LETTER: Congress’ priorities remain out of whack

To the editor:
Unlike the six senseless killings in Tucson, Ariz., the senseless killings in Afghanistan get slight to no attention in the national discourse.
Yet, 1,454 American soldiers have been killed in that 10-year war, and 499 of them were killed in 2010. Already, nine have been killed in 2011.
In the fall of 2001, America ousted the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, and fractured al-Qaeda forces fled to refuge in the mountains of Tora Bora. At that juncture, the 9/11 attack had been avenged and the following appropriate warning had been effectively communicated to the terroristic community: “Attack our homeland and we will come and get you.”
Incredibly, the war in Afghanistan was recently extended for four more years. That decision will cost future taxpayers $100 billion annually. Worst of all, it will cost additional American lives, and likely at an accelerated pace.
When our politicians declare that “jobs, jobs, jobs,” will be their emphasis in the 112th Congress, they simply reveal their ill-advised priority.
True, most Americans are worried about the lack of jobs or job security. Both are righteous worries, but they should rank a distant second to the needless carnage in Afghanistan. The immediate stoppage of the senseless killing and maiming in Afghanistan should be the first priority of the 112th Congress, and it should remain so until every American soldier is back on American soil.
Shafter Bailey
Lawrenceburg