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enemy, and place another IED just outside a mosque.

People like John McCain, in their infinite ignorance, believe we can change the mindset of people who have spent two thousand years perfecting their hatred for their neighbor. They believe we can win a war against a tactic where an army should, but doesn't, exist. And though many believe that we're doing a good thing over there; trying to spread peace and democracy to a region that has always known very little about peace and nothing about democracy, we should ask ourselves some questions. The first one being "Why?"

Why is it the duty of America, and by way of the lives of our children, spouses, and parents, our job to instill a way of life that the majority of their population doesn't believe in, nor would ever consider dying to obtain? Why should we send our citizens into what has been a civil-war zone for thousands of years?

The second question should be "Where?"

Where do we fight to "win the war on terror"? Iraq? Afghanistan? Iran? Syria? Pakistan? Egypt? Sudan and along the Sahel through Chad, Niger, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Mali, and on to Mauritania? Do we send our troops to Columbia? Cuba? Spain? or England, until we bring them home so they could take out the Timothy McVeighs in Oklahoma? At what point do we send them to Indonesia? And this leads us to the question "How?"

How do we convince our nation's children to enlist in our ever-shrinking military when they understand perfectly well that they are destined for battle in a war they do not believe in? How, when states are reporting their highest job losses since the Great Depression, and the cost of living has only gone up while the value of the dollar keeps tumbling to record lows, do we drum up the money for more war over-seas? Once again, I will ask how we can win a war against "terrorism" when "terrorism" cannot be fought, but can truly only be decided against using as a method of killing?

The only answer to all of this is to stop pouring money that we don't have into glorious goals that are impossible to obtain. This is not a time to drive America into further ruin with war and free-trade agreements, but a time to refocus our efforts onto America itself. This is a time to reinvest in our nation, and our people, as opposed to spending our money in a vain attempt to buy "freedom" and "democracy" for a culture that never asked for them, and have told us with bombs that they don't want them.

In closing we should all ask ourselves two questions - How will John McCain's plans of extending the war, and leaving open the possibility of what would undoubtedly be a suicidal invasion into Iran, help the American citizen? And how will his pro-NAFTA and pro-CAFTA stance help the American citizen when both agreements have already proved themselves damaging? I believe it's time the true patriots of this nation, the people who love and care for the welfare of our country and our fellow countrymen, take back the title and point to those who favor the policies drummed up by the corporatists and war-profiteers in the Bush administration, and tag them with what they prove themselves to be treasonably ignorant, and unfit to lead this nation.

Learn more about this author, Brian Burns.
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