Posted on 06/20/2006 10:35:13 PM PDT by Aussie Dasher
Two American soldiers, missing since an insurgent ambush at the checkpoint they were manning last Friday, were found dead Monday night on a street just south of Baghdad. An Iraqi General confirmed to the Associated Press that the soldiers’ bodies showed “signs of torture,” and that the men appeared to have been killed in a particularly “barbaric” way. This assertion appears to be backed up both by the fact that DNA tests were required to positively identify the remains, and by the claim of responsibility made by the self-titled new leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, who posted on an Islamist website that he “carried out the verdict of the Islamic court" for the death of terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi by “slaughtering” (a word most often employed when referring to beheadings) the two soldiers.
Privates First Class Kristian Menchaca and Thomas Tucker were members of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault)’s “Strike” Brigade, based at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Both Menchaca and Tucker volunteered to be members of the US Army. Both volunteered to be infantrymen. Both knew, as do all members of the US Armed Forces, that they could end up in harm’s way as a result of their volunteering—doubly so since both initially enlisted well after the Iraq War (and postwar process) had begun. In a written statement, Tucker’s family said that their son had joined the military in part out of a desire to "do something positive.” They also released to the press the text of a message he left on their answering machine less than a week before his capture, in which he reaffirmed his commitment to, and belief in, his mission. "I'm defending my country," he said, and he asked his mother to be proud of him.
Interestingly silent on this and other atrocities carried out by the insurgents in Iraq are the “human rights” groups who seem to spend every day accusing the United States of torture, war crimes, and various human rights violations. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has called the Iraq war “illegal,” and John Pace, former UN chief of Human Rights for Iraq, has said that human rights conditions are “as bad now as they were under Saddam,” but was it America that filled mass graves with hundreds of thousands of murdered Iraqi civilians? Last month, Human Rights Watch again accused the US of “brutalizing Muslim suspects in the name of the war on terror,” but how many times have Americans strapped bombs to their own chests and purposely detonated themselves in a large crowd of civilians? Amnesty International’s website highlights America’s use of “torture or other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment” against terrorist captives, but how many prisoners—Muslim or otherwise—have Americans brutally beheaded?
Despite the immediate attempts of the anti-war Left to make this murder of American soldiers into an election-year political issue, the gradually stabilizing situation on the ground—especially evidenced by the decreasing frequency of effective insurgent attacks, combined with the increasing desperation of their methods—almost inarguably proves that a turning point in Iraq has been reached. Zarqawi’s demise at the hands of Air Force pilots and joint Special Operations troops was the most obvious sign of this improvement, but the tide had been turning in the favor of freedom long before Al Qaeda’s leader in Iraq was finally caught.
Beyond providing intelligence which will enable us to more effectively counter the remnants of the insurgency, the information gleaned from Zarqawi’s safehouse has given us additional proof that the battle against the insurgency is being won—and that that has been the case for some time. Computer files recovered after the bombing show that Zarqawi had been growing more and more concerned about the "bleak situation" his insurgents were facing. "Time is beginning to be of service to the U.S. forces,” he wrote, “by allowing them to form and bolster the [Iraqi] National Guard, undertake big arrest operations, carry out a media campaign weakening the resistance's influence and presenting it as harmful to the people, creat[ing] division among [the insurgency’s] ranks." He was rapidly approaching the conclusion that the only way "to get out of this crisis” was “to entangle the American forces into another war,” such as one with Iran. These are not the words of a bold, invincible leader of an army of freedom fighters on the verge of defeating the world’s greatest military. They are not the words of a man simply in need of the West to “reach out” to him in an effort to “make an appeal to his human decency,” as many peace-at-any-cost proponents have claimed. Rather, these words reflect the increasingly desperate thoughts of a man who is struggling to avoid the fact that he must finally begin to come to terms with impending, and inevitable, defeat.
