AN OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT BUSH

You have just received the report of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group (ISG) with its 79 recommendations for policy changes, force redeployments and other course corrections with respect to the conflict in Iraq. We believe you have responded properly in welcoming this product -- but reserving judgment as to whether you will accept its suggestions.

This is especially important because of the argument being made in some quarters that, in light of the unanimity exhibited by the distinguished Republican and Democratic members of this commission, the advice offered must be accepted in toto. As leaders of the bipartisan National Security Advisory Council of the Center for Security Policy, we would respectfully suggest that people of good will and expertise from both parties can - and in many cases do - come to very different conclusions than those offered by the ISG.

In particular, members of our Council on both sides of the aisle strongly disagree with what is, arguably, the Baker-Hamilton commission's most strategically portentous recommendation:

The United States should immediately launch a New Diplomatic Offensive to build an international consensus for stability in Iraq and the region?.Iraq's neighbors and key states in and outside the region should form a support group to reinforce security and national reconciliation within Iraq, neither of which Iraq can achieve on its own. Given the ability of Iran and Syria to influence events within Iraq and their interest in avoiding chaos in Iraq, the United States should try to engage them constructively.

As the ISG's own report documents, far from being proponents of stability, the Islamic Republic of Iran and its de facto colony, Syria, have gone to great lengths to destabilize the Middle East and, in particular, to prevent Iraq from becoming a free, democratic and peaceful nation.

Americans have been murdered for nearly three decades by Iranian operatives and Tehran's proxies. U.S. and coalition personnel and civilians in Iraq are being slaughtered today by deadly Iranian I.E.D.s (Improvised Explosive Devices) and other weapons provided to like-minded Islamofascist groups.

At the same time, the Iranian regime is working to acquire nuclear arms and long-range ballistic missiles with which to deliver them. When combined with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's repeated threats to "wipe Israel off the map" and bring about "a world without America," we face the prospect that, in due course, the mullahs running Iran will have the means to carry out their apocalyptic intentions.

In our view, opening negotiations with Iran (and Syria) as suggested by the ISG will have several undesirable effects.

First, such negotiations will legitimate that increasingly dangerous regime and reward its violent and hostile actions against us and our allies. We should rather endeavor to discredit and undermine this regime.

Second, such a course will embolden our enemies who already believe they are sapping our will to resist them.

Third, such an initiative would buy further time for the Iranian mullahs to obtain and prepare to wield weapons of mass destruction.

Fourth, entering into negotiations with Tehran's theocrats will create the illusion that we are taking useful steps to contend with the threat from Iran - when, in fact, we would not be. As a result, other, more effective actions - specifically, steps aimed at encouraging regime change in Iran - will not be pursued. Finally, we trust that you will recognize the necessity of including Israel in any regional conference in which its security and other equities might be a subject of negotiations and that, in such settings and elsewhere, you will continue to adhere to the principle that America supports fellow democracies and eschews appeasement of terrorists and aggressors.

In short, Mr. President, we encourage you to follow your better instincts. By all means, review, assess and, as appropriate, adopt the recommendations of the Iraq Study Group and those of the executive branch agencies you have commissioned. We urge you, however, to continue to reject any course of action that would signal that America has become a country that, to quote the scholar Bernard Lewis, is "harmless as an enemy and treacherous as a friend."

(Washington, D.C.): In the wake of the submission to President Bush and the Congress of the Iraq Study Group's report, members of that unelected, unaccountable commission have insisted that all of its recommendations must be adopted fortwith. ISG co-chairman James Baker went so far as to declare: "I hope we don't treat this like a fruit salad and say, 'I like this, but I don't like that. I like this, but I don't like that.'"

Two of the Nation's foremost national security practitioners - Republican Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona and former Clinton Director of Central Intelligence R. James Woolsey - have written an open letter to President Bush urging him not to accept the ISG's recommendations in toto. They note that "people of good will and expertise from both parties can - and in many cases do - come to very different conclusions than those offered by the ISG."

In particular, the two Honorary Co-Chairmen of the Center for Security Policy's bipartisan National Security Advisory Council warn against one of the commission's most controversial and ill-advised ideas: opening direct negotiations with Iran and Syria. Senator Kyl and Director Woolsey wrote:

In our view, opening negotiations with Iran (and Syria) as suggested by the ISG will have several undesirable effects.

Second, such a course will embolden our enemies who already believe they are sapping our will to resist them.

