedoms.
Guy Ladouceur
Penetanguishene
Penetanguishene
