Turning a mortal enemy into a staunch ally is never easy. Postwar Germany and Japan were plagued with problems that are so readily forgotten with the passage of time, but pacifying and helping to rebuild these countries was the right thing to do, for America.
Our President cannot openly reveal the U.S. strategy for the Middle East because to do so would cost uncountable American lives. F.D.R. did not announce U.S. war plans publicly, either. But it is a good strategy and, unlike so many strategies past, it is not an expedient, but a long-term vision that solves difficult, lingering, previously insoluble problems and eliminates dangerous threats to our nation once and for all.
Standing on Omaha Beach on D-Day, so many years past, it was not possible to see the liberation of Europe and the defeat of Nazi Germany, only the death, suffering and sense of tragedy among our troops. It was an awful and costly day. But it was only the beginning of the valiant and bloody ground battle to take back western Europe that the Allies would eventually win. So it is today in Iraq.
As this strategy unfolds and bears fruit, America will look back on the work that has been done in Afghanistan and Iraq and marvel. We will see how that work has directly protected our nation and set the stage for a much brighter future for us all. And we will never forget those who gave the ultimate sacrifice to achieve this.
If that's not worth fighting for, nothing is.
I see Greg Packer was the 'first' to comment on your blog.
I like your sense of humor.