Victory and Defeat
J. D. Pendry
“In war, there are two exit strategies. One is called victory. The other is called defeat.” – Senator Joe Lieberman
Senator Joe Lieberman is a liberal. He and I would not agree on much. The difference between him and many of his political colleagues, liberal and conservative, is that he gets it. He understands that the outcome in Iraq, our pivotal battle in a global conflict, affects the security of the United States and will further define us in the eyes of our enemies for decades to come. How we leave this fight will brand us as a nation that pursues it enemies to the end or one that lacks the will to sustain tough battles. Our political failure and loss of national will in Vietnam three decades ago stand as evidence of that.
Many Americans seem content to concede defeat and withdraw into a perceived cocoon of safety - the same warm, fuzzy cocoon we lived in on September 10, 2001. Politicians in general, bolstered by populist thinking and ignorant media, unlike Senator Lieberman, cannot view anything or situation outside the parameters of their personal political futures or the power of their political parties. Politics as usual subjugates national security, your safety and mine. The media is only interested in reporting on the politics of this war. They’re concerned about who it might propel into the Whitehouse more so than what exit strategy number two means for our country. Since 2000, the defeat and destruction of George Bush is more important to powerful media liberals and their political allies than is the defeat and destruction of Islamic fascism.
It’s a miracle that we can find in America any decent leader willing to stand up and lead. I’m not even sure we deserve an honest, courageous leader. We seem more willing to follow those offering meaningless minimum wage increases or those who can flow seamlessly from calling our Soldiers Nazis to professing compassion for them in practically the same damn speech. Or, we stand by and allow possibly the most accomplished black woman in the history of our country to be shown total disrespect by a demonstrably ignorant white, female Senator.
George Bush has to make tough decisions that would leave most of his detractors in thumb-sucking fetal positions. I suppose many of them – and us - believe it’s a simple undertaking to be the one man ultimately responsible for defending a wide-open nation of 300 million. A majority of us elected him to lead. Now we stand by and listen while he’s called an incompetent liar during every 15 minute cable news cycle. How often have you heard supposedly learned people say that he’d be much better if he could only deliver a good speech? I heard one of the country’s top ranked talk radio show hosts go on ad nauseam during his program about how it’d all be just fine if he could only give us a good speech. Shows the shallowness of our national thinking doesn’t it? I can think of plenty of people who can make good speeches, like our talk radio host, but I don’t want them to have access to the nuclear release codes because of it.
An overwhelming majority of Congress voted for the use of force against Iraq for its non-compliance with more than a dozen United Nation’s resolutions. After 9/11, a vote otherwise would have been derelict. Now they run about saying if I’d only known then what I know now…What? That war is hard. That our enemy is fanatical and determined. That Jack Bauer can’t solve this one for us in one television season. I’m sorry, but when you’re an elected leader of people, you don’t get a do over. When it comes to a fight, once you’ve voted us into it you’re obligated to us to make sure we win it. We don’t want what comes with being runner-up.
Iraq is not another Vietnam, as the brother of the President who got us into that war would have you believe. No, Iraq is to the Global War on Terrorists as Gettysburg was to the Civil War and Normandy and Midway were to World War II. It’s the pivotal battle. The one on which the eventual outcomes rests.
This war goes back to Isaac and Ishmael and it doesn’t end here. We’re in a battle with a warring culture that’s existed since the very beginning of time. This is what they do. Brainwashed and led by evil men, they’ll keep seeking paradise over the bodies of infidels. We have to attempt to turn the tide of that culture. The alternative is smoldering American cities, not just the loss of a few buildings and a few thousand people. We’ve fought this enemy for centuries, which is why President Thomas Jefferson had a copy of their manual of operations. This enemy feels it’s on a divine mission, but unlike Thomas Jefferson, today’s leaders save a very few Joe Liebermans would rather focus on a strategy for their political futures rather than on one that leads to the defeat of our enemy.
What President Jefferson taught us and what centuries of history tells us is that one of the two exit strategies described by Senator Lieberman will subdue this enemy, at least for this point in world history. The other will embolden him. We should choose our exit strategy from Iraq wisely.
Copyright © J. D. Pendry 2007
January 17th, 2007 at 7:32 am
Victory and Defeat …
Victory and Defeat Contributed by J D PendryIn war, there are two exit strategies. One is called victory. The other is called defeat. – Senator Joe LiebermanSenator Joe Lieberman is a liberal. He and I would not agree on much….