Obama suddenly remembers we are at war, visits Afghanistan

Back in the days before perpetual warfare was a humdrum everyday reality, wartime presidents would prioritize management of the armed conflicts that the country was involved in. Additionally, news about the war(s) would dominate the press. After all, we are talking about the life and limb of our sons and daughters in the military, and the lives of millions of people in these distant countries that have no means of harming us. War is a serious matter, and it should be the top concern of the leader of a country who is engaged in not one, but two of them simultaneously.

Another reason why the president might want to concern himself with the wars (hey, wait…isn’t the president supposed to be the commander-in-chief?) is that they are very expensive and driving the country deeper and deeper into debt. It was recently estimated that after this “surge” in Afghanistan we will be spending $57,000 a minute in that country. People in Afghanistan make less than $1000 a year on average. Wouldn’t you think that you could directly buy the peace over there with a fraction of what we are spending trying to kill people to get it?

It is truly amazing to consider how little the American president has said or done about the wars that his forces are fighting in the 13 months that he has been there commander-in-chief. However, for the very first time since he was sworn in, Obama has finally visited Afghanistan. He made it to Kabul over the weekend ahead of a planned U.S. assault on the city of Kandahar, a Taliban stronghold.

Clearly, Obama has absolutely no power or authority concerning military matters. He kept the same Secretary of Defense that we had under George Bush, even though he was elected largely due to the distaste that the public had for the wars. It is pretty obvious that there is another force pulling the strings outside of the democratic process, and this visit to Afghanistan achieves nothing other than reminding us of how little attention Obama has paid to the matter over the last 13 months.