Dear Mr. Obama: You have totally forfeited my esteem. You said: I have determined that it is in our vital national interest to send an additional 30,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan. After 18 months, our troops will begin to come home. You said: our security is at stake in Afghanistan and Pakistan. This is the epicenter of the violent extremism practiced by al Qaeda. It is from here that we were attacked on 9/11, and it is from here that new attacks are being plotted as I speak. Although I have been complaining to you in responses to your weekly internet addresses, I have abstained from judging you for eleven months. You have played into the hands of Ms. Clinton and Mr. Gates. This capitulation to General McChrystal is the last straw. I did not forget your campaign speeches about Afghanistan. But I had hope that when you were voted into the presidency and were really the most powerful man on earth, you would use your vast personal aptitude to read about and understand that Afghanistan is just one more stepping stone for the wealthiest 1% among us to continue taking far more than their fair share of the world. I believed you would come to understand that the eternal verities do apply in the case of Afghanistan and in every case presented to us with current events. My hopes are dashed. My beliefs are exploded. You are a milquetoast man without the spine to stand up to and oppose the handful of powerful people you have chosen to surround yourself with. The art or technique of understanding should be on guard against arbitrary fancies and the limitations imposed by imperceptible personal habits of thought. Your are fixing your gaze on Afghanistan with particular expectations about the meaning you intend to find there. You have powerful cheerleaders in Ms. Clinton and Mr. Gates who distract you with their own strong opinions. So you cannot see things as they are by themselves. I feel nothing but despair. You have forever lost my vote (which I have faithfully executed in every election in every year of my adult life) and my support. You have broken faith. I do not trust you at all anymore--about anything. ________________ I'm with Mr. Kucinich in this false dichotomy between left and right. Listen to his argument with the FOX. Mr. Obama has made a terrible mistake in not standing up to his false counselors, those who promote war as a solution. The discussion on whether or not Mr. Obama is a "wimp" has focused on phantoms. He has proved he is, beyond doubt, a wimp and milquetoast by not standing up to McChrystal, Clinton, Gates and the rest. They are in charge, not Mr. Obama. He has lost my esteem. I do not "back" him any longer and cannot tolerate his spineless capitulation to corporations, hawks, and the wealthy. For him I now feel only scorn and defiance; slight regard, and contempt. His soul shall stand sore charged for the wasteful vengeance he sends to Afghanistan with our new troops. It's not how many IQ points a person has; it's how he uses them that counts. The Afghan "decision" is stupid.