Posted on 09/21/2005 4:24:50 PM PDT by SandRat
WASHINGTON, Sept. 20, 2005 – The successful parliamentary elections in Afghanistan Sept. 18 have proven wrong all critics of U.S. efforts in that country, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said in a Pentagon news briefing today. Critics of the war in Afghanistan were not just wrong, they were harmful because they made the cause seem hopeless, Rumsfeld said. The millions of Afghan citizens who turned out to vote proved them wrong, and terrorists weren't able to affect the elections, he said.
"Terrorists have done everything in their power to try to intimidate the millions of Afghan voters and the literally thousands of candidates from participating in their elections," he said. "And they failed this week, just as they failed in the successful presidential elections."
The magnitude of what happened in Afghanistan should not be ignored, Rumsfeld said. A country that was host to Osama bin Laden and terrorist training camps and endured decades of civil war, Soviet occupation, drought and Taliban brutality is now a democracy that fights terrorists, he said.
The very critics who foretold doom in Afghanistan are saying the same thing about Iraq, but they will be proven wrong once again, the secretary said. The Iraqis have already formed a government that incorporates the views of the different factions, have held representative elections, and have drafted a constitution that includes respect for individual rights, he said. The Iraqis and the coalition have a plan that will continue to develop the country, he said.
The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq will be looked back on with perspective, Rumsfeld noted, and will be remembered for their greater purpose.
"(History) will not be (about) the daily violence or short-term setbacks, nor which person won the battle for a daily headline by predicting doom and gloom over and over," he said. "Instead, it will show that the battle in Afghanistan and Iraq is tough and ugly to be sure, but that America was on freedom's side. And it will remember the millions of people who have been freed and the hundreds of thousands who helped them achieve that freedom."
You can tell a leftist -- they're the ones who sulk at the expansion of democracy.
But, but but retorts the Media. FDR won WW2 in TWO HOURS and only lost TEN SOLDIERS. Plus it only cost a buck fifty.
We all saw it at the movies says the Media as they stamp their feet.
Seriously, if someone said in March, 2003 that we would remove Saddam's regime and occupy the country for 2 and half year with fewer than 2,000 KIA, we would have thought them dreamers. Gen. McCaffrey predicted 2,000-3,000 just taking Baghdad.
As the Bumper sticker says;
Still Voting LIBERL?
Ahhh,... I see,
A terminal case of STUPID!
The commanders of WWII would have been overjoyed at causualty figures after 2 1/2 years of action like that.
The dems and the MSM know damn well that afghanistan has been a success after bitching and moaning and second guessing Rummy and the Prez the whole time.
Now they will just ignore it to death.
..but, but, a while back,I heard someone say we were stuck in a quagmire.
When viewed from an historical perspective, in 50-75 years, GWB will be perceived as one of the greatest Presidents, ever.
The political changes that are going on now in the middle east, because of the courage of GWB, and his will not to cower from his critics, are changing the entire world. President Bush will be revered as the hero of the arab world for having the foresight {and the guts} to free 50 million Afghans and Iraqis, which lead to the taming of lybia the beginning of the democratic process in lebanon and will lead to other, yet to be seen new freedoms in the entire world.
God Bless this good, strong, President.
I recall reading that on D-Day America lost soldiers at the rate of 1,000 an hour. I haven't been able to confirm this number.
http://www.civilwarhome.com/Battles.htm
Battle of Chickamauga
Date: September 19-20, 1863
Location: Georgia
Confederate Commander: Braxton Bragg
Union Commander: William Rosecrans
Confederate Forces Engaged: 66,326
Union Forces Engaged: 58,222
Winner: Confederacy
Casualties: 34,624 (16,170 Union and 18,454 Confederate)
Battle of Antietam
Date: September 17, 1862
Location: Maryland
Confederate Commander: Robert E. Lee
Union Commander: George B. McClellan
Confederate Forces Engaged: 51,844
Union Forces Engaged: 75,316
Winner: Union
Casualties: 26,134 (12,410 Union and 13,724 Confederate)
Compare those Civil War figures against the Afghan, Iraq caualities and you wonder what the Media is crying about.
Guess history 101 isn't an required course for journalism...
Good post
IMO The left doesn't really care about the soldiers who died, it's just a tool for bashing Bush.
Right on the nose.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.