War and peace

Although I was clearly very happy that PEOTUS Obama (I like that: president elect of the US) was against the war in Iraq, I have never been happy at his belligerent language towards Afghanistan. The sense that it is somehow the “good” or “righteous” or at least “justified” war, as opposed to the obscene, immoral, totally unjustified Iraq war, never made sense to me. War, using overwhelming force to coerce people into submission, has never made sense to me. Period. I doubt any of our national political leaders, particularly those who face elections, will ever become pacifists, but at least there’s more discussion this week — and during Hillary Clinton’s confirmation hearing — about the perils of what we’re up to in Afghanistan.