By John Vibes

Last week, President Barack Obama broke his earlier campaign promise to end the war in Afghanistan by announcing that thousands of ground troops would remain in the country until further notice. Proving that there is truly no “anti-war” candidate in the race for president, both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders rushed to support the president in his decision to continue the war.

Speaking in an ABC interview with host George Stephanopoulos on Sunday morning, Sanders defended the position that the U.S. military is needed to “keep peace” in the Middle East.

“Well, yeah, I won’t give you the exact number. Clearly, we do not want to see the Taliban gain more power, and I think we need a certain nucleus of American troops present in Afghanistan to try to provide the training and support the Afghan army needs,” he said in the interview.





Sanders’ enchanted followers have defended his words, saying the military forces left in Afghanistan would be on “humanitarian” and “peacekeeping missions,” or that they are there to help “rebuild the country.” However, military occupation is never humanitarian, nor is it not peaceful. Further, when politicians speak of “rebuilding” countries, they are usually saying they want to occupy the territory long enough to establish a puppet dictator of their choosing.

Hillary Clinton shared Sanders’ pro-war sentiment. As she said in an interview with the Boston Globe:

“I admire the fact that the president has very strong positions about trying to end wars and bring people home — which is exactly the right place to be in — but is not so doctrinaire, absolutist that no matter what the circumstances are that he’s going to stick to his position. You have a position of responsibility and a real obligation to try to make the best decisions possible, and I know that’s what he did on this one.”

In Obama’s statement following the decision to continue the war, it was obvious the primary interest of the U.S. military is to establish a puppet dictatorship.

As he asserted:

I know that many of you have grown weary of this conflict. As you are well aware, I do not support the idea of endless war, and I have repeatedly argued against marching into open-ended military conflicts that do not serve our core security interests. Yet given what’s at stake in Afghanistan, and the opportunity for a stable and committed ally that can partner with us in preventing the emergence of future threats, and the fact that we have an international coalition, I am firmly convinced that we should make this extra effort.

Although Sanders’ broad promises appeal to many people who are frustrated with the system, his campaign is not much different from the Obama campaign that hypnotized millions in 2008. The hope and change that Obama promised was nothing but more of the same Bush-era policies of endless war, police state intrusions, surveillance, and oppression — and increasing signs indicate Sanders will be no different.

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