.Soldiers in Iraq deserve real support back home
(February 13, 2006) — As rancor and hyperbole have reached their peak, we continue to be fed bastardized statistics and a complete denial that Iraq, according to al-Qaeda intercepts, is indeed the front line in the war on terror.
The outrage seems to be centered on the massive number of American youths far from home and in harm's way. There is no outrage that we have 1,700 troops patrolling Kosovo's tranquil streets. No complaints from the left when asked about the 3,000-troop presence in Bosnia or why there is a need for 1,754 troops in Iceland.
When President Clinton sent 15,000 troops into post-hostile Bosnia to get the job done, it was the equivalent of keeping 585,000 troops in Iraq post-invasion, when equating terrain and population. Tellingly, the silence from the left is deafening. To the leftists in America, Clinton understood war like no other. The template is simple: pull out when the blood starts to flow (Somalia) and over-commit when there is no chance of loss (Kosovo and Bosnia).
Members of Congress jockey for individual credibility in who has eaten more meals at Halliburton chow halls. And last year, Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., quoted an unscientific poll which concludes arrogantly that "80 percent of Iraqis want us out." I am no John Zogby, but I conclude 100 percent of Iraqis want us out ... eventually. They very much want us there while Islamo-fascists continue to blow them up as they worship and apply to serve the cause of freedom.
My peers are not appreciative of the Sen. Edward Kennedy and John Kerry elitists who daily attempt to uncover mistakes made by this administration while my brothers under fire bleed to death thousands of miles from their homes. In the era of digital satellites, these senators have put us on daily trial.
Iraqi veterans are without apologies for not finding weapons of mass destruction today in Iraq. As former administrations ignored the present danger in this region for years before 9/11, we in the trenches pay the price for our past inability to confront our brazen enemies. Each day the enemy hopes that one more 10-plus death toll inflicted against the coalition via roadside bombs will be the last straw of the American will.
Make no mistake; this is a middle- to lower-class war, fought by volunteers of the greatest generation of American warriors ever born. I personally have written more than 47 Bronze Stars with Valor awards for the members of my 34-man infantry platoon. Neither Rep. Murtha, who called for an immediate withdrawal last year, nor any other congressional representative has held a position in a skirmish line under fire in Iraq, yet they pontificate to the masses from their "war experience." Not one has borne witness to the extreme close-quarter nature of this fight or commented on the tearful thanks from a deserving and proud people who need us to stay the course. Yet Murtha had the extreme audacity to call my peers "broken."
As my peers continue to bleed for the acceptance from a growingly cynical media, it must be stated that we are not broken. Each day the Iraqi war veteran grows closer to the embarrassing disrespect of the Vietnam warrior. Instead of supporting the cause of my peers, they stoke the fires of the Al-Jazeera faithful, who would see a pullout in Iraq as a greater victory than the Soviet retreat in Afghanistan.
Though soldiers bleed for the very right to dissent from the truth, we must remember that at times our dissent will embolden our desperate Islamo-fascist enemies when they read accounts of the growing fecklessness of the American people and their policymakers.
Staying the course isn't a campaign slogan; it is a life-support message to my peers. Like Vietnam, the American soldier cannot be defeated on the field of battle, only by the failure of the political class to stomach the hardships of combat.
Democrat & Chronicle
Just to be fair.
The outrage seems to be centered on the massive number of American youths far from home and in harm's way. There is no outrage that we have 1,700 troops patrolling Kosovo's tranquil streets. No complaints from the left when asked about the 3,000-troop presence in Bosnia or why there is a need for 1,754 troops in Iceland.
When President Clinton sent 15,000 troops into post-hostile Bosnia to get the job done, it was the equivalent of keeping 585,000 troops in Iraq post-invasion, when equating terrain and population. Tellingly, the silence from the left is deafening. To the leftists in America, Clinton understood war like no other. The template is simple: pull out when the blood starts to flow (Somalia) and over-commit when there is no chance of loss (Kosovo and Bosnia).
Members of Congress jockey for individual credibility in who has eaten more meals at Halliburton chow halls. And last year, Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., quoted an unscientific poll which concludes arrogantly that "80 percent of Iraqis want us out." I am no John Zogby, but I conclude 100 percent of Iraqis want us out ... eventually. They very much want us there while Islamo-fascists continue to blow them up as they worship and apply to serve the cause of freedom.
My peers are not appreciative of the Sen. Edward Kennedy and John Kerry elitists who daily attempt to uncover mistakes made by this administration while my brothers under fire bleed to death thousands of miles from their homes. In the era of digital satellites, these senators have put us on daily trial.
Iraqi veterans are without apologies for not finding weapons of mass destruction today in Iraq. As former administrations ignored the present danger in this region for years before 9/11, we in the trenches pay the price for our past inability to confront our brazen enemies. Each day the enemy hopes that one more 10-plus death toll inflicted against the coalition via roadside bombs will be the last straw of the American will.
Make no mistake; this is a middle- to lower-class war, fought by volunteers of the greatest generation of American warriors ever born. I personally have written more than 47 Bronze Stars with Valor awards for the members of my 34-man infantry platoon. Neither Rep. Murtha, who called for an immediate withdrawal last year, nor any other congressional representative has held a position in a skirmish line under fire in Iraq, yet they pontificate to the masses from their "war experience." Not one has borne witness to the extreme close-quarter nature of this fight or commented on the tearful thanks from a deserving and proud people who need us to stay the course. Yet Murtha had the extreme audacity to call my peers "broken."
As my peers continue to bleed for the acceptance from a growingly cynical media, it must be stated that we are not broken. Each day the Iraqi war veteran grows closer to the embarrassing disrespect of the Vietnam warrior. Instead of supporting the cause of my peers, they stoke the fires of the Al-Jazeera faithful, who would see a pullout in Iraq as a greater victory than the Soviet retreat in Afghanistan.
Though soldiers bleed for the very right to dissent from the truth, we must remember that at times our dissent will embolden our desperate Islamo-fascist enemies when they read accounts of the growing fecklessness of the American people and their policymakers.
Staying the course isn't a campaign slogan; it is a life-support message to my peers. Like Vietnam, the American soldier cannot be defeated on the field of battle, only by the failure of the political class to stomach the hardships of combat.
Democrat & Chronicle
Just to be fair.
posted by madtom at 11:37 AM
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