How much total debt has Barack Obama created?

[MadHound]

23. He is Commander in Chief,

And as such, he could have ordered the troops home on the day he was sworn into office. Instead, he waited two years before he ordered the troops in Iraq home, and we are still currently fighting a war of indefinite length in Afghanistan.

What the Armed Forces thinks, what the public thinks, what the Congress thinks is irrelevant. As Commander in Chief, the President can order the military into and out of war. It is indeed that simple.

As far as the war somehow getting worse, the fact of the matter is that it doesn't matter when we leave, or how we leave. When we are gone, the Afghan people are going to repudiate everything American, including the government that we set up. Yes, there will be violence, much like there is violence going on in Iraq right now. But we simply cannot prevent that from happening, for it is going to happen whether we leave now, two years from now, or two decades.

Therefore, since we can't prevent this violence, all we're really doing is running up the body count in Afghanistan. Why? What purpose are we serving in that country? Absolutely none. All we're doing is adding to the problem, running up the body count. Thus, the only logical thing to do is leave, now.

Your contention of what is a pacifist is rather. . .unique. It essentially translates to "I don't want to fight, but I won't object if you want to." That really isn't pacifism, but rather lethargy, "I'll do what I want, you do what you want, it's all good." Pacifism is an active position, one that opposes all war and violence. If Gandhi had followed your definition of pacifism, he would have remained alone and ineffective, as would King and others. But the kicker is that you assume that I'm a full fledged pacifist, I'm not. I believe that there are times, such as self defense or confronting a great evil, that violence is needed and justified. WWII comes to mind, but frankly not a single armed conflict this country has been in since then. From Korea through Vietnam down through until today, we have been engaged in needless wars of empire that are designed to secure resources for the elite and powerful while simultaneously keep the military industrial complex well fed and cared for.