A Marine's Perspective

A combined report from myself and Maj Maples, another Texan here I serve with. Please ensure widest dissemination.

Greetings to all! It's been a while since I could send anything, but here is my update: We are still rocking and rolling over here!

I cannot believe the media's assessment and portrayal of the situation: They make it sound like we are Custer at Little Big Horn! All I can get real time is the BBC on shortwave and I'm about ready to puke at the sound of that liberal, biased blather again. I don't remember them being so sympathetic to the Iraqi cause 12 years ago but it's evidence of the continued erosion of common sense and backbone in the world.

The fact of the matter is, we are kicking the snot out of them. For the sake of historical comparison, ponder this: At Normandy, Iwo Jima, Tarawa, etc, hundreds and even thousands of men were dead or wounded before we had even gotten across the beach. Here, we have captured over 1/3 of the entire country, destroyed huge amounts of the enemy's weapons/ammunition, and cost the enemy thousands of men (killed, wounded, captured), at the cost of very few of our own men and women.

It is bad when our people are hurt, killed, or captured, but this is not tiddlywinks or a softball tournament: It is a war, and casualties are a part of it. We do all we can to avoid and minimize them, both amongst friendly forces and the innocent civilians. When war becomes necessary casualties are an unfortunate fact of life but are a smaller loss for a larger overall gain. A point to remember; when the enemy commander places his forces in the middle of civilians and protected areas to shield or hide his forces he has violated the laws of war, not us.

We must target with extreme prejudice, all the while trying to do all we can to properly identify and engage only legitimate threats and only use the amount of force necessary to deal with it. Knowing they cannot defeat us toe to toe they have fought mostly unconventionally. The enemy is not stupid and has learned some lessons from the stomping he took last time and has, at times, been fanatical, but this should not be confused with being militarily effective. They have fired lots of ammo, but they are about the worst shots in history in terms of rounds fired compared to actually hitting anything. (I'm reminded of me and some of my hunting companions sometimes.)

As has been noted before by many others, including Stormin Norman from the last war, the enemy are simply not that good of a fighters. I am no more impressed with the enemy's fighting ability this time around than was previously the case.

I am proud to be part of an effort that is multifaceted in its objectives: We are freeing a people from a brutal tyrant - saddam is a BAD guy who remember has already killed more fellow muslims than anyone in history. We're denying this BAD guy the ability to threaten other people, including Americans and Iraqis, with poison gas, germ weapons, and maybe even nukes. We are preventing this same BAD guy from sharing these bad weapons with the same nice people who brought us 9/11.

We are not bullying the Iraqi people: We are going to historically extraordinary lengths to spare them, and we have been successful much more often than not. Most of them will be more than happy to be rid of saddam's regime; they just understandably don't want to be ruled by Americans, but in a country of 26? million that still leaves a lot of regime loyalists to deal with. They are mostly immoral, criminal in nature themselves whose whole future is tied to the regime. If the regime doesn't survive and we don't kill them first the normal people of Iraq will hunt them down and kill them as is starting to already happen in some places.

I can proudly say we are good, fair, and decent people who gave our enemy a choice, which is a whole lot more than they gave our people on 9/11. I believe our cause is just and I believe in what we are doing, which is ultimately protecting the American people; folks should never forget that.

We will fight, sacrifice, and we will win, all we need is for the American people to stand firmly behind us, remain prayerful and humble before God, and have faith in eventual victory for our cause.

Michelle Malkin

If Seattle could edit history...

http://www.NewsAndOpinion.com | One of the things that drove me craziest when I lived in Seattle several years ago was the astounding ability of the city's politicians to suck the plain meaning out of words-and to replace them with a rhetorical muddle as gray and hazy as the city's famous skies.

They're still at it. The Associated Press reports this week that the left-wing city council can't even agree on a basic resolution offering support to our troops.

The original resolution, proposed by Seattle citizen Michael Behar, declares that the city "wholeheartedly supports and appreciates the brave men and women of Seattle serving in the United States Military, and wishes them G-dspeed in their dangerous missions and a safe return from harm's way."

This apparently offended anti-war Councilman Nick Licata so much that he proposed a lengthy addendum:

"We also urge our government to not abandon a foreign policy that can still achieve victory through diplomacy and engagement with the United Nations. Avoiding and ending unnecessary combat in Iraq is a sure way to support our troops and ensure their safe and speedy return home. We deeply regret the loss of life, destruction of homes, and damage to cities and infrastructure in Iraq. Our hearts go out to the people of Iraq in this time of suffering and loss, and we hope and pray for peace at the earliest possible time."

Other council members objected to depicting the troops' current mission as a response to "foreign tyrants and aggressors." Another member complained about a simple line praising local soldiers for answering the call of duty "whenever the cause of freedom is threatened." One politician suggested describing the troops as fighting not "in defense of their country" but for "military service."

Can you imagine if the Seattle City Council appeasers had been around to edit some of the most famous quotations in the history of war? Take a peek:

Lead me, follow me, or get out of my way. - General George Patton Jr.

[Seattleified: Arrive with me at a peaceful consensus or form an alternative decision-making committee to explore underrepresented options.]
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War is hell. - General William Tecumseh Sherman

[Seattleified: Armed conflict is a very, very, very negative thing.]
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The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you. - General Dwight D. Eisenhower, address to his troops on D-Day 1944

[Seattleified: While we support your efforts in general, our hopes and prayers are that you avoid unnecessary destruction of sea and plant life as you land on the fragile beaches at Normandy.]
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Give me liberty or give me death. - Patrick Henry

[Seattleified: Give non-aggression a chance.]
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History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. - General Dwight D. Eisenhower

[Seattleified: We refuse to rewrite this offensive statement. It is a hate crime against the weak and timid.]
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"The best form of defense is attack." - Karl von Clausewitz

[Seattleified: The most preferable form of defense is a sit-in, candle lighting, and survival kit with bottled water, Nutella, environmentally-safe non-plastic sheeting and homemade cornstarch paste (a non-industrial alternative to duct tape).]
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Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall! - Ronald W. Reagan

[Seattleified: Mr. Gorbachev, we will maintain a non-judgmental posture toward the Communist regime. P.S. Do you think Moscow would be interested in being our new sister city?]
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I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat. -Sir Winston Churchill

[Seattleified: We have nothing to offer but tears, tears, tears, and tears.]
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Never give in--never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense. - Churchill

[Seattleified: Always give in-always, always, always, always.]
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My good friends, for the second time in our history, a British Prime Minister has returned from Germany bringing peace with honor. I believe it is peace for our time...Go home and get a nice quiet sleep. - British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, the Great Appeaser, after handing over Czechoslovakia to Hitler to avoid war

[Seattleified: Perfect! We wouldn't change a word.]
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