The most courageous act a president could perform at this moment in history would be pulling U.S. military forces out of Iraq and Afghanistan.

I pray that President Obama makes the unpopular decision, the morally heroic decision that, in the long run, will put America on the right side of history. The president should just say no to the military-industrial complex which has, with its media propaganda, convinced too many Americans that brute violence wrapped in stars and stripes is the best solution to global conflict.

I pray that Obama declares peace, announces an end to Bush-Cheney policies of imperialism, and confesses that the purpose of their wars was not to defend America but to establish U.S. colonies in the Middle East.

Bush-Cheney policies only destabilized the region, bankrupted our treasury and decimated our valiant army, which should be used to defend America, not to occupy other nations.

The more troops we insert in the region, the more resistance we foment. Our military presence is the prime recruiting tool for al-Qaida and the Taliban. Instead of troops, we should send teachers, doctors and engineers, but only where we are invited to help.

Naturally, the right wing will call this decision treasonous and cowardly. But the world no longer listens to them. History has passed them by.

The Bush-Cheney wars expressed the desperation and insecurity Americans felt after 9/11. That was then, this is now. Now let us express more noble, more courageous American values.