The end of the year has come once again. This is always an up time for me because I see it as the moment to look ahead. Once I finish reviewing the old year it becomes time to move on. To that end I plan the events of the year to come. It is not a difficult task as I have had many a year to perfect the planning process. What is difficult is the correcting of the mistakes that were made and adjusting the time frame of projects that were not completed and now need to be fit into the New Year. AS for the year ahead I try to remember what General Douglas MacArthur once said "There is no security only opportunity". That simple thought keeps me looking forward for opportunities and allowing some risk to play a part in my life. With that in mind I wish all of you a Happy New Year with good health and great opportunity in 2010.

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Americans and most others in the world will never understand Afghanistan as a country, a political state, or its tribal culture. It is a culture where outsiders are always on the outside and only allowed in when they can be taken advantage of. As soon as the outsider is no longer of use they are quickly moved to the outside again. As a people the Afghans make deals that last only as long as it takes for a better deal to come along. Any allegiance they show is either tribal, regional, or war lord based. It is an old society which has been at war with itself for one thousand years. The current government is corrupt to the core and is just allowing U.S. boots on the ground because of the infusion of American money this action carries. The buildup will make Afghanistan's governmental players rich very soon if it has not happened already. It is in the best interest of the Afghan government to keep the Americans fighting in their country because it represents a good cash flow. Democracy will not come to this country because the spirit of change is not in the culture or the majority of the people. It is not if the U.S. can win the hearts and minds of the people but if we can buy their hearts and minds.

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How big is the Taliban enemy in Afghanistan? This may be the most important question for all of us to ask because the answer will shock most Americans. The truth, and this is from U.S. government official spokespersons, is that in Afghanistan the Taliban military force is about three thousand strong with another one thousand on call. Al-Kaida in the same region is about one hundred strong. With a structure so small, this is not a body to be feared because of its size. It must be feared however, because of its willingness kill on an indiscriminant basis to create fear. They are a small but well organized guerilla band very capable of putting fear in the hearts of the local inhabitants. What ever we do on the ground will not stop their aggression. The more boots we put in place in Afghanistan the more accurate become their predictions in the minds of the locals that the U.S. is taking over their country and their religion.

With a military force so small we should be taking away the support and food sources this enemy currently enjoys. The U.S. will not do that because we do not wish to hurt civilians as we attack the bad guys. What most Americans and our government fail to realize is that the support the Taliban and Al-Kaida receive comes fron the locals. The local people and tribal war lords provide for the daily needs of these combatants yet we are told by the world community, as well as the Afghanistan government, not to hurt these so called civilians. The current Afghanistan government wants the U.S. to help keep them safe at the risk of U.S. lives but we should not attack the people who provide for and support their supposed enemy. We are playing in a game where the cards are stacked against us and our response to this game is to enrich the pot for the other guy. If we decide that Taliban supporters are just as much the enemy as the soldiers they support then we would be able to attack them with force using weapons that will destroy all the enemy players. Unfortunately, The U.S. will not accept this line of reasoning and that means there is literally no chance to win the war and that puts every American soldier in harm's way for nothing.

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It was the night before Christmas and all through the street there was scurrying about to find space with heat

The children were bundled to fight off the cold their pangs of hunger killing thoughts ever bold

Covering ourselves and adjusting our caps we had just settled in for a night of short naps

At the end of the street a thunderous sound struck then a bang of the doors told me it was mike's truck

He comes in the night whenever he can to provide blankets and coats and food in a can

Out from our shelter not feeling the cold I race down the street in my run for the gold

The homeless descend to accept all this kindness yet holiday spirit makes the moment seem mindless

It is Christmas Eve so there is more to go round carried back to my shelter we feast on the ground

The hunger is gone and the children are sleeping we rest for the night as our thoughts find us weeping

We drift off to sleep forgetting the cold hopes thin for the future yet hopes ever bold

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Hi everyone. As you can see I have been away for a bit of time. My activities have kept me from writing and following through with my comments about troops in Afghanistan. That will have to wait another day or two as I have a home based thought to speak about. We are in the holiday season and we tend to be of good cheer in keeping with the season. My activities over the last sixteen days have kept me from doing much other than think. What I thought about the most were the homeless. At one point I spoke to my four year old granddaughter about Santa and the night before Christmas. After that the thoughts about the homeless and the night before Christmas poem kept churning in my head. I finally sat down and penned a different version of a night before Christmas as seen through the eyes of a homeless family. Tomorrow I will release my Poem - A Homeless Night Before Christmas. I hope it will move all of you to give an extra hand this season and perhaps keep them in mind all through the year.

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I am waiting for the Obama speech even though I know what is in it. I do not agree with the decision to continue the war and put our treasure and people in harms way. I will not say more until I have heard the speech and digested the presentation. Once I have digested the presentation and the information I will write what I believe must be done and why. I wish to tell people where we as a country are wrong and what we can do about it. I also think it is time to revisit what we should be doing here at home to make ourselves strong. I do not care if readers of the Red Dragon are with me or not but I do wish they read what I have to say and respond to me either positive or negative. The pain of my writing will soon follow.

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