Friday, November 10, 2006
Becoming Again the Nation Our Fathers Served
The guys I've talked to about service in Viet Nam, the ones who will talk, told me that the year in (13 months for Marines) and then rotate back to the World was a bad idea. You spent the first 90 days terrified and then the last 90 days really scared of dying so you were effective for only half the time and then the hard won knowledge of survival and effective combat just went away. Viet Nam was hard, too hard for the soft folks back home and we went home. Then the bad stuff started. We refused to help South Viet Nam again and then we cut off meaningful military aid to our former ally. When I say we I mean the Democrats in Congress.
We had Vietnamized the war; the South had an army and a small airforce. We still had bomber bases around there. We had trained them and supplied them and they were able to withstand, all on their own, a strong NVA attack in September, 1973 near Pleiku. But we betrayed them. "You can trust us. We will help you. You can stick your neck out. We need to stop the spread of Communism. We will keep you supplied and provide air cover. You'll be fine with us gone. We won't abandon you." Then we betrayed them. And when I say we I mean the Democrats in Congress, starting on June 19, 1973.
After the relatively bloodless (for us) ass kicking we gave the Iraqi Army, the World's fourth largest at the time, in Gulf War I, we ran out of UN mandate and stopped without destroying the Republican Guard, without taking Baghdad, without deposing Saddam. And when I say we, I mean the 60 nation coalition that had fought the Iraqis and forcibly removed them from Kuwait.
Then our President urged the Shia and Kurds to rise up against the Ba'ath party, against Saddam. "You can trust us. We will help you. You can stick your neck out. We will provide air cover. You'll be fine with us at your back. We won't abandon you." And then when the Shia and Kurds rose up against Saddam, we abandoned them and lifted not a finger as the tanks and helicopters of the World's formerly fourth largest army slaughtered them. And when I say we I mean George Herbert Walker Bush, the first president Bush.
Then we tried to ameliorate that horrible stain on our nation's honor by coming back into Iraq during Gulf War II in Spring of 2003 (12 years too late, but better late than never). After a relatively bloodless (for us) slaughter of the World's formerly fourth largest army and the capture, at last, of Saddam (dead man eating Doritos), we urged the Iraqis to set up a democratic form of government in the power vacuum we had created by deposing Saddam. "You can trust us. We will help you. You can stick your neck out. We will train your new army and police. You'll be fine with us at your back. We won't abandon you."
If we abandon the Iraqis now because it's been difficult and frustrating and expensive and we are suffering unprecedented low casualties for warfare, who will ever trust us in the future? And when I say we I mean each and every citizen of America including our political leaders, especially our political leaders, on both sides of the political aisle.
We had Vietnamized the war; the South had an army and a small airforce. We still had bomber bases around there. We had trained them and supplied them and they were able to withstand, all on their own, a strong NVA attack in September, 1973 near Pleiku. But we betrayed them. "You can trust us. We will help you. You can stick your neck out. We need to stop the spread of Communism. We will keep you supplied and provide air cover. You'll be fine with us gone. We won't abandon you." Then we betrayed them. And when I say we I mean the Democrats in Congress, starting on June 19, 1973.
After the relatively bloodless (for us) ass kicking we gave the Iraqi Army, the World's fourth largest at the time, in Gulf War I, we ran out of UN mandate and stopped without destroying the Republican Guard, without taking Baghdad, without deposing Saddam. And when I say we, I mean the 60 nation coalition that had fought the Iraqis and forcibly removed them from Kuwait.
Then our President urged the Shia and Kurds to rise up against the Ba'ath party, against Saddam. "You can trust us. We will help you. You can stick your neck out. We will provide air cover. You'll be fine with us at your back. We won't abandon you." And then when the Shia and Kurds rose up against Saddam, we abandoned them and lifted not a finger as the tanks and helicopters of the World's formerly fourth largest army slaughtered them. And when I say we I mean George Herbert Walker Bush, the first president Bush.
Then we tried to ameliorate that horrible stain on our nation's honor by coming back into Iraq during Gulf War II in Spring of 2003 (12 years too late, but better late than never). After a relatively bloodless (for us) slaughter of the World's formerly fourth largest army and the capture, at last, of Saddam (dead man eating Doritos), we urged the Iraqis to set up a democratic form of government in the power vacuum we had created by deposing Saddam. "You can trust us. We will help you. You can stick your neck out. We will train your new army and police. You'll be fine with us at your back. We won't abandon you."
If we abandon the Iraqis now because it's been difficult and frustrating and expensive and we are suffering unprecedented low casualties for warfare, who will ever trust us in the future? And when I say we I mean each and every citizen of America including our political leaders, especially our political leaders, on both sides of the political aisle.
# posted by Roger Fraley @ 9:26 PM 
