“The ‘anti-war’ ‘left’ was used by the Democratic Party. I like to call it the ‘anti-Republican War’ movement.” (Cindy Sheehan response to Byron York’s column “For the left, war without Bush is not war at all“)

This was a very popular picture in the blogosphere under Bush.

Some random headlines and commentary we strangely don’t hear about anymore even as more troops are being sent to Afghanistan.

Recruitment wanes among blacks (msnbc.com)

“For decades, African-Americans, like Bedford, have sought military service, enlisting at rates much higher than whites and other racial groups. They still do, but with soldiers dying on a regular basis in Iraq, recruiting is down overall — especially for black soldiers.”

For African-Americans, folly of this war hits home (boston.com)

MILITARY SOCIOLOGIST David R. Segal was asked Monday over the telephone what he hears in his surveys of soldiers. He quoted an African-American veteran of the Iraq invasion and occupation: “This is not a black people’s war. This is not a poor people’s war. This is an oilman’s war.”

[...]

“African-Americans detest this war,” Black said yesterday in a phone interview. “Everybody kind of knows the truth behind this war. It’s a cash cow for the military defense industry, when you look at the money these contractors are making. African-Americans saw this at the beginning of the war and now the rest of the country has figured it out. It’s not benefiting us in the least.”

Asked about the reference to an “oilman’s war,” Black said, “It’s basically about oil, basically about money. It’s an economic war.” He said veterans are saying they are tired and burned out. “Guys are saying we’re halfway around the world fighting people of color under the guise of democracy and we can’t see how it’s benefited anyone,” Black said. “It’s hard to fight halfway around the world for people’s freedom when you’re not sure you have it at home.”

Mother of First Soldier from Georgia Killed in Iraq Also Demands to Speak with Bush

AMY GOODMAN: On Saturday, Democracy Now! producer, Yoruba Richen, spoke with Patricia Roberts, who had just come in. Her son Jamaal Addison was killed in Iraq in 2003. She began by talking about why she came to Camp Casey.

PATRICIA ROBERTS: Being that I was the first mother of Georgia, my son being the first soldier to die for Georgia, I felt that it would be my duty to come here and to speak out and to have the opportunity, if Bush did show up, to be able to talk to him and hear what he had to say.

YORUBA RICHEN: What would you like to say to the President?

PATRICIA ROBERTS: I would like to say to the President at this point now, whatever his reasons that he feels it was for my son to die and all the rest of the troops to die and to be out there, that’s not the point anymore. Although I’m against that, all he can do is redeem himself by bringing the troops home. That’s what I’m here to say to him. Regardless of what—I don’t want to argue back and forth what was right, what was wrong. We know what was right. We know what was wrong. He knows what he did was wrong, but that’s not the principle right now. The principle is that there are still soldiers out there dying on a daily basis, and they need to come home.

[...]

PATRICIA ROBERTS: I think that it’s very important for the African Americans and the minorities to support what’s going on here and all over, statewide, worldwide. I think they should support it, because I believe that this is a poor man’s war. They have solicited the minorities to go in, and if you look at all of the rates and you look at all the statistics, you have more minorities die in this war than you have had anything else, and between the ages of 18 and 25, you have wiped out generations of minorities. So, I think that, because it’s us that’s dying, we need to be the ones speaking out and standing up more than anyone else.

Her claim has already been addressed here on this site, but I will do it again.

• Percent of the dead who were women: 2 percent

• Percentages by ethnic group: White: 75 percent; Hispanic or Latino: 11 percent;

• Black or African American: 9 percent;

• Asian: 2 percent;

• Multiple races, pending, or unknown: 1 percent;

• American Indian or Alaska Native: 1 percent

• Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander: 1 percent

With all the talk about how Black soldiers were dying fighting people who “ain’t never done anything to us”,  it’s interesting to see how suddenly those concerns are no longer on anybody’s radar. In fact, Obama has sent more troops to continue “Bush’s war” with no backlash of how Black soldiers are being affected.

“This is not a war of choice. This is a war of necessity,” Obama said. “Those who attacked America on 9/11 are plotting to do so again. If left unchecked, the Taliban insurgency will mean an even larger safe haven from which al Qaeda would plot to kill more Americans.”

“So this is not only a war worth fighting, this is fundamental to the defense of our people,” Obama said. (more…)

Obama orders more troops to Afghanistan (2/09)

That was a total of 17,000 troops.

Six months later, even more troops are being considered.

Will the U.S. Need More Troops in Afghanistan?

US military deaths in Afghanistan region at 710

Questions~

• How many body count tickers have you seen in the blogosphere since Obama took office?

• How many commentaries have you read with the underline theme “bring the troops home now”?

• Why are we no longer hearing the argument “We’re spending billions of dollars to fight in a war when schools in inner-cities all across America are falling apart”?