“Adam had ’em.”
The picture he painted was quite clear, and in only three words plus a title. To be sure he could have written a much longer poem to make his point on the topic of fleas but he “cut to the quick”, as they say.
So, inspired by Nash, I want to see if I can do the same, that is, cut to the quick about a military conflict and policy in a region that history has shown for a millennium or two cannot succeed, the war in Afghanistan. All of the pro and con arguments we listen to each day about how to win this war, does little to save the life of one soldier or of one non-combattant life (the military dismisses being killed by ‘friendly fire’ by accident as colateral damage) on the ground.
So, my essay is in the tradition of Ogden Nash’s work (with apologies to him) is as follows:
Advice to President Obama on the Afghanistan Situation:
“When the military cure is more damaging that the illness, end the cure.” Alternatively, a poem might read as,
“As there are many roads to Rome,
I propose you bring the troops back home
and seek yet another way
for you to have your say.”
Do not continue the follies of the Bush era. What you are now doing isn’t working. And besides, we are generating more enemies than we are finding. Give withdrawal a chance”.