Page 6
June 28, 2017
O PINION
Another Troop Surge and More Casualties
America’s
Longest War
J im h ightoWer
President Trump might
have dodged military ser-
vice in his youth, but he
certainly is militaristic — he’s bel-
licose, likes to issue commands,
and is constantly firing off mili-
tant tweets at anyone he perceives
to be an enemy (which seems to
include everyone who dares to
by
disagree with him).
Meanwhile,
he
and his White House
full of military com-
manders are ponder-
ing the launch of a
real shooting war,
a military offensive
that would be known as “Trump’s
War.”
Actually, he’d be attempting to
achieve battlefield glory by pick-
ing up and extending what at first
was Bush’s War, then Obama’s
War. The place is Afghanistan,
and the strategy is to shove anoth-
er 5,000 or so American soldiers
(none of whom will be named
Trump) into that brutish hellhole.
Yes, that mess is still boiling,
despite President Obama’s 2012
pledge to end our involvement in
the longest war in U.S. history.
After 16 years — and after
more than 2,300 Americans killed,
20,000 others maimed, and more
than $800 billion spent on it —
8,400 of our troops are still there,
the killing continues, and we tax-
payers keep pumping $3 billion a
month into the insanity.
For all of that, the Taliban forc-
es we’ve been trying to defeat are
stronger than ever, and the Afghan
government we’re supporting is
as corrupt, inept, and despised as
ever.
Nonetheless, Trump is violat-
ing a basic rule of civilian control
of the military: Never ask the gen-
erals if they need more resources.
This president has surrounded
Smith Investigation Followed Process
Multnomah County Chair Deb-
orah Kafoury issued the following
statement in response to press
inquiries asking for comment on
a rebuke letter she received from
an esteemed group of local Afri-
can American leaders charging a
flawed and racially bias human
resources investigation of County
Commission Loretta Smith (Un-
wavering Support for Smith, June
21 Portland Observer issue.):
“Beginning in January, two
current and former staff mem-
bers made serious allegations that
Commissioner Loretta Smith had
misused county resources and bul-
lied her staff.
Under our rules, the county
has a process to thoroughly in-
vestigate personnel complaints.
We followed that process. As the
Multnomah County Chair and
Chief Executive Officer, I have
an obligation to all employees to
maintain a respectful, professional
and harassment-free workplace.
Commissioner Smith herself
publically asked that the county
investigate these allegations.
We were extremely careful
with how we proceeded. The
county contracted with an inde-
pendent third-party investigator
specializing in employment law.
The county also hired an attorney
to represent Commissioner Smith
in these matters. Finally, Commis-
sioner Smith received an advance
copy of the investigator’s final re-
port and she had the opportunity
to respond.
In light of what is happening
in our country right now, we at
himself with generals and surren-
dered crucial decision-making au-
thority to them.
We weren’t able to win in Af-
ghanistan when 100,000 of our
troops were there — so what do
we “win” by putting 5,000 more
soldiers in harm’s way, other than
more casualties? If Trump can’t
tell us that, we should tell him no
way.
OtherWords columnist Jim
Hightower is a radio commenta-
tor, writer, and public speaker.
Multnomah County take issues
of race, gender and religion ex-
tremely seriously and strive to
ensure that our workplace is free
of discrimination. My duty is to
ensure that process is followed,
regardless of whether those in-
volved are an elected official or
line staff.
This isn’t about the Commis-
sioner’s race, it’s about ensuring
Multnomah County has a profes-
sional and respectful workplace
for everyone.”