American Bagram Prison in Afghanistan

President Obama should view the following video about the America prison at Bagram Air Force base as he decides what steps to take with the war in Afghanistan. Perhaps then he would realize how misplaced and just plain wrong the war effort is. Sending in more troops will only make matters worse; for the American troops and for the Afghans.

As one of the men who was held at Bagram Prison says in the video when you bomb people’s houses, invade their homes, kill their families (by mistake, of course, but they are just as dead nevertheless), take prisoners and then hold them for months and years without filling charges or allowing them to have an attorney, then torturing the prisoners, you are not peacemakers, you are terrorists.

It is a great tragedy that so much human and financial treasure is being spent by a bankrupt America to fight a war that has no real purpose other than to defeat an enemy, Al-Qaeda, that no longer has much of a presence in the country. It certainly wasn’t the Taliban who attacked America. While the Taliban have a severe way of ruling that very few Americans would care to live under, the system of government in Afghanistan should be determined by the Afghan people, not by Washington, D.C. politicians who are largely clueless when it comes to the ways of tribal people.

It’s time to ask President Obama, “Why are we acting as state sponsored terrorists in the name of American citizens? America is so much better than that. Or at least it should be. If you are an American look at the video of Bagram Prison and then decide how our conduct in Afghanistan makes you feel?

President Obama it is time to end this foolish war and to stop supporting a totally corrupt Karzai government. Only hubris is keeping us there. Certainly we can no longer afford the cost in human or financial terms.