Apologetic no more: a defense of the war for Iraqi Freedom

At work recently, a friend asked me if I still supported Bush’s foolish war. I laughed and said of course, we may as well continue disappointing Bin Laden. Some other people jumped into the conversation and all of the silly moveon.org rhetoric started to dribble. Bush lied and people died. Bush is the largest shareholder of Exxon Mobil and started the war to raise oil prices. No weapons of mass destruction existed. We can’t win. We are wasting American blood and money for no reason. I of course disagree. I make no apology for supporting an honorable war. My fellow soldiers did not die in vain unless the American people defeat themselves.

Did George Bush lie us into war? No, according to the same David Kaye Report that critics love to use to say there were no weapons of mass destruction (which is not a totally true representation). In fact, Iraq did have weapons programs, illegal missiles, parts for a nuclear program, and alliances with terrorists who killed Americans. They launched attacks on our planes hundreds of times while we were covering the no fly zone demanded by the U. N.

Have we forgotten how evil Saddam was? He was the worst tyrant in the history of the Middle East. He was responsible for the deaths of a million of his own people. He took money for these huge palace estates from money dedicated to food and medicine and a half million Iraqi children died. That alone makes this a worthy effort. Remember the ethnic cleansing and systematic murder?

Unfortunately the distortion of the war has reached such a level some Republicans are wavering. It is time to stand up and set the record straight with no apologies for our goals and resolve.

What is the end game?
Iraq is a land which needs rebuilding, security, and reconciliation. I pray they get it. Our soldiers and marines have done yeoman’s work. 80% of the country is relatively secure. They are however undermanned. They can't clear and hold the trouble areas. Now the capital is starting to descend into disorder. It is time to send more troops for 6 months to secure the Baghdad. We need to start training the Iraqis with better equipment and then start leaving.

Our first phase was to give them a new start. We have done that. Now let's start rebuilding so we can have another independent ally in the region.

How do we succeed? Condi Rice was right and Rumsfeld was wrong. We do need to clear, hold, and build.

When Sec. Gates went over to Iraq and spoke with the troops, he received one consistent message...We are undermanned.I am disgusted by the Webb/Biden democrat party opposition to the requests of the troops on the ground for more soldiers. We tried the Iraqify the war approach. Yet the people who campaigned that we need change want to stay the course.We need more American troops to provide order and security for at least 6 months to give these guys a chance to train. You can't train in full battle. We wouldn't train our troops that way (we tried it in WW1 with disastrous results.), and it is wrong to train theirs that way.

Is opposition to the war unpatriotic? No, it is perfectly reasonable to think we should not have started the war or that we have made mistakes and now we have to cut our losses. The key is to support the troops who have no choice, but follow your elected leaders’ decisions.

Are the Democrats offering the best hope for ending the war?
The Dems want either to stay the course in Iraq or cut and run. Bush, Gates, and the troops want to win. We have a new commander who is exercising a strategy consistent with classic military doctrine. It is his request and not some dream President Bush had in the middle of the night. Play politics with the stuff at home not the lives of my brothers and sisters in arms.I love my many Democrat friends, but I am so disgusted with their party. It has less leadership than a Girl Scout troop invited to a gang fight. They run around scared of the world. I think it is because they honestly don't understand the importance of victory. They stay up all night making a spectacle of themselves and can’t say one encouraging word to our troops.

In my father's war (WW2), the country was suffering loss after loss. We saw our allies fall like cornstalks in a hailstorm. We were defeated on our own soil in Peril Harbor. We had a very small army about the size of one division while our rivals could field a million men any where in Europe. We lost the Philippines and had to send a sub to rescue our greatest general. What did we do? We decided to do whatever it took to win.Doolittle did the impossible raid and America took heart. The whole country went to war. Today, we are allowing factories to shut down while there was not enough capacity to armor hummers. We complain about how much the war costs and are allowing equipment to wear out. We suffer some set backs this year and we want to pull out instead of step up to the challenge. We want to claim the badge of patriotism while not respecting the sacrifice of those who died (we need to live the love we feel for this land).

Terrorists believe we are corrupt and decadent, and that with a few hard blows they can force us to retreat. They are mistaken," Bush remarked in a recent interview. Well if we don't, it will be because of his leadership. Just like Lincoln and FDR before Him, he is attempting to rally America to win a very winnable war.We have made some grave errors under Sec. Rumsfeld. We did not restore our Armed Forces to a level sufficient to be the superpower. During a surge of interest after 9/11, Rummy insisted on low military levels. He rejected calls to increase our military to fulfill the two front war. He thought technology could replace numbers. Sounds like a plant manager not a Sec. Def. We did not have enough troops to secure the peace. These and other errors have given the opposition ammunition to paint a fine war effort as a fiasco. Sen. John McCain is right.

There is hope. Victory is not a dream; it is an objective we have to work to obtain. Unfortunately, it will take many more tears and American blood. We are indeed tiring, but we will not falter. We will dig deep and show we what makes Americans special. We have always risen to the call of history.The problem is that the Democrat leaders are predisposed to accept American failure. Lincoln heard the same voices. He determined to win before the next election. President Bush must do the same because the next President will not be able to.