Posted on 01/01/2006 7:46:39 AM PST by billorites
THE MYTH that President Bush went to Iraq solely to dislodge Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction, then changed the rationale to fostering democracy after weapons were not found, is pervasive. Yet here is what President Bush said in a speech in Washington on Feburary 26, 2003:
"The current Iraqi regime has shown the power of tyranny to spread discord and violence in the Middle East. A liberated Iraq can show the power of freedom to transform that vital region, by bringing hope and progress into the lives of millions. America's interests in security, and America's belief in liberty, both lead in the same direction: To a free and peaceful Iraq.
"The first to benefit from a free Iraq would be the Iraqi people themselves. Today they live in scarcity and fear, under a dictator who has brought them nothing but war and misery and torture. Their lives and their freedom matter little to Saddam Hussein — but Iraqi lives and freedom matter greatly to us."
U.S. forces spend a great deal of time doing what they can to prove that last point, though few of those efforts are covered by the American media. One that got covered last week provides a good example of the kind of people our service members are, and the kind of people our enemies are.
CNN reported that a Georgia National Guard unit, during a search for terrorists, encountered a family whose newborn had spina bifida, a potentially fatal spinal defect. Many of the Guard members were fathers themselves, and they decided they were not going to let that little girl die.
"We . . . collectively decided this is going to be our project," Sgt. Michael Sonen told CNN. "If this is the only contribution we have to defeating the war on terrorism, this is going to be it."
The soldiers got the baby a medical evaluation and arranged financing for her trip to Atlanta, where Dr. Roger Hudgins, chief of neurosurgery at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, is to perform the operation at no charge. Now the family is awaiting travel visas, which Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., is trying to expedite.
The family's identity has been kept a secret to protect them from terrorists.
"We visited them when we could, which was usually in the middle of the night, as covertly as possible," Lt. Jeff Morgan said. "Because the insurgents in Iraq like to find people that we're trying to help sometimes and either terrorize them or sometimes worse."
In case anyone has forgotten who are the bad guys and who are the good guys in this war, this story should help sort out the confusion.
God bless our President for his strength in the face of such partisan adversity and ruthless enemies. And shame on republicans for being silent and failing to defend righteousness and America.
No one has "forgotten", they just purposely twist it for political effect.
DITTO'S!!!!!!!!!
I am awestruck by our troop's humanitarian efforts in Iraq,
they are the most magnificent our country and the world will ever see. They have sent children and adults to hospitals to have surgery have hands, arms, and ears replaced.
The military has always been our greatest good will ambassadors, but this generation are angels.
Wouldn't be nice to have parade showing our support to be
sent over there to show them how much we care about them.
From a columnist for the Marietta Daily Journal, a suburban Atlanta newspaper. I'm very close to this writer...
Noor puts freedom in a real context
Laura Armstrong, Jan. 1, 2006
If I could force the critics of this war to look anywhere right now, I'd make them look at Georgia, at a little baby, and at the good-hearted Americans who're moving heaven and Earth to help an Iraqi family.
I'd show them Baby Noor, the 3-month-old infant who's traveling from Abu Ghraib to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta for life-saving surgery. I'd point them at Georgia's 48th Brigade Combat Team, the regular folks at Douglasville's Shepherd of the Hills United Methodist Church, Senator Saxby Chambliss and every other kind soul behind the spirited effort.
This story, which in a few short days has become symbolic of all that's good about U.S. involvement in Iraq, is proof that much of what liberals and critics say about the war is propaganda.
"Bombing the hell" out of a country, intentionally killing innocents, and being there only for oil are the addled manifestations of war critics who live in a world of denial, accusation and mistrust.
Their opposition to our presence in Iraq, including non-stop criticism of the administration and our military as "imperialist killing machines" isn't based on fact, but on myth, misguided naiveté or, worst of all, hatred for this president.
They don't want to admit to any successes in Iraq, even the individual ones like saving Baby Noor.
See the hand ringing, as war critics watch troops get positive press for doing what they do every day: helping the people of Iraq.
See them aghast that Baby Noor might get half the coverage given the torture story, the atrocity story, the Koran mishandling story. They do not want the world to see soldiers being fatherly, going the extra mile to save one small life.
This rocks John Kerry's world, because he and his cronies say our troops "terrorize Iraqi women and children" in the middle of the night. Don't ask me why, but a majority of liberals and democrats want us to believe that, even though they claim to "support the troops". (If they're not characterizing our professional soldiers and Marines as evil occupiers, they're painting them as misled victims).
And about the father and grandmother of little Baby Noor: have you noticed they must cover their faces, protecting their identities from the possibility of discovery?
This is not done for religious reasons, but out of fear. Fear that the real evil occupiers of their country and their neighborhood will see them. Fear the insurgents (lets just call them what they are - terrorists) might see them TRYING TO GET HELP FOR THEIR CHILD and kill them and their family members.
Americans historically stand up against evil. We're bearers of hope and freedom around the world, despite what liberals say.
If Baby Noor's touching story isn't proof enough for them of why we should be in Iraq and of the evil we're fighting, then I'm resigned to the fact they're hopelessly stuck in a quagmire of their own - the inability to see that for which we fight.
How can men be so evil that they would kill someone for saving their child?
This puts freedom in perspective to me.
lbarmstrong3378@comcast.net
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