Dennis Prager: Dear American Soldier in Iraq (Undeniable truths elegantly expressed!)

Town Hall ^ | November 25, 2003 | Dennis Prager [Creators Syndicate]

[quidnunc]

Dear American Soldier in Iraq:

I am writing to you simply as a fellow American.

In just about every way, I am quite typical. I am a married man with three children, believe in God and love my country. I differ, however, from many Americans in a couple of ways. First, my vocation — radio talk show host and columnist — makes me a professional communicator. So I might be able to say things that most other Americans feel but could not communicate quite as clearly. Second, and more important, I suspect that more than some Americans, though hardly more than President Bush and his administration, I am keenly aware of the fragility of civilization, of the monumental evil you are fighting, and of the historic mission of America.

For these reasons, I am writing to you. Though you may already know everything I am about to say, I need to say it for those of you who, after seeing fellow soldiers blown up or severely injured, may sometimes wonder whether these sacrifices are worth it.

So, first, let me set the record straight. Not since World War II have the stakes been this great. This is a war for the future of civilization every bit as much as the war against German Nazism and Japanese Fascism was. If we had lost that war, the world would have devolved into barbarism.

If we lose this one, the same will happen.

It was a war for civilization then; the war against Islamic Fascism is such a war today.

Of course, there are hundreds of millions of fine people among the world's 1.3 billion Muslims. But that is, unfortunately, as irrelevant to understanding today's war as the fact that there were millions of fine Germans living in Hitler's Germany was to understanding World War II.

It is not the fine Muslims who rule most Muslim countries, some of which are among the cruelest on earth. It is not the fine Muslims who dominate the Islamic schools around the world that teach that it is right to subjugate women and to slit Christians' and Jews' throats. It is not the fine Muslims who wish to impose a violent, hate-filled religion on others. It is not the fine Muslims who burned 13 churches in Nigeria just last week.

And sadly, most of the fine Muslims, including those in America, rarely condemn their civilization-threatening co-religionists.

Iraq is the battleground for civilization. That is why our enemies are throwing everything they can at you. If you help create the first free and tolerant Arab country in the heart of Islam, they are doomed. If we fail in Iraq, we are doomed. Our enemies know this. We need to know this.

-snip-

[hosepipe]

Well said Dennis...
But Ann Coulter don't beat around the bush.... Now theres an intellect...

Next time less intellectual clap-trap, spit it out...
Keep it up, you'll learn someday....

[GladesGuru]

A word of warning about the Black Book of Communism - it is the coldly related description of the meticulous records of the deaths of some 100,000,000 people who were slain in the name of communism or other closely related "isms" of the socialistic variety.

It is even more depressing than having to listen to a Marxist professor, the Liberal next door, or the imnates at the local asylum - because the enormity of the human suffering detailed in the Black Book of Communism is beyond depresing. Soon, the mind is numbed by it all.

By all means read it if you have any slight doubts that Reagan's "Evil Empire" line was anything but an understatement. Just be aware of what is within those somber black covers.

[GladesGuru]

A word of warning about the Black Book of Communism - it is the coldly related description of the meticulous records of the deaths of some 100,000,000 people who were slain in the name of communism or other closely related "isms" of the socialistic variety.

It is even more depressing than having to listen to a Marxist professor, the Liberal next door, or the imnates at the local asylum - because the enormity of the human suffering detailed in the Black Book of Communism is beyond depresing. Soon, the mind is numbed by it all.

By all means read it if you have any slight doubts that Reagan's "Evil Empire" line was anything but an understatement. Just be aware of what is within those somber black covers.

[Jen]

This is great. Wish every soldier could have a copy of it.

Agreed. I printed it and am sending it to some of the troops in Iraq that I correspond with. I hope other FReepers will do the same.

Need the name and address of a deployed servicemember? FReepmail me for info.

[OXENinFLA]

Ping////////............BUMP!!!!!

