An Open Letter to President Obama from Michael Moore

I found this on Michael Moore's website and thought it was pretty well written. Set your personal opinion's aside on Michael Moore for a few minutes and please read the letter.

Dear President Obama,

Do you really want to be the new "war president"? If you go to West Point tomorrow night (Tuesday, 8pm) and announce that you are increasing, rather than withdrawing, the troops in Afghanistan, you are the new war president. Pure and simple. And with that you will do the worst possible thing you could do -- destroy the hopes and dreams so many millions have placed in you. With just one speech tomorrow night you will turn a multitude of young people who were the backbone of your campaign into disillusioned cynics. You will teach them what they've always heard is true -- that all politicians are alike. I simply can't believe you're about to do what they say you are going to do. Please say it isn't so.

It is not your job to do what the generals tell you to do. We are a civilian-run government. WE tell the Joint Chiefs what to do, not the other way around. That's the way General Washington insisted it must be. That's what President Truman told General MacArthur when MacArthur wanted to invade China. "You're fired!," said Truman, and that was that. And you should have fired Gen. McChrystal when he went to the press to preempt you, telling the press what YOU had to do. Let me be blunt: We love our kids in the armed services, but we f*#&in' hate these generals, from Westmoreland in Vietnam to, yes, even Colin Powell for lying to the UN with his made-up drawings of WMD (he has since sought redemption).

So now you feel backed into a corner. 30 years ago this past Thursday (Thanksgiving) the Soviet generals had a cool idea -- "Let's invade Afghanistan!" Well, that turned out to be the final nail in the USSR coffin.

There's a reason they don't call Afghanistan the "Garden State" (though they probably should, seeing how the corrupt President Karzai, whom we back, has his brother in the heroin trade raising poppies). Afghanistan's nickname is the "Graveyard of Empires." If you don't believe it, give the British a call. I'd have you call Genghis Khan but I lost his number. I do have Gorbachev's number though. It's + 41 22 789 1662. I'm sure he could give you an earful about the historic blunder you're about to commit.

With our economic collapse still in full swing and our precious young men and women being sacrificed on the altar of arrogance and greed, the breakdown of this great civilization we call America will head, full throttle, into oblivion if you become the "war president." Empires never think the end is near, until the end is here. Empires think that more evil will force the heathens to toe the line -- and yet it never works. The heathens usually tear them to shreds.

Choose carefully, President Obama. You of all people know that it doesn't have to be this way. You still have a few hours to listen to your heart, and your own clear thinking. You know that nothing good can come from sending more troops halfway around the world to a place neither you nor they understand, to achieve an objective that neither you nor they understand, in a country that does not want us there. You can feel it in your bones.

I know you know that there are LESS than a hundred al-Qaeda left in Afghanistan! A hundred thousand troops trying to crush a hundred guys living in caves? Are you serious? Have you drunk Bush's Kool-Aid? I refuse to believe it.

Your potential decision to expand the war (while saying that you're doing it so you can "end the war") will do more to set your legacy in stone than any of the great things you've said and done in your first year. One more throwing a bone from you to the Republicans and the coalition of the hopeful and the hopeless may be gone -- and this nation will be back in the hands of the haters quicker than you can shout "tea bag!"

Choose carefully, Mr. President. Your corporate backers are going to abandon you as soon as it is clear you are a one-term president and that the nation will be safely back in the hands of the usual idiots who do their bidding. That could be Wednesday morning.

We the people still love you. We the people still have a sliver of hope. But we the people can't take it anymore. We can't take your caving in, over and over, when we elected you by a big, wide margin of millions to get in there and get the job done. What part of "landslide victory" don't you understand?

Don't be deceived into thinking that sending a few more troops into Afghanistan will make a difference, or earn you the respect of the haters. They will not stop until this country is torn asunder and every last dollar is extracted from the poor and soon-to-be poor. You could send a million troops over there and the crazy Right still wouldn't be happy. You would still be the victim of their incessant venom on hate radio and television because no matter what you do, you can't change the one thing about yourself that sends them over the edge.

The haters were not the ones who elected you, and they can't be won over by abandoning the rest of us.

President Obama, it's time to come home. Ask your neighbors in Chicago and the parents of the young men and women doing the fighting and dying if they want more billions and more troops sent to Afghanistan. Do you think they will say, "No, we don't need health care, we don't need jobs, we don't need homes. You go on ahead, Mr. President, and send our wealth and our sons and daughters overseas, 'cause we don't need them, either."

