COWARD'S COUNCEL (Excellent Read)

New York Post (Opinion) ^ | October 11, 2002 | Ralph Peters (Ret. Army Officer)

[w_over_w]

October 11, 2002 -- THERE are few things more repugnant to a soldier than a coward who claims to speak on his behalf. At present, there seems no end of politicians and pundits claiming we dare not strike Saddam because of the danger of friendly casualties. Self-appointed voices of conscience warn of tens of thousands of American dead.

[w_over_w]

Our soldiers do not fear Saddam. I do not know a single man or woman in uniform who believes that our military will fail or suffer badly, should we go to war with Iraq. The best-informed insist we will hit the Iraqi regime with such overwhelming, unexpected fury that the world will be shocked by our effectiveness.

"Wherever our military is sent in the world, you bring hope and justice and promise of a better day. You are worthy of the traditions you represent, the uniform you wear, the ideals you serve. America is counting on you, and our confidence is well placed."

George W. Bush September 11, 2002

[w_over_w]

PING

[wideawake]

My brother is an officer in the armored cavalry. He'll be in the vanguard if we go into Iraq. He has described to me some of the scenarios for urban warfare in Baghdad.

His analysis boils down to this: his only fear is that CNN or Al-Jazeera will effectively transmit the work he will do. He is confident that very few US troops will have to give the ultimate sacrifice AS LONG AS they are permitted to do their work unhindered. That work will consist of inflicting massive casualties on Iraqi civilians, since they will be used as human shields by the regime. If squeamish hand-wringing over these casualties does not impair our resolve, we will triumph quickly with few dead soldiers.

I hope we destroy Al-Jazeera's transmission capacity as a prelude to war.

[Psycho Francis]

Might be a good idea to correct the spelling of 'Counsel' in the topic title to facilitate searches on same.........

[Congressman Billybob]

Thank you very much for posting this. Americans need to hear the voice of the excellent men and women who will go in harm's way because of the actions taken by Congress to commit this nation to war, and the President's decisions as Commander-in-Chief with that authority.

A colleague of mine who served in the 82nd Airborne went on television in New Hampshire (where he later became a Member of its House) and predicted Gulf War casualties of less than 200 at the time the armchair "experts" on national TV were wringing their hands about tens of thousands of casualties.

He was right, and they were wrong. He has since written the definitive history of that war, entitled simply, The Gulf War. It is used as a textbook at the War College in Levenworth. He knew what the hand-wringers do not -- the real capacity of our troops, our training, our weapons up against those of Iraq. As he says, the unofficial motto of the 82nd Airborne is, "We kill people and break their toys."

The United States is about to kill Saddam Hussein and "break his toys." And it will be just as clean (relatively) and overwhelming as this author describes.

Congressman Billybob

Click for "Oedipus and the Democrats"

Click for "Til Death Do Us Part."

Click for "to Restore Trust in America"

[Congressman Billybob]

The title is correct. In this usage, it means "advice."

Billybob

[Destructor]

"October 11, 2002 -- THERE are few things more repugnant to a soldier than a coward who claims to speak on his behalf. At present, there seems no end of politicians and pundits claiming we dare not strike Saddam because of the danger of friendly casualties. Self-appointed voices of conscience warn of tens of thousands of American dead."

Same thing Ted Kennedy said in the first Gulf War! Didn't happen then, and if the strategy is played right it won't happen now, either.

[w_over_w]

. . . and "Thank you" for both your posts . . .

[MissAmericanPie]

"And that is what Saddam's defenders fear, whether they are in the Middle East or in the middle of their congressional terms. This debate is about dogma, as philosophical derelicts attempt to salvage their homegrown anti-Americanism."

Once in a while a writer has the ability to pack so much truth into a couple of sparce sentences that it is, to me anyway, a nugget of pure gold.

[Psycho Francis]

Wonderful to know, bb, thanks.

Do you think that COWARDS' COUNCEL in a search will turn up COWARDS' COUNSEL?

The title is correct. In this usage, it means "advice."

[My2Cents]

Wonderful article. Thanks for posting, and for the ping.

I noted with interest that the Senate voted on the Iraq resolution last night at 1:00 a.m., EDT ("Live" said the feed from Fox News Channel). It was another bald-faced act of cowardice by the "council of cowards" in the Democrat-run Senate. The late hour of voting gave both those Democrats who voted FOR the resolution, and those who voted AGAINST, some degree of cover. There were numerous Democrat senators who voted "aye" to authorize the President to move on Iraq who you KNOW would have voted "no" had the vote come after the election. The Widow, Jean Carnahan, voted "aye," I'm sure, because she's in a tough race with Jim Talent. Had this vote come in January, and had she still been in the Senate, who doubts she would have been arm-twisted by the Daschles and the Byrds to have voted "no." So, the late Senate vote covered, to some extent, Democrats who voted "yes" from the ire of their own leftist constituencies, and Democrats who voted "no" from the ire of mainstream Americans.

[w_over_w]

As I do with all our military . . . pray for God's mighty hedge of protection around their lives as they decapitate the head of the serpent. God bless your brother.

[Psycho Francis]

or vicey-versy? ;>)

Do you think that COWARDS' COUNCEL in a search will turn up COWARDS' COUNSEL?

[JoeSixPack1]

The only thing preventing our quest for security from this maniac is political point gathering.

I would prefer not to believe that a call for military action is stalled because of political jealousy. But here we are.

[bert]

Robert Byrd, the paleosenator from West Virginia, appeared on the Senate floor with the blood of soldiers lost in Vietnam still on his hands.

[Timm]

The title is correct. In this usage, it means "advice."

There's no such word as "councel" in English, Bob. The word I take it you want is "counsel", which in this context would mean advice.

[w_over_w]

COUNSEL

My sincerest apologies . . . it's been a long week of staring into a computer screen.

[PsyOp]

Ping for the quote of the year:

"In the face of the awesome power we are going to bring to bear from every conceivable angle and with the speed of revelation, the Iraqi regime's weapons of mass destruction would be little more than suicide kits. Saddam may be willing to go down mean, but if his generals are, they're fools. And men who have been clever enough to survive under Saddam's reign of terror are not stupid when it comes to self-preservation."

[swarthyguy]

Thanks for pinging.

I've been saying the following based on all the sabre rattling going on and intimations of frantic activity behind the scenes. Hit me the other night, probably no war; a coup of the generals, hopefully.

Baghdad as Kabul II Bump.

No war in Iraq; it'll collapse like an overripe fruit.

All this sabre rattling is for show.

The US has discovered that its easier to buy friends than blow up enemies. Typical capitalistic ploy (hehe); Here', Mr Iraqi General, do you want to die or would you rather have a Benz and have your kids studying at Harvard?

[Psycho Francis]

That's why I suggested that the mod change the title of your topic. If someone else does a search on COWARD'S COUNSEL (the actual title of the article) before they post, chances are your title won't show up....