Former Senator Geroge McGovern on Peace Making

Former senator George McGovern addressed Obama in a recent editorial in The Washington Post.

"Please do not try to put Afghanistan aright with the U.S. military. To send our troops out of Iraq and into Afghanistan would be a near-perfect example of going from the frying pan into the fire…. Military power is no solution to terrorism. The hatred of U.S. policies in the Middle East--our occupation of Iraq, our backing for repressive regimes such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia, our support of Israel--that drives the terrorist impulse against us would better be resolved by ending our military presence throughout the arc of conflict. This means a prudent, carefully directed withdrawal of our troops from Iraq, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and elsewhere. We also need to close down the imposing U.S. military bases in this section of the globe, which do so little to expand our security and so much to stoke local resentment."

McGovern proposes instead that the U.S. work with the U.N. World Food program and other agencies to provide a nutritious lunch every day for every school-age child in Afghanistan and other poor countries. This would be a minimum, as far as I'm concerned. We should also make restitution for every nation where we have ever killed a single child.