There is no question that these two murdered soldiers, and all others lost in Iraq and elsewhere in the world, are to be mourned. Both Kristian Menchaca and Tom Tucker left behind families, friends, and other loved ones. Given that fact, and the fact that, due to an overriding love of America and belief in its ideals, they volunteered to serve their country even though they fully understood that they might one day have to make this ultimate sacrifice, it is supremely important—even necessary—that, along with a loving family, they leave behind a grateful nation. America should recognize these men as examples of the myriad heroes which make up our all-volunteer military, and should realize that, without supporting the mission the troops are doing—and the cause for which they are volunteering to give their lives, should it come to that—it is not possible to support the troops themselves. The tide has turned in the battle to win the peace in postwar Iraq, and those who have stood on the sidelines for the past three years—or, worse, who have actively worked against the cause of freedom and democracy in that nation—are dangerously close to being remembered (if they are remembered at all) not for their support of human rights, but for their self-righteous fight against them—all in the name of their hatred of America, and of George W. Bush.
I had an eentsy, teensy, tiny, whiney scintilla of respect for so-called "Human Rights Groups."
"Poof!" All gone.
Maggots!
They're poofs, too???
ROTFLMAO!! Maybe I should have said "Shazaam," but heck, since I'm being insulting; let it stand STET.
They won't be silent when a "Sand Monkey" has has a knife at their throat. They will ask where a Marine or Soldier is to save them.
Good post AD...we are fighting another war here at home against the liberal slimes that are hell bent in using tragedies like this to blame the USA...no sooner was the word out on the recovery of the bodies of the 2 soldiers and the MSM swooped down like vultures on their families for a scoop on their reactions...unreal
ping
Those 3 soldiers deaths demand serious revenge !
I don't want to hear another word about Haditha....
Human rights groups? There are no such thing any more.
I hear you on this.
Amnesty International has drifted to the left over the years until now it is little more that a communist/Islamist front organization.
Thanks for the post!
(Denny Crane: "Every one should carry a gun strapped to their waist. We need more - not less guns.")
I was once in a professional military education class that i need to complete in order to advance to my next rank and the a similar subject came up. I argued for complete war (gloves off, raping, pillaging, killing grandpa, grandma, junior and daughter, burying people in pig skins, etc.) in order to fight one war for all other wars. My theory was, our enemy already hates us - no matter how nice we as a country try to treat them.
An analogy the U.S. and insurgency are playing a game of football and we ( the U.S.) mandate to game be touch football. The insurgency touches sometimes, but often our players get absolutely hammered. We in-turn maitain stay the course and continue to play touch football in order to maintain the moral high ground.
It is my opinion that our enemies will continue to disregard us as a force until we take the fight to them in a manner they will understand. Yes, I think it will initially embolden the enemy, but I still don't think there is a force on this planet that can hang with the U.S. military in a total war.
Wrapping up my original point, when I said that during my class, I was looked at like I was on crack. People could not understand the concept. Some even laughed at me like I was an idiot. Their main argument was that we need other countries to be in agreement with us. I reasoned, most countries don't like the U.S. to being with (it is a jealousy thing) so which is better to be liked or feared?
No war is good, but I would rather fight just one and set an example than continue to live in the fog of constant war and terrorism. And if we keep playing nice with the enemy we will continue to live in that fog.
This is very well done.
You said it. The rest of the world is not going to like us. Period. They haven't liked us since we emerged from WWII as a superpower and they're not going to start liking us now. Nobody likes the richest, most powerful family in town, especially when they're the richest and most powerful by many orders of magnitude. The best we can hope for is to be respected and feared. Respected and feared is good. Respected and feared is going to save American lives. Trying to be loved is getting people killed, and it's time to stop. I'm sick of being told to tolerate everyone's diversity. The rest of the world needs to stay in line or tolerate our fist.
It's way past time to kick butt, take names and straighten out some attitudes out in Iraq. Enough pussy footing around with the new Iraqi government, too. We need to do to them as we did to the Germans and Japanese. Hand them a constitution, appoint a government and tell them to get with the program. Tell them to stop the infighting or we'll be back to bust more heads until they get it right.
Respect and fear. Stop trying to be loved--it isn't going to happen.
You should have heard Edie on Fox this morning! She was spittin' mad at the "human rights" groups"
Marine Bump!
Semper Fi,
Kelly
BUMP
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