Want to get a glimpse as to what Iraq might look like should we leave?
Check out Lex’s latest:
You think winning is hard? You should see what losing looks like.
Don’t pretend we couldn’t see it coming. Don’t pretend you didn’t have your part in it, one way or the other.
Eyes wide open.
In today’s Washington Post, Major General William Webmaster had a few words to say about setting a date to leave Iraq:
A top American commander in Iraq on Wednesday denounced calls by some U.S. senators and others for a deadline on withdrawal from Iraq, calling that “a recipe for disaster” for the 2 -year-old war.
“Setting a date would mean that the 221 soldiers I’ve lost this year, that their lives will have been lost in vain,” said Maj. Gen. William Webster, whose 3rd Infantry Division is responsible for security in three-fourths of Iraq’s capital.
Do you want to see the deed through to the end? Or do you want to set a date to come home?
You can’t have both.
The right thing to do is to see this through to the end – a free Iraq that is able to protect itself both internally and externally from those that would wish a democratic government ill.
That might be three months from now, it could be three years from now, it may be ten years from now.
Setting an arbitrary date is ignorant, stupid, ill-conceived, and certainly doesn’t support the troops.
Want to have a reason for over two thousand men and women to have died in vain? Set a date to go home before the battle is won.
To all of the military service men and women who serve today – who have served – and who will serve – you have my thanks on this Veterans Day 2005.
Pictures from my 2005 visit to the World War II Memorial.
There’s something deep in me that wanted to write about the 2,000th death of an American servicemember in Operation Iraqi Freedom, but the words simply weren’t coming.
Then tonight, I read Lex’s post “On Tragedy and Round Numbers”. And he said all that I was thinking and then some.
I don’t want to lose this war because we lack the will to fight it.
After about ten months of hiatus, Sgt Hook is back:
Damn, it’s good to be back. It looks like I’ll have to clean the place up a bit, dust, sweep, and maybe make some repairs, but it sure does feel comfortable in here. Almost like sitting in an old worn leather recliner. I’ll ask your patience as I find myself re-learning the art of blogging both creatively and technically (not that I had previously mastered either) so if you notice a broken link, a typo, or anything nonsensical feel free to dress me down and set me straight.
The hour is fast approaching, on which the honor and success of this army, and the safety of our bleeding country depend. Remember officers and soldiers that you are free men, fighting for the blessings of liberty – that slavery will be your portion, and that of your posterity, if you do not acquit yourselves like men
[…]
Remember how your courage and spirit have been despised and traduced by your cruel invaders, thought they have found by dear experience at Boston, Charlestown, and other places, what a few brave men contending in their own land, and in the best of causes can do, against base hirelings and mercenaries.
– General George Washington, August 23rd, 1776
My first observation of Retired Vice Admiral James Stockdale was the 1992 Vice Presidential debate – which is likely when many Americans of my generation first saw the man. It wasn’t until years later that I realized the type of individual that Ross Perot wanted as his Vice President.
Admiral Stockdale was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions as the highest ranking officer amongst a group of American prisoners of war held during the Vietnam War, his citation reads:
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while senior naval officer in the Prisoner of War camps of North Vietnam.
Recognized by his captors as the leader in the Prisoners’ of War resistance to interrogation and in their refusal to participate in propaganda exploitation, Rear Adm. Stockdale was singled out for interrogation and attendant torture after he was detected in a covert communications attempt. Sensing the start of another purge, and aware that his earlier efforts at self-disfiguration to dissuade his captors from exploiting him for propaganda purposes had resulted in cruel and agonizing punishment, Rear Adm. Stockdale resolved to make himself a symbol of resistance regardless of personal sacrifice. He deliberately inflicted a near-mortal wound to his person in order to convince his captors of his willingness to give up his life rather than capitulate. He was subsequently discovered and revived by the North Vietnamese who, convinced of his indomitable spirit, abated in their employment of excessive harassment and torture toward all of the Prisoners of War.
By his heroic action, at great peril to himself, he earned the everlasting gratitude of his fellow prisoners and of his country. Rear Adm. Stockdale’s valiant leadership and extraordinary courage in a hostile environment sustain and enhance the finest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service.
Men such as this don’t walk on this earth very often.
Rest in peace, Admiral.