Posted on 11/24/2006 6:46:08 PM PST by kristinn
I'm reading an astonishing number of comments on Free Republic these days by posters who have joined the ranks of the anti-American left in calling for an immediate withdrawal from Iraq. Some claim to have military experience, some claim to be patriotic Americans and some claim to be smarter than the rest.
These posters are joining the Murtha-Rangel-McDermott treason caucus. Oh, they say they love the troops, but their decision to abandon them in the field speaks otherwise.
Three years ago, the United States led an international coalition to rid the world of one of the worst regimes on the planet. Saddam Hussein was an international terrorist: He financed terrorism, he trained terrorists and he harbored terrorists. He waged war on Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Israel. He waged war on the people of Iraq, including genocidal campaigns against the Kurds in the north and the marsh Arabs in the south.
Saddam successfully subverted the Oil-for-Food program and was wearing down support for continuing the sanctions keeping him in check.
He had numerous contacts with al Qaeda over the years. He tried to assassinate a former U.S. president. He maintained research capabilities to implement nuclear, chemical and biological weapons as soon as the sanctions were lifted. There is evidence that some of these programs would have been operational within a year even with the sanctions in place.
The decision to remove Saddam and his regime as part of the Global War on Terror was correct.
Three-and-a-half years after Iraq and the world were liberated from Saddam and his terrorist regime, there are those on Free Republic who are clamoring to give up, surrender, cut and run, stab the troops in the back, betray the Iraqis, betray our allies in the GWOT, spit on the graves of our fallen heroes and join Cindy Sheehan, Medea Benjamin and Ramsey Clark in bringing about America's defeat in the GWOT.
It's only been three-and-a-half years--only six months since the freely elected government in Iraq was formed. In that time, what has been called a mini-Marshall Plan of construction and reconstruction has come to fruition. The Iraqis have held three national elections, they have held numerous local elections, fourteen out of eighteen Iraq provinces are relatively peaceful and stable.
Six months ago, when the Iraqi government was formed, the experts said the war would be taken to Baghdad because our enemies in the region could not abide the example of a free, democratic society in the Middle East. For once, the experts were right. The battle of Baghdad has been a prolonged Tet Offensive style operation of headline-grabbing attacks intended to sap the morale of Americans and Iraqis alike.
From what I've been reading on Free Republic lately, a lot of Freepers have fallen for the enemy's ploy and are howling like barking moonbats for our immediate withdrawal from Iraq. Some of that talk is couched in talk of 'we're fighting a PC war like Vietnam!' The soldiers I met in Iraq recently told Debra Argel Bastian to pass on a message to the Vietnam vets criticizing the war: With all due respect to your service, this is not Vietnam. It is not being fought like Vietnam. Please let us finish our mission.
But our enemy is playing the Vietnam ploy to great benefit. They know they can count on the American and world media to broadcast their propaganda. They work with leftist Americans to sabotage the war effort at home. They know these leftist Americans have allies in the Democratic party. They know they do not need a military victory--only political and psychological victories are needed to defeat America.
You guys are playing right in to their hands. Congratulations.
There are those who argue that murder and dictatorship is the mindset of the Middle East and that will not be changed by our actions. Funny how those who smugly denigrate the Arab peoples' capacity for freedom forget the wholesale slaughter of millions of Westerners by Westerners at the hands of Western dictatorships just a few generations past.
I hear complaints that the Iraqis aren't standing up. Yet, to use one common example, when police recruits are slaughtered in bombings, Iraqis line up the next day at the same recruiting center. The insurgency is small in number, but they are able to do enough damage on a daily basis to stretch out the time it will take to secure the whole of Iraq.
At this time of our testing, the American people are starting to go wobbly. Sadly, many Freepers are too. Our troops and their Commander-in-Chief are not, thank God. It's only been three-and-a-half years. The progress made has been phenomonal. Throw in the towel now, and you'll just have the terrorists follow us home. Everyone knows that, including you. I'm not willing to pay that price, not now, not ever, but you are.
