Commitment to war should be shared by everyone

The talk now is that the Obama administration is about to increase the military commitment in Afghanistan, and some of the generals are talking about a 30- year commitment there [“Obama briefing assesses war-worn armed services,” News, Oct. 31].

Since Congress has a history of allowing a president to have his own way in matters of waging war, it seems likely he will get what he wants. But some consideration needs to be given to how this will affect our brave troops.

At the present time, most of the fighting is done by the poor kids who were unable to find a job in order for them and their families to survive.

I have talked with soldiers who tell about having served as many as seven tours in either Iraq or Afghanistan. Doesn’t fairness demand this commitment to the wars be shared by the entire spectrum of American society?

I think it is time for such a commitment, and the only way it will happen is by reinstating the draft.

— Phil Heft, Kent

Spending money on farming, local operatives

The U.S. should withdraw the majority of its armed forces from Afghanistan, immediately. Instead, money should be spent to train and recruit local staff for our embassy and as local operatives.

Through our U.S. Department of Agriculture staff in Kabul, a purchase program could be undertaken to buy the poppy farmers’ production direct from the farmers who actually work the land, not absentee landowners.

This gives us a network, automatically, in those areas where trouble is brewing.

Through our U.S. Department of State, we must initiate infrastructure projects to build roads, schools and clinics, as well as to offer training in alternative crops and modern agricultural techniques to poor farmers.

No purchases can be made from middlemen, as this is the criminal element we must eliminate.

The price paid must be higher than what the farmer received in previous years, and those farmers can then be nuanced into production of other products, primarily for local markets.

The raw opium can be processed for free distribution to those addicted, but traders must be prosecuted and punished, aggressively.

The CIA can train the Pashtun to handle the subversive elements themselves much more effectively than trying to defeat them, and to impose our wills, militarily.

We must declare victory now, and change the focus of our effort.

—Terry Losh, Bothell

Response to Lance Dickie

I was afraid The Seattle Times would be the first to skewer President Obama for being brutally candid [“It’s time for straight talk about the war in Afghanistan,” Opinion, Oct. 30]. I don’t disagree with columnist Lance Dickie’s point, but I do question the neglect of more fundamental issues.

Unfortunately, Afghanistan is only a symptom of a grossly irrational U.S. foreign policy. That foreign policy is unconditional support for Israel. U.S. support for the crimes of Israel against the Palestinians is a primary root of terrorism. Israel’s rising violence against Palestinians now accelerates to war crimes and genocide as defined by international law. There is serious coverage of this issue in the Israeli press. There is none in the U.S. press.

This policy is the primary reason we are bogged down in Afghanistan and Iraq. Israel and its U.S. supporters now urge a criminal U.S. attack on Iran. The cost of this folly is devastating our military and our economy.

The U.S. and Israel continue to believe they can kill their way to victory over terrorists. It is now abundantly clear U.S.-Israel policies create terrorists faster than we can kill them.

When countries make egregious blunders, as have the U.S. and Israel, they have to pay for them. We cannot avoid the punishment of humiliating military withdrawal. If we try to avoid it, we will needlessly sacrifice even more American lives. To our discredit, we appear willing to do that.

This is what we must do for the sake of America, Israel and the rest of the world.

First, the U.S. must withdraw from Afghanistan and Iraq as expeditiously and as painlessly as possible.

Second, the U.S. should completely withdraw its support for Israel until it resolves conflict with the Palestinians. We will be amazed at how quickly both sides get serious about peace talks.

It won’t be easy, but it won’t be hopeless as it now is.

— Malcolm D. McPhee, Sequim