The Ravages Of War

     The ravages of war have had their effect on this great country in the hundreds of thousands of families that have lost sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, and other family members. The ravages of war have separated families for long periods of time, fathers and mothers from young children, husbands from wives and wives from husbands. The ravages of war have reached their bloody knuckled hands into the lives of those who do their country's bidding even after they have left the theater of operations. My own family was touched by the ravages of war when my cousin, who served two tours of duty in Iraq, died from the remnants of battle after he returned home.
     The thousands of men and women who died to liberate Iraq, and provide the people there with that which all human beings deserve as a birthright, i.e. freedom and self governance, have had their herculean effort voided by the current Commander in Chief's inability to see any cause larger than himself. The troops under Barack Obama's command in Iraq and Afghanistan who have suffered more casualties than under the former Commander in Chief, have had to sit and watch as the current Commander in Chief has snatched defeat from the jaws of the American military's victory. The current occupant of the Oval Office has stood brazenly on top the graves of all those who died defending freedom and has spat his acrimony for his own country upon them.
     Yemen is in turmoil and being bombed by Saudi Arabia, without consultation of the United States which would have been a fait accompli prior to the Obama era. Libya is a haven for radical Islamist terrorist, a far worse place for its citizens and more dangerous one for the region than it was under the dictator Kaddafi. Iran has captured four Middle East capitals and have continued to fund and promote terrorist activities throughout the world, and now with the seeming blessing and support of the United States government under President Obama. And America's only real ally and friend in the region, Israel, has been abandon in her hour of need by her once staunch ally, the United States of America.
     The visible ravages of war, the death, the destruction, the displacement of the innocent, have in the past lead to more freedom and prosperity when allowed to carry through to their ultimate conclusion. But the ravages of our recent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are beyond the normal horrors of necessary military intervention because the current Commander in Chief has seen it his duty to deny victory, to deny regional stability in the Middle East, to deny the superior American culture of personal Liberty, free markets, and a de-escalation of radical Islamist extremists.