What would Martin Luther King, Jr. do? What would your grandmother do? Not send more poor people to kill other poor people who pose no threat to them, that's what they'd do. Not spend billions and trillions to wage war while American children are sleeping on the streets and standing in bread lines.

All of us that voted and prayed for you and cried the night of your victory have endured an Orwellian hell of eight years of crimes committed in our name: torture, rendition, suspension of the bill of rights, invading nations who had not attacked us, blowing up neighborhoods that Saddam "might" be in (but never was), slaughtering wedding parties in Afghanistan. We watched as hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians were slaughtered and tens of thousands of our brave young men and women were killed, maimed, or endured mental anguish -- the full terror of which we scarcely know.

When we elected you we didn't expect miracles. We didn't even expect much change. But we expected some. We thought you would stop the madness. Stop the killing. Stop the insane idea that men with guns can reorganize a nation that doesn't even function as a nation and never, ever has.

Stop, stop, stop! For the sake of the lives of young Americans and Afghan civilians, stop. For the sake of your presidency, hope, and the future of our nation, stop. For God's sake, stop.

Tonight we still have hope.

Tomorrow, we shall see. The ball is in your court. You DON'T have to do this. You can be a profile in courage. You can be your mother's son.

We're counting on you.

Yours,
Michael Moore
[email protected]
MichaelMoore.com

P.S. There's still time to have your voice heard. Call the White House at 202-456-1111 or email the President.

Source

What are your thoughts?

I'm glad Michael Moore knows how many al-queda are left in Afghanistan, and where they're hiding. Maybe he should just tell the Generals instead of Obama, so we can run out and nab them quick...

Imagine my sorrow at having to admit that I actually agree with Michael Moore for once (aside from the unsupported stats of Al-Quaida still left there).

Seems like perhaps the rose is off the bloom for even Mr. Moore. Even more ironic is Mr. Moore's quoting and referencing the Constitution. Still, I think it's good work for the most part, and I also recognize that I was once a horrible person, and believe that I'm somewhat improved today. Therefore, the eye-opener for me is that everybody can change, everybody can improve, and I have no right to judge.

Now if we can just put the shine back on Glenn Beck perhaps the two of them can become buds.

ick.

reply to post by baseball101


I know a thing or two about war, I fought there in Afghan and Iraq. I say its time to come home, The world hates America, so we pull our troops out of every country from Germany to S.Korea, The Middle East to the Balklands, Africa to Asia, we bring them all home.

After all of our troops our saftely home and on our borders, we then cut off the money supply to all nations, that money can be used right here for rebuilding our infastructre to getting our kids a better eductation.

Finally we tie in the price of wheat to the price of Oil, after all we are the worlds bread basket, so if America has to pay $80 for oil, then world has to pay $80 for a bushel of wheat. It all seems fair.

We let the E.U/China/and Russia decide how things in the world will run because quite frankly we can produce and make everything we need right here in the USA we dont need them we can do it on our own.

Its time to return to a simplier time while moving forward.

reply to post by poedxsoldiervet


If I could give that response 1,000 flags, I would. Its time common sense came into play.

Please turn this thread into a ranting about MMoore and NOT about the content of his letter.

Thanks ATS!~

Originally posted by Jaruseleh
I'm glad Michael Moore knows how many al-queda are left in Afghanistan, and where they're hiding. Maybe he should just tell the Generals instead of Obama, so we can run out and nab them quick...

That # comes from senior US military intelligence officials in Kabul according to CBS news.

Taliban Surpasses Al Qaeda in Afganistan

Although the war in Afghanistan began as a response to al-Qaeda terrorism, there are perhaps fewer than 100 members of the group left in the country, according to a senior U.S. military intelligence official in Kabul who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The official estimated that there are 300 al-Qaeda members in the tribal areas of Pakistan, where the group is based, compared with tens of thousands of Taliban insurgents on either side of the border.

So, what did you think of the rest of the article? anything to add?


argentus:

I agree the rose is off the bloom for many folks. Obama is at a cross roads, which path he chooses will frame his image for the forseeable future.

double post

[edit on 1-12-2009 by Connector]

i thought it was pretty well written

impretty sure obamas gonna send those troops though.

nohope,nochange.

reply to post by baseball101


Imo Obama is doing exactly what he promised before elections on Afghanistan.

"For at least a year now, I have called for two additional brigades, perhaps three."
Barack Obama on Sunday, July 20th, 2008 in Afghanistan

Source: politifact.com...