Let me close by offering similar sentiments recently offered by two men 'in the know' on the situation in Iraq who are not giving up. First, Kurdish Regional Government Prime Minister Barzani: "When I was in the United States recently and read the negative news in the Washington Post, New York Times and in the network TV broadcasts, I even wondered if things had gotten so bad since I had left that I shouldn't return."
Next, Gen. Abizaid: "When I come to Washington, I feel despair. When I'm in Iraq with my commanders, when I talk to our soldiers, when I talk to the Iraqi leadership, they are not despairing."
Cut and run is a waste. Getting the Kurds away from those Shia and Sunnis would be wise. Then we couuld have a true democracy in the Middle East who is friendly to us.
I've seen those, figured they were just people driving by to vote... I thought on some of the who will win in '08 threads some were saying Hillary and I certainly missed those.
Which is why the Clinton administration called for his overthrow.
You're not going to have to twist my arm to make me say Clinton was wrong.
We now know that whatever WMD Hussein had, it was pretty underwhelming. Even once we'd invaded, there was still hope that this would come out okay. As soon as we figured out the WMD situation, it was time to install someone we liked as dictator and go home. That's the way we used to do it.
Hussein was responsible for killing a whole bunch of people, including Americans. And now he is going to do the rope dance. One would think you would agree that that is a good thing.
"Name one good thing it has done for us to have him (saddam) gone -- and I mean for US, not for freedom or democracy or the Iraqi people or any of that BS."
-- --
If Bush had attacked Afghanistan in July, 2001 and eliminated Osama, destroyed Al Qaeda, and in the process prevented the WTC attacks (knowingly or unknowingly), you could have arm-chair quarterbacked that same question!!
Anyone in the business of terrorism must be destroyed.
Holy cow!
I've read rumors, but didn't really believe that Dan Rather had a Freeper screen name. Until now.
Nothing unreasonable about wanting that.
Thank YOU for writing this!
Don't be a wise ass.
My Grandson was in IRAQ in the Spring of 2003, US Army, MP outfit out of Fort Lewis.
Why is your oldest kid in IRAQ 3 1/2 years later?
Getting rid of Mouktada AlSadr would go a long way in solving at least part of the problem... IMO.
....thanks for the tidbit; I'll try it sometime.
The train to Chaosville is loading in Foggy Bottom, track 666....
Why am I not surprised we lost the election?
That's exactly why we lost the election and why we will continue to lose them if this failure or critical thinking continues.
Im not saying the "cut and run" republicans in FR are right. Im saying we should not ban them or call them DUer Trolls and try to discredit them by name calling. Instead we should engage them... it's great practice and a skill sharpener of discussing such issues with democrats, libertarians and others who may for whatever reason be undecided on Iraq now. For us to ban or shut down critical thinkers by calling them names is only denying us the exercise of improving our discussion skills outside of FR.
The dems have been doing this since atleast 2000 and is the reason why they have been losing. They were unable to argue logically with their republican opponents because they denied themselves the skill of debating by avoiding the issue and instead engaged in name calling.
Republicans began doing this same thing sometime after the 2004 elections. We paid for it in 2006.
I saw this coming. I hate to say it. I saw this coming over the summer. It's a shame.
Ping
Thanks, from a Real Hoosier.
Me? *gasp* I don't think I've ever been accused of such a thing before...
You're kidding me, right? The occupation of ALL of Iraq is of no propaganda value to bin Laden? If that's the case, who are all these guys we're fighting over there, anyway?
If you're going to count war casualties on both sides for Hussein in the Iran-Iraq War, do it for this war, too. But I don't think we should count military deaths for either conflict. The main point is that it's kind of dangerous for your average Habib to go out in Baghdad today for a pack of smokes, that didn't used to be the case.
And the vast majority of those dying today come from Muslim killing Muslim.
That's precisely my point.
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.