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No wind of change after Obama’s Nobel Prize
Published: 13 December, 2009, 03:04
Edited: 14 December, 2009, 17:02
TAGS: Military, Obama, Middle East, Politics, USA
They voted Barack Obama in for a change to George Bush's wars, but they say all he's given them is more fighting.
Peace campaigners have once again gathered outside the White House to demand an end to American interventions abroad.
Fast forward one year from Obama’s election, and there is a mass of people – many of them former supporters – outside his house and angry about what he’s done.
“As someone who voted for Obama, I’m here today to oppose the escalation to the war in Afghanistan,” said Ben Kreider, peace activist.
It’s been a busy week for the President and members of his administration. His advisors are finishing up the rounds on Capitol Hill trying to sell his Afghan war strategy to Congress.
But as someone who served in Afghanistan, Matthis Chrioux says Obama has it all wrong.
“Just because we have a black President doesn't mean we can’t have a racist war,” Chrioux said. “The arguments that Obama is making to sustain the occupation of Afghanistan are very similar to the arguments made by white slaveholders in the 1800s trying to justify the continuation of slavery.”
The activists say 30,000 more troops will only make things worse in Afghanistan. They believe Obama doesn’t deserve the Nobel Peace Prize.
“Even in this crowd, people who voted for him, who thought they were voting for peace, they’re disappointed that we do not have peace and to top it all off he's received the Nobel Peace Prize,” Cynthia McKinney, former congresswoman, said. “The right path is to leave Afghanistan to the Afghani people, to leave Pakistan to the Pakistani people.”
Former presidential candidates Cynthia McKinney and Dennis Kucinich are among the many politicians who are calling for an end to the war.
“If we can’t learn from Russia’s experience in Afghanistan – Russia is a very powerful nation, but it understood the limitations to the use of power – the United States will learn that lesson in Afghanistan but it will be at the cost of the deaths of a lot of innocent people, the deaths of our soldiers and great financial expense,” Dennis Kucinich said.
And that financial expense is what’s worrying American taxpayers, too.
“I believe that the billions of dollars that are being spent on Afghanistan should be spent on the U.S. right now,” the peace activist argued. “We have very high unemployment right now. We need jobs! People like me are thousands of dollars in debt after going to college, and I think that the military industrial complex, all the spending, is very wasteful.”
12.12.2009, 17:25
People vote for this year’s favourite wordsAn online poll was recently conducted to determine the public’s favourite words that came into use this year. |
13.12.2009, 09:30
Rapper: even drug dealers pay taxes to support wars abroad“The kids are the future, so I focus on helping them to survive modern day difficulties,” told RT hip-hop artist AKIR, whose name stands for Always Keep It Real. |
First it must be asked, “Who are the U.S. and NATO to illegally occupy other countries in order to "fight terrorism?" The U.S. military has killed over a million Iraqis. Is that not terrorism? Does that mean if the Iraqis had the power to invade and occupy the US and kill 10 million people here, they would be justified? We have a financial responsibility to Iraq and Afghanistan because the US, and a few other countries, destroyed their people, culture, and natural resources. Is it the kinder face of Obama on Bush's second term foreign policy that gives some hope? The suffering in Iraq and Afghanistan brought about by war and occupation is an epic tragedy. Obviously, history didn't start on 9-11. The criminal act on that day didn't come out of nowhere? The principle reasons cited included U.S. support for the Israeli occupation, sanctions on Iraq that killed 1.5 million people (mostly children), and U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia-- not to mention, as you know, we supported the Mujahedeen to fight the Soviets in Afghanistan and used them as a proxy in the most devious ways, concealing the source of their funding, embarrassing them, and then abandoning them. Of course, there are volumes to speak of why it is wrong the United States and NATO countries to be in Afghanistan. They said if we would left Vietnam the people would never survive-- look at them today, surviving and thriving. Is that not the case? It is not out of a concern for the country collapsing into chaos, but rather it is driven by concern for the continued planning and construction of a trans-national oil pipeline snaking through Afghanistan as well other geo-strategic concerns related to economic profiteering. Obama's peace prize is one of the most ridiculous things I have seen. In this case, war is peace? Does that make any sense? Fred, Oregon, USA Obama is just another politician, a stooge of the corporate elite and the AIPAC.
The bulk of Americans are hard working and peace loving but want a strong country; they despise Obama and realize he is just another puppet of the world money-changers. America is -truly- ashamed of him!