On Tuesday night, the Frontline television show examined the current dynamics behind the war in Afghanistan. The episode was appropriately titled "Obama's War." During the campaign, President Obama firmly opposed the war in Iraq and stated that Afghanistan was where America needed to place its focus. Since taking office, the war in Afghanistan has continued to drag on with no improvements. More troops were dispatched earlier this year, but General McChrystal is still asking for more. At eight years, this is becoming a no win situation.

The Frontline episode examined many interesting aspects of the war: widespread government corruption in Afghanistan, lack of support on behalf of Pakistan, and the inability to defeat the Taliban and al-Qaeda.

So back to the most basic question that we faced in Iraq: why don't we just cut and run?

And back to the most basic answer, because we can't.

By leaving the country while it is in such a weak state, we would allow the Taliban to easily regain control of part if not all of the country. When the Taliban were in power, they ruled with an iron fist and allowed no freedom. If we pull out and the Taliban regain control, the last eight years were a waste. There has been too much human sacrifice to just pack up and go home.

When can we say when though? The Soviets gave in after nine years.

As for further troop increase, I would advise the President against it. General McChrystal wants about 45,000 more troops to add onto the already 60,000 plus already there. That would be over 100,000 American troops to fight the Taliban. It could be seen as one last ditch effort before year nine. Such an increase would only draw more anti-American sentiment though. It seems that Bush's quagmire in Iraq has become Obama's quagmire in Afghanistan.

Over the last few weeks a rift has been brewing between the U.S. and Israel. The Obama administration is asking Israel to stop developing settlements in the West Bank. For those who do not know, the West Bank is a disputed territory between Israel and Palestine. As Palestinians try to achieve statehood, many clashes have come about because of the continued growth through settlements. It seems that Palestine is now ready to work with Israel, unfortunately it does not seem Israel is ready to work with Palestine.

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On Sunday, several bodies of victims from the Air France disaster began to be recovered. Pieces of the plane, including the tail have also been discovered floating in the ocean. Now the hunt continues to find the black box and figure out what went terribly wrong on that stormy night.

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Its Californias favorite time of the year: budget time. And of course our buddies in Sacramento are doing what they do every year, arguing over what to cut and who to tax. Governor Schwarzenneger continues to cry wolf and say that if cuts are not made the state will fall apart. It was even reported today that the Governor is contemplating cutting all welfare as a way to save the state and get it out of its $24 billion debt. Unlike businesses, the state can not file for bankruptcy.

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On the war front, Monday marked the beginning of the new surge in Afghanistan. As reported, about 7,000 troops were deployed into Afghanistan. This is only the beginning with an additional 14,000 being deployed throughout the summer. Much of the surge is to chase out Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters. The new surge hopefully will work like it did in Iraq especially with presidential elections happening in Afghanistan later this year.  

Has anyone seen this movie?

I have it and am going to be holding a screening of the movie. Please let me know if you would like to participate in a viewing and post-debate by leaving a comment or emailing me at castateofmind@gmail.com . Date and time to be determined..

The movie was produced by the Clarion Fund. A non profit organization sponsored by who knows. They are quite secretive on that part. The movie has been mailed directly to voters homes in certain states. Just recently a friend had the movie mailed directy to her here in Ventura County. Reports say that the movies are trying to sway voters to support the war on terror, promoted for by George W. and voted for by presidential candidate John McCain.