Third, such an initiative would buy further time for the Iranian mullahs to obtain and prepare to wield weapons of mass destruction.

Fourth, entering into negotiations with Tehran's theocrats will create the illusion that we are taking useful steps to contend with the threat from Iran - when, in fact, we would not be. As a result, other, more effective actions - specifically, steps aimed at encouraging regime change in Iran - will not be pursued. The Center for Security Policy applauds Messrs. Kyl and Woolsey for conveying in this open letter what is on the minds of millions of Americans: We cannot safely and constructively negotiate with enemies determined to destroy us and should not try to do so with respect to Iran and its colony, Syria. The Center thanks President Bush for his determination to date to reject such counsel and strongly supports him in continuing to do so.

With a special thanks to Wolfstar for her fabulous first paragraph, I sent my OWN letter to our President....

Dear Mr. President,

--Paraphrasing Thomas Paine: Like Washington and his army in 1776, our current Commander-in-Chief, the armed forces he leads, and all Americans who stand with them, are winter soldiers who do not shrink from the service of their country even in dark, stormy times.

Mr. President,

~ I support and pray for you;

~ I support and pray for our troops; and (I wanted you to know that)

~ I take the time to stop, thank, shake hands, and try to hug every service person I come in contact with and tell them that they are making a difference--making the world a better place, and know that not all Americans are self-centered, short-sighted, and impatient. Many of us voted for their success, by voting Republican.

God Bless you Sir. It must be very, very difficult for your insides, but thank you for not letting it show, outside. Thank you for being an inspiration to us all. Thank you for your resolve, and know you can count on your (be a citizen, not a spectator) "winter soldiers."

Your friend,

To all who read this thread, the opening paragraph to which NordP refers was on yesterday's "Day in the life of President Bush" thread. I repeat the entire short essay here in hopes others will take do as NordP has done, stand with the winter soldiers.

------------

With the release of the so-called Iraq Study Group's horrible "report," it seemed critical to me to remember 1776. No one living at the time could have predicted such a positive outcome for the then-colonies struggling to become a new nation. It's little known now, but not only did the Americans seeking independence have to fight the British, but often other Americans who did not want independence. The strife between the "Patriots" and "Tories" was often brutal, bloody and deadly. Go back with me and imagine how dark the times seemed to those living in the America of December 1776...

THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated.
Thomas Paine, The Crisis, December 23, 1776.

Three days after Paine published this first in a series of articles called, collectively, "The Crisis," General George Washington led his troops across the Delaware River in order to surprise the English and Hessian troops in the Battle of Trenton the day after Christmas 1776.

The weather was well below freezing, with a heavy snow cover. Washington and his army had suffered a series of disastrous defeats, including the loss of Boston, and the loss of the city and state of New York. The British chased the American army across New Jersey and into Pennsylvania. But despite all this; despite the immense odds against them, the ragged Continental Army won the Battle of Trenton. It was an enormous victory, both in real terms and in psychological terms, and gave a much-needed lift to the Revolutionary cause.

There were hard times and years of war still ahead, including the horrible winter at Valley Forge in 1777, but Trenton proved that the Americans could defeat the British and their mercenaries, the Hessians. Trenton bought Gen. Washington time to build a real army.

Although the differences between Iraq in 2001 and the fledgling United States in 1776 are great, there also are inescapable parallels. So, to the summer soldiers and sunshine patriots among us -- on both the Left and Right -- I offer this next Paine quote. It's not as widely known as the opening paragraph of "The Crisis," but it goes straight to the heart of what the American nation faces today:

THOSE who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must...undergo the fatigues of supporting it...It is not a field of a few acres of ground, but a cause, that we are defending, and whether we defeat the enemy in one battle, or by degrees, the consequences will be the same.
Thomas Pain, writing in Philadelphia, Sept. 12, 1777.

Paraphrasing Thomas Paine: Like Washington and his army in 1776, our current Commander-in-Chief, the armed forces he leads, and all Americans who stand with them, are winter soldiers who do not shrink from the service of their country even in dark, stormy times.

If you are a winter soldier, take a pen and piece of paper, write a few little words -- Mr. President, I support and pray for you and our troops. Put the note in an envelope addressed to:

The Hon. George W. Bush
President of the United States
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Slap a stamp on the envelope and mail it this week.

It's the least we winter soldiers can do.

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.