Posted on 02/11/2007 4:25:43 PM PST by kristinn
Attention Ft. Living Room, Here's a Middle Finger of Defiance
I write regularly about the war in Iraq, the greater war on terrorism, and my unrelenting respect and support for our men and women in uniform who wage this battle against inhumanity in our stead.
I consume so much media and debate on this subject, that I catch myself every so often, ready to give up and just beg they come home given the total lack of honor and respect they get from the media and our fools up on Capitol Hill.
By some fate of luck or destiny, I come across things like THIS just in time to pull my sorrow and indignation back from the abyss, and renew my hope and inspire a redoubling of my efforts to keep fighting for them as long and as hard as they fight for us.
More below the fold...
It should come as no surprise that this report, sponsored in part by Free Republic, hasn't hit the middle shelves of the Main Stream Media. I came across it quite by accident in my morning reads and offer a big stetson to Becky and the good folks over at Military Families Voice of Victory. As she rightly suggests, it's the sort of thing "you do not often see in the MSM."
This document is but one example of Americans taking back "some" control over the debate regarding Iraq, and the discussion about what to do there. This should be considered a MUST read, if for no other reason than getting a perspective that is outside the for-profit opinions of the media and our political heroes.
In fact, I reference here another story I did back in December, over at my NEBV home base, in which I covered an event of similar background (this time sponsored by Move America Forward).
In all the excitement over the Iraq Study Group report as we awaited it's wisdom and insight from on high with baited breath, no one heard about a version of such a report written by Gold Star Mothers; people with dramatically more of a vested interest in the outcome of this war than the hollow suits looking to build a market base for future book deals.
While we hear on a nightly basis that this war is unwinnable, comes at too great a cost, or was illegally waged and is only being fought by President Bush alone, the Gold Star Mothers believed this instead:
The authors of this report believe that winning the war in Iraq – not “solving the problems” of Iraq – is essential to the United States commitment to the war against terrorism.
Defeat in Iraq, which we define as an immediate or near immediate withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq, would have devastating geopolitical consequences, embolden Islamic terrorist groups and send the message that the United States lacks the will to see through its commitment to defeat those who employ terrorism, bloodshed, fear and violence to advance oppression and tyranny.
Now, when you couple this with the thoughts, opinions, and assessments of the people involved in the Citizens Report, you get a wholly different analysis of the issues of War and Peace. I paste the Executive Summary here, in toto, because you need to see it in full context:
This report can best be described as a middle finger of defiance aimed at the gloom and doom armchair generals in Congress, the media and Fort Living room.
It is also offered as a beacon of hope to those Americans, Iraqis an coalition partners striving for victory in Free Iraq against a global political, military and media alliance committed to our defeat.
The American and Iraqi people were ill-served by the Iraq Study Group report issued last year. It was little more than a prescription for capitulation to our enemies and betrayal of our allies.
In the Citizens Report on Iraq, readers will learn that progress is being made in Iraq; that the enemy is being killed and wounded in astounding proportion to American casualties; that the reporting on Iraq by the dominant media is universally despised as inaccurate and misleading by those fighting for free Iraq--Americans and Iraqis alike; that the so-called antiwar movement is led by terrorist supporting Marxists as part of a global alliance seeking America's defeat in the Global War on Terror and that a prominent White House correspondent has allied herself with one of these groups.
The report includes frank interviews with dozens of Operation Iraqi Freedom veterans, their families and several Gold Star parents. Those who think their support for President Bush and victory in Iraq has waned will be sorely disappointed.
The report includes an overview of captured Saddam Hussein era Iraqi government documents that demonstrate Saddam's commitment to international terrorism and research in to Weapons of Mass Destruction, including nuclear weapons.
Contributors include a history professor, an American contractor who has spent the past three years in Iraq, an Iraqi living in Baghdad, and numerous soldiers who spoke frankly on condition of anonymity.
The information in this report was gathered from original research and interviews, publicly available government reports, blog entries, news articles and transcripts.
One thing, if nothing else, that this piece should bring you to realize is that there are more opinions than those of the talking heads on tv or Capitol Hill. The opinions from these two reports are, in many cases, more relevant than those of the so called "professionals" because it is the families and the soldiers and the people living in Iraq who's voices should be given more weight. They are, after all, the ones with everything to lose.
Consider this a good time to renew this debate; to take it away from the officials and put it back in the laps of the American people. We are paying for this war with OUR money and the blood of OUR families and fellow members of the community, and as such should be allowed some credence in the views and opinions we express as individuals and as Americans.
Consider the final words from the Citizen Report, written by Joseph Shahda. They get the last word here:
The price of failure in Iraq will be that the terrorists--whether they are Al Qaeda or the Iranian and Syrian terrorist regimes or a combination of all of them--will not only control Iraq but the whole Middle East. With that control will come consequences to the US, the West, Iraqis, and all freedom loving people that are worse than our most horrible nightmares. The terrorists will use the hundred of billions of dollars in oil revenues available to them to orchestrate terrorist attacks that will be more horrific, more deadly, and more damaging than the 9/11 terrorist attacks, including the use of nuclear weapons. They will also use the oil they control as a weapon to blackmail the Western and the world economy in to submission for many years to come.
If a band of terrorists dwelling in camps in Afghanistan with a limited budget and few volunteers were able to carry out the 9/11 attack, killing almost 3000 of our citizens and severely disrupting our economy, imagine the incredible horrors that the terrorists will inflict on us if they control the whole Middle East and its vast resources.
Please bear this in mind as you decide whether to support victory or defeat in Iraq.
Copies have been delivered to selected Senators and Representatives, and to the White House.
If you haven't done so, please take the time to download the 86 page report and read it. If you like it, please forward the link or print out copies for others to read.
Step up and take a bow you 'must read' authors!
Thank you ping!
Thank you again Kristinn. Downloaded, read and redelivered.
mrs
I'm getting "this object has been blocked" for the Citizens Report link.
Thanks for all you do, Kristinn!!
Great job!! Thank you all very much!!
Thank you!
I just tried both links in the article and the comment. It downloaded fine for me.
Thanks, Jim!
BIG BUMP!
ping
It's Adobe. Make sure you are enabled for Adobe reader.
BIG BUMP!
YW. A big thank you for all who put forth such hard work on the report. It is a must read.
Reading it now but had to come back and give thanks.
BTTT
Excellent :)
Kristinn, thanks for your diligence and all you do to support our troops. And, thanks to Jim Robinson for providing this wonderful forum to help get out the truth.
Have you forwarded this link to Fox News people like Brit Hume, John Gibson or O'Reilly?
{High five}
Let's keep getting the TRUTH out!
BTTT
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