"Where have all the flowers gone?"

This letter appeared in The Clarion-Ledger of December 20, 2009. Hannibal, the British, and the Soviets had failed military adventures in Afghanistan, but, by God, the United States will succeed!

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For those of us who lived during the Vietnam era, we have seen and heard all of this before. I'm talking about President Barack Obama's decision to send thousands of additional troops to Afghanistan.

[Our leaders] called it the domino theory - meaning neighboring countries would also fall to the communists if south Vietnam fell. We all know now this was pure hogwash.

Remember the late Mississippi U.S. Sen. John C. Stennis telling us that there was "light at the end of the tunnel," meaning victory in Vietnam? Well, the only tunnels we found were full of Viet Cong.

We lost [nearly 60,000] dead in Vietnam and still counting; nearly 5,000 dead in Iraq and still counting; and nearly 1,000 in Afghanistan and still counting.

For what?

For those who say we must support the troops, I point out: Everybody does that. But if they are serious, they would demand that the only constitutional body authorized to do so, the U.S. Congress, officially declare war in Iraq and Afghanistan, raise taxes to pay for it and reinstate the draft.

Most military experts predict that it will take up to 10 years to complete the so-called mission in Afghanistan. President Obama will be out of office by then, even if he wins a second term.

This means our children now 10 and 12 years old will be dying in that god-forsaken country. And taxes will have to be raised to pay for it.

The Afghan war has become President Obama's war. As George Bush did in Iraq, he is rolling the dice. Isn't that right, [ex-US Rep.] David Bowen [D-MS]?

This war - not the health reform plan - will be Obama's Waterloo. And Republicans who approve this military action risk political suicide.

This military infusion into Afghanistan is pure folly. Let me point out that I was against the war in Iraq, too, along with other conservatives like George Will... Pat Buchanan [William F. Buckley Jr. and Robert Novak].

"Where have all the flowers gone? Long time passing. Where have all the flowers gone? Long time ago. Where have all the flowers gone? Young girls picked them every one.

"Where have all the young men gone? Long time passing. Where have all the young men gone? Long time ago. Where have all the young men gone? Gone to graveyards every one.

"When will they ever learn? When will they ever learn?"

Wallace Dabbs
Canton, Mississippi