Time for America to get serious in Afghanistan

To the editor:

Jim Day's Friday editorial cartoon showing American troops being used as bullets in a machine gun labeled "Afghanistan" was disturbing. We have just experienced in July and August two months of high casualties in the Afghan war. Nevertheless, Mr. Day's depiction of the use of troops as machine gun fodder communicates a totally distorted picture of the reason we are in Afghanistan in the first place.

We are there to eliminate Taliban rule, which served as cover for Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida, who were in turn running terrorist training camps and planning devastating attacks like 9/11 on America.

After our initial successes in that war, the Taliban and al-Qaida slipped into Pakistan, thereby complicating progress and allowing the Taliban to regroup and recruit insurgents who are now fiercely fighting our troops in greater numbers -- and with highly effective results.

America is now at a crossroads in the Afghanistan/Pakistan war. The question is, do we remain there to complete the job that we started in 2001, or do we leave, only to have the Taliban return to their position of rule and al-Qaida to their sanctuary for hatching evil plots against America and training terrorists? In other words, do we admit defeat and leave? This is clearly not the answer or the outcome that is in America's best interests.

The answer is to ramp up our military strength and resources for that war. We are currently vastly under- resourced in the Afghanistan/Pakistan war, and must "surge," much like we did in Iraq, if we are to regain the initiative.

The Obama administration will meet serious conflicts with its domestic agenda if the choice is made to turn up the heat on the Taliban and al-Qaida, and the enemy knows that.

Nevertheless, this is the time for choice in America -- will we do the right thing and try to destroy the enemy in Afghanistan, or put our tail between our legs and run?

Bob Jack

NORTH LAS VEGAS