Greetings, President Barack Obama

This letter is coming to you from Americans representing a broad swath of ideologies – both politically AND relative to our stand on the Afghanistan invasion and continued occupation. We are Democrats, Republicans, Independents – and those completely disinterested in politics. We encompass the whole spectrum.

Some of us support the war, and some of us don’t. Some of us accept the official talking points depicting the reasons for our continued presence there, and some of us don’t. But we are ALL in tenacious agreement that the civilian casualties in the Afghanistan war MUST cease and desist!

As Commander-in-Chief of our armed forces, you cannot blame the soldiers YOU command for not following your orders. Since you have the power to remove any subordinates, all civilian lives lost are YOUR fault.

As a Christian who campaigned on the ideology of upholding America’s moral fiber – and a Nobel Peace Laureate – it is imperative that you walk the walk, like you talk the talk. As the Bible says, “Show me thy faith without works and I will show you my faith BY my works.” It’s not what you say, it’s what you DO!

As the father of two lovely girls, you SHOULD be personally appalled at the carnage of lifeless little ones left in the wake of your stepped-up, out-of-control drone attacks. To paraphrase a line from the movie, “A Time To Kill”, “…now imagine it were YOUR daughters”! [Note: In NO WAY is this a veiled threat. I simply believe in the use of metaphors/analogies that evoke EMPATHY as opposed to SYMPATHY. I used the same approach to convince a national figure I admire to stop using the “N” word publicly. Contact me and I will tell you who it was, and the entire conversation.]

President Obama, we want to be PROUD of America. We don’t want to feel the way the First Lady obviously did once upon a time when America seemed to stir in her nothing resembling pride. As a matter of fact, I have a sneaky suspicion that seeing these photos might cause some consternation in her pride for you – and, subsequently, America again.

Please help us. Help us all to feel the pride we overwhelmingly felt as a country when we elected you. Stop the talk. ACT! We know you can give good speeches. Be a DOER of the word. You said that you needed our help. Perhaps that was because you knew there was a power structure beyond the office you were ascending to that could thwart your best laid plans for US. So count the names on this petition as the start of US helping YOU. Now, please give US a reason to still believe in YOU!