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Thank you.
~~~~~~~~~~

We pray for you not only because you are our sons and daughters risking your lives, but because if God is good, and if we humans can discern between good and evil, you are doing God's work. It is as clear as that. No American war has ever been clearer.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A rare voice.

Another:

8 Proud to Have Liberated Iraq

[FreedomPoster]

>>A word of warning about the Black Book of Communism

I need to get that some day. Here is a web site that tells the essense of the story of that failed, evil ideology, in very succinct form. I throw it in the face of Lefties regularly.

http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/20TH.HTM

[MEG33]

The military has corrected the story of the mutilation of the bodies.There seemed to be no beating or throat cutting.I googled "soldiers throats not cut" and found the article at the very top.I can't link.

The question remains..why did the Iraqi witnesses report it.The bodies were dragged out and the car looted.The shooters pulled in front of the car ,got out and shot the soldiers through the front windshield.Could the reports reflect the wish for us to summon memories of Somalia and leave?

[MEG33]

A great message.Thanks for posting Prager's letter.

[Coop]

Great article!

[SwatTeam]

Could the reports reflect the wish for us to summon memories of Somalia and leave?

I believe that is exactly what the purpose was. The news people have been talking about this over and over and saying the terrorists think we will run if any of our guys are drug through the streets and walla--------it was tried. I sincerely hope our troops find the freaks who did this and obliterate them and all their cohorts.

[MEG33]

The communists and Islamofascist are now stange bedfellows.The enemy of my enemy is my friend.Anti war protestors...communists and Isamofascist march together.

[RinaseaofDs]

I must disagree. I think that in most people's darkest places, they know that this isn't a fool's crusade. The argument about the war ends at the WTC. It undeniably happened, and responsibility for it was claimed by the people we fight today.

As long as that is true, the threat remains real and immediate and palpable. The 'devil we know' has proven he can successfully protect us from this threat for the last two years. As bad as it is or isn't over there (you can't get a feel for it from the media), we are moving faster to democratize Iraq than we did Japan.

Even the most liberal democrats believe this. I know because in moments of candor in the days after 9/11 they admitted as much. I know because many of my formerly active D's living in Manhattan admitted they voted for the first time for an R in any election.

If there ever was an issue that Bush will win on, Iraq is it.

I will say this, however: I'm not sure that there has ever been a more public act of sedition than that which is being perpetrated by the mainstream press. Prager is right, and everyone EVERYONE knows it.

Daily they abet and enbolden the enemy. I'm gratified to see their empires beginning to crumble.

[maica]

... the folks who gave us Auschwitz and Communism and who now bankroll Iran and North Korea hardly have a claim to moral superiority. Americans like you died for their errors. They never died for ours. And they err again. Instead of learning to fight evil, they have only learned that fighting is evil.

Third, we Americans are relatively alone because from our founding we have believed that we have a mission to better the world. And for this we are hated. We are not hated for our power; we are hated for our values and our sense of chosenness -- just as the never powerful Jews have long been hated for their values and their chosenness.

%%%%

This is profound, and even describes much of the animosity of the dems toward pubs. They hate us for our values!

[blackie]

Dennis Prager: Dear American Soldier in Iraq (Undeniable truths elegantly expressed) ~ Bump!

[Travis McGee]

I listen to Prager on the radio every day, he's opposite Rush. He always says that in a school, the person who stands up to the bully is never thanked, but is hated for "making trouble." The cowards all come to terms with the bullies, (give lunch money, look away as the weak are pushed around etc.) So when someone stands up to the bully and fights back, he shows the rest for the cowards they are, and they hate the brave person for this more than they ever hated the bully.

[TEXOKIE]

Bumped and emailed!

[Choose Ye This Day]

Yep. I'd rather listen to Prager than Rush. I like thinking in terms of Right vs. Wrong, and not simply Right vs. Left.

[Alamo-Girl]

Bump!

[LayoutGuru2]

I listen to Prager on the radio every day, he's opposite Rush. He always says that in a school, the person who stands up to the bully is never thanked, but is hated for "making trouble." The cowards all come to terms with the bullies, (give lunch money, look away as the weak are pushed around etc.) So when someone stands up to the bully and fights back, he shows the rest for the cowards they are, and they hate the brave person for this more than they ever hated the bully.

Thanks, that made my day. I have a hard time picking up Dennis here in the Portland area. He has bounced around the time slots and frequencies, I am going to search him out again.