Time After Time

The United States kept hope alive by advancing to the elimination round of the football (soccer) World Cup in the waning minutes of stoppage time with a thrilling goal by star and team leader Landon Donovan. Stoppage time is a sort of overtime where play continues to make up for time lost due to injury or other causes during each forty-five (45) minute half, thereby extending the ninety minutes of official time for several minutes. It was desperation time for the American side, who due to a bizarre call taking a goal away that would have defeated Slovenia, needed the win to continue into the next round, and in backs against the wall time, our brilliance shone. On a much more serious note, as a nation, America seems to have its back against the wall in Afghanistan, not due to any lack of resources we can not contribute as a country, certainly not due to any dearth of courage on the part of our troops, but only attributable to an utterly corrupt administration in Afghanistan, the lack of resolve- that is the political will to win in Washington, and the most restrictive rules of engagement American forces have ever fought under emanating ultimately not from battlefield commanders but from their political masters in D.C. It is sudden death in Afghanistan with casualties skyrocketing and the American death toll mounting every day. If Barack Hussein Obama is not committed to permitting our troops to do everything necessary to protect themselves first and then gain victory in the conflict, he should withdraw them forthwith in an ordered way to safeguard themselves and take all indigenous Afghans who have helped us out as we exit as refugees and facilitate their entry into the United States to prevent Taliban retribution. Any other action would be criminal. And if a nation does not enter war with a defined goal of what victory constitutes and set the national course on the path to attain it, then every death on both sides simply becomes an act of willful murder. After all, what we embarked on after we were attacked on September 11, 2001 has much higher stakes than any soccer match.