“Blowback” in Uganda – When Will We Learn

7.19.2010

["We" meaning those who make decisions on such matters]

Here’s the latest terrorist problem – Uganda in Wall Street Journal

One of the most telling moments in the 2008 Republican presidential debate was the interchange between Ron Paul and Rudy Guiliani when Congressman Paul explained the concept of “blowback” (mentions blowback at about 3:20 of the video):

Blowback is the idea taught by our CIA that when the US government interferes in one place in the world it would cause unintended consequences in other places. In Uganda last weekend, we had terrorist bombings that were carried out and financed through Somali Islamic elements who are claiming allegiance to Al Queda – as reported by the Wall Street Journal.

As Ron Paul said, if we continue to station our soldiers on Muslim lands, including keeping soldiers in Saudi Arabia, which is Muslim holy land and very offensive to many Muslims, then terrorist organizations will have an easy time to recruit young hotheads or someone who’s relatives were killed in ‘collateral damage’ or such. Paul gave the example – would Christians like it if Muslim soldiers were stationed in the Vatican? The displeasure of the US by more and more young/armed Muslims continues to grow – and we can expect these problems to pop up in more and more areas. And, by the way,  we don’t have the army to police 150+ countries.

President Obama won in 2008 in large part because a good chunk of his supporters thought he would end the wars. In a sign that the Military Industrial Complex is going full force, Obama has expanded the wars. It is likely that the ‘blowback’ will expand too – at a major cost to all, especially our incredibly brave soldiers.