And these were his promises on Afghanistan.

No. 134: Send two additional brigades to Afghanistan
No. 164: Work to end NATO restrictions on forces in Afghanistan
No. 165: Train and equip the Afghan army
No. 166: Increase non-military aid to Afghanistan by $1 billion
No. 167: Make U.S. military aid to Pakistan conditional on anti-terror efforts

Source:www.politifact.com...

All these promises are filed under promise kept. The man is doing what he promised, MM has to realise he cannot "cherry pick" Obama's policies. What Obama promised before election he will deliver.

December_Rain, is right, this is exactly what Obama promised during the campaign. He is doing what he said he was going to do in this instance.

I don't particularly care for the war, and I do wish we would end it, after all it is a waste of our money to be fighting for a country that does not want us there.

Moore is right about wanting to bring the troops home, I think they should come home, but Obama did say this a while back that he was going to increase troops in Afghanistan, so can't really blame him for keeping a promise.

Call me crazy --- you wouldn't be the first or the last --- but wasn't this exactly what Ron Paul was saying BEFORE the election? Bring them ALL home. Stop squandering our treasure and youth.

I felt the letter was masterful. Well stated and completely on-point. Gen. Smedley Butler figured it out way back in WWI. Eisenhower warned us after WWII. War is a business --- plain and simple. A very small group of people profit obscenely from war and they have our government and our leaders by the short hairs.

War is a racket. Republican/Democrat. Doesn't matter. In for a penny, in for a pound. We have a mercenary army available to the highest bidder. Money talks and BS walks.

reply to post by poedxsoldiervet




You get the double thumbs up and I 100% agree with everything you said.

Star for you my friend!

reply to post by poedxsoldiervet


Well said. Enough said. Pure and simple.

Michael Moore gets ridiculed an awful lot for someone who has the courage to speak out intelligently regarding the absurdity of so many serious and life changin issues in this country. I applaud him.
If we had more like him - we would have less to complain about.

"but Obama did say this a while back that he was going to increase troops in Afghanistan, so can't really blame him for keeping a promise."

But you can blame him for being a hypocrite. Didn't Obama also say he would get rid of the special interest groups in DC? Who do you think is supporting this war in Afghanistan? You got it! Those same special interest groups Obama promised to slay with his magic sword.

Maybe one day a genuine and courageous American leader will come along who will puts his nation's people above the insidious corporate establishment, whose only purpose is to profit while dragging humanity through the mud. With such a corrupt system at work, I wouldn't hold my breath.

reply to post by SphinxMontreal


Do not refrain from the topic at hand. Atm we are talking about Afghanistan and not DC. If you go on diverging the topic in few hours you will find the
*birther discussion
*health care
*death panel
*fema camps
and other such nonsense in this thread.

One of the most logical posts on ATS in awhile.

But TPTB know no national border, only financial highways that are all interconnected for profit.

It's all a game to them.

If it where up to me I would want the same thing you do, time to clean up our own house first.

Originally posted by poedxsoldiervet
reply to post by baseball101

 

I know a thing or two about war, I fought there in Afghan and Iraq. I say its time to come home, The world hates America, so we pull our troops out of every country from Germany to S.Korea, The Middle East to the Balklands, Africa to Asia, we bring them all home.

After all of our troops our saftely home and on our borders, we then cut off the money supply to all nations, that money can be used right here for rebuilding our infastructre to getting our kids a better eductation.

Finally we tie in the price of wheat to the price of Oil, after all we are the worlds bread basket, so if America has to pay $80 for oil, then world has to pay $80 for a bushel of wheat. It all seems fair.

We let the E.U/China/and Russia decide how things in the world will run because quite frankly we can produce and make everything we need right here in the USA we dont need them we can do it on our own.

Its time to return to a simplier time while moving forward.

Michael Moore is a windbag. That's how he makes his living. Being a windbag and making highly dubious docudramas.

Also, Afghanistan is the war NATO should be in. It's not just America's war, there's British, Canadian, Australian, Danish, Italian, German, well, you name the members of Nato and they are there in Afghanistan.

Not sure how it falls on Obama. Heck it's not even Bushes war, that was Iraq, lets keep it straight here, Afghanistan is a problem the world must deal with Iraq is a problem that the US must solve because they created the problem in the first place.

If Obama send in more troops to Afghanistan, then GOOD! Lets get this done. It's that simple. I can get behind anyone who's putting holes in Taliban heads.