Sorry! Really and truly.

I spent my junior year in England and unconsciously adopted some of the British peculiarities such as referring to the elevator as a lift, and mumbling ‘right’ and ‘sorry’ as part of virtually every sentence.  As a kid I enjoyed playing the board game Sorry!, racing game pieces around the board faster than any other.  As an adult and an executive I recognize the importance and value of authentic acknowledgment of one’s errors.  Maybe I should go for elective office!

President Obama earned a reputation early on in his Presidency as the Apologist President.  The Heritage Foundation went so far as to put together a list of the top 10 apologies that ‘humiliated’ America.  The Washington Post (some eighteen months later) put the claims through it’s ‘FactChecker’ and determined that the “apology tour” Republicans claimed defined his foreign policy never actually occurred.  

Recent events won’t appease those who think the President is overly apologetic.  The New York Times reported that a U.S. service member was seen firing on several houses, killing 16 Afghan civilians.  Two days later, President Obama apologized saying:  “The United States takes this as seriously as if it was our own citizens and our own children who were murdered. We’re heartbroken over the loss of innocent life. The killing of innocent civilians is outrageous and it’s unacceptable. It’s not who we are as a country, and it does not represent our military. And for that reason, I’ve directed the Pentagon to make sure that we spare no effort in conducting a full investigation.”

Diplomatically it is proper apologize when innocent people are killed.  Unfortunately, based on the President’s own statement, the facts do not yet support the conclusion that something wrong was done.  An investigation hasn’t been conducted so the apology seems to be designed to stymie International outrage.

The real outrage, though, is the war itself.  The United States is in the eleventh year of the military action.  2,916 military people have died in Afghanistan alone – tens of thousands more if you count civilians.  Nearly a trillion dollars has been spent with no end in sight.   Afghans did not do anything to the U.S.  The justification at the time was retaliation for 9/11.  The hijackers of the planes that day were Saudi, a country that has suffered no consequence for its participation and where America continues to buy plenty of oil.  Osama bin Laden, the alleged mastermind, was found in Pakistan, not Afghanistan.  Why are American (and some minor coalition) troops still there?  According to the Obama (and Bush) Doctrine:  To save the Afghan people from the evils of the Taliban.  Self-determination is apparently no longer a valued trait.  


Bob Woodward’s book “Obama’s Wars” is a brilliant behind-the-scenes look at how a young President made the strategic and military decisions in Afghanistan.  The book has been out for a couple of years, but it is chilling to see the threats that forced Obama to take the policy over and literally hand write the directives.  I do not agree with the President on virtually any of his policies.  I must acknowledge his tenacity and moral resolve in maintaining his approach to Afghanistan…given the political and military resistance he underwent that the book chronicles.

The President flexed his Commander-in-Chief muscles again last week saying that he is prepared to go to war with Iran.  He dialed back the rhetoric the next day, but, still the message he sent was loud and clear – just like George W. Bush invading two countries last decade.  War in Iran?  Why?  The reason will be very compelling in the moment, just like it was under President Bush.

Two time Libertarian Presidential Candidate Harry Browne (RIP) predicted that the Middle East wars would be disasters.  He posted his concerns and claims online.  He was pilloried, even by many stalwart supporters.  The website Truth About War  outlining all of the concerns remains up, frozen in time, as a bold reminder of what could have been prevented.  Harry was right and his critics owe him a debt of gratitude for speaking the truth.

Where’s the apology for entering into military conflict under false pretences?  Ooops…sorry…must have regressed to that childhood board game! 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Give me a break!

The idiom “give me a break” generally is used when you don’t believe something that has happened or been said. We’ve all muttered the expression a lot lately, especially around the 2016 Presidential race. I am going to use it here more literally. I started this blog in late July 2010. This is the 329 th iteration. At an average of 750 words that’s nearly 250,000 words. To compare that’s about three average mystery novels (at 80,000 words each), much less than the Bible (800,000 words) and nowhere near the IRS Code (4 million words). Originally Craig’s Corner was a way to keep me focused during a long stint where I was without work or income. With gainful employment it has become a welcome respite from the day-to-day tasks. I tend to focus on issues that are interesting to me but not necessarily a critical part of what I do day in and day out. My perspective isn’t unique, but I do look at the word with a different lens. I’ve tried hard not to be part of the echo chamber and been...
Read more

Hoping for Grace

I wrote this blog regularly for many years, 330 unique posts. Every Thursday I’d post my thinking for the week. I always strove to offer a perspective that wasn’t in the main discourse on a particular issue. It wasn’t left or right or even center – just looking at something from a different angle. There were some really great dialogues that happened with people who appreciated nuance and having a substantive conversation. I never sought for agreement from readers, just a healthy and respectful debate. The election of Donald J. Trump changed the engagement from polite discourse to flame throwing character assination if somebody disagreed. That wasn’t interesting or productive to me, so the blog no longer served its intended purpose. I return to the format because today because it seems to be a good way to explore an issue that I’ve been long committed to, but handled in a thoughtless way. Recently I made a thoughtless comment on a Facebook post that was undeniably racist, and demean...
Read more

Giving the gift

Image
The holidays are right around the corner. It’s a time of reflection, excitement and no matter one’s religious predilections a there’s a tradition of gift giving. Talking about the holidays before Halloween is usually met with revulsion and resistance. This time it’s different. While we can’t grant everybody’s #1 wish – that the 2016 U.S. Presidential election cycle be over – maybe we can do something close.   Let’s give Donald J. Trump what he’s been talking about. I’m wary of adding to the proliferation of commentary on the Grand Old Party’s nominee. But then maybe there’s something to the Trump complaints. Instead of dismissing everything that comes out of his mouth as made up, perhaps we should be doing is more of what he worries about, not less. The more recent complaints from the real-estate tycoon have to do with media bias. All “the media” does is lie, distort and never gives him fair coverage. This same media generated over a billion dollars of free brand and...
Read more