Newt Gingrich, a self-thought “titan of moral conviction,” has criticized Obama for apologizing to Afghanistan for the recent burning of copies of the Quran. He claimed that a U.S. apology to Afghan authorities for burned Qurans on a military base was “astonishing” and undeserved.
He was apparently upset not only due to the apology, but because Obama had not called on the Afghan government for an apology for the deaths of two NATO soldiers committed by an Afghan man during protests over the desecration of the Muslim holy book. “There seems to be nothing that radical Islamists can do to get Barack Obama’s attention in a negative way,” Gingrich said, “and he is consistently apologizing to people who do not deserve the apology of the president of the United States, period.” I guess Obama’s continued terroristic bombing of Afghanistan’s citizenry is not negative enough for Gingrich.
I must preface the rest of my comments by saying that I support no terrorism or terroristic act whatsoever, not by anyone or any country’s government. Any act of violence against innocent civilians for any political reason, is never moral or warranted. The only act of force that is acceptable is one that is necessary for self-defense.
Let’s look at this situation a little closer. Gingrich is simply playing politics here, but there is some truth in what he says, as he would never apologize to anyone or any country that was being bombed unmercifully for no valid reason by the U.S.
He is calling for an apology for the deaths of two soldiers who are aggressively occupying a country that never attacked the U.S., or any other country, or even had the capability to do so. These occupying forces are military, not civilians, and they are committing acts of war against all in Afghanistan. Do they expect not to be fired on, given the nature of their job description? Only a fool could believe something that asinine.
Gingrich went on to say, “If Hamid Karzai, the president of Afghanistan, doesn’t feel like apologizing, then we should say, ‘Goodbye and good luck, we don’t need to be here risking our lives (“We and our”-I didn’t know that he or any of his family had been fighting in Afghanistan) and wasting our money on somebody who doesn’t care.’ I can’t imagine that the Afghan people could want anything more than the U.S. government and its agents of force in the military to leave immediately, saying ‘goodbye and good luck.’ What a glorious day that would be for the brutalized Afghan people.
The U.S. aggressively attacked and occupied Afghanistan, and has been continuing this slaughter and destruction for 10 years and counting. This was done for dominance, power, and control of a region and its natural resources. It was never for national defense. For those who live and work there, those who have families just like the rest of us, this war is unjustified and heinous, and the carnage by the U.S. and its NATO forces has continued unabated.
This situation is backward, as the U.S. government should be the one apologizing to all peoples it is warring against. All U.S. troops should leave Afghanistan, Iraq, and every other country that has any U.S. presence, and every single U.S. base that is not inside U.S. borders should be closed immediately. All troops should be sent home, and should re-enter the domestic work force instead of terrorizing those around the globe for no reason other than to support the imperialistic nation state called America and its corporate parasites!