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President Bush: America Would Do It Again for Our Friends

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President George W. Bush spoke today near Omaha Beach:

That difficult summit was reached, then passed, in 60 years of living. Now has come a time of reflection, with thoughts of another horizon, and the hope of reunion with the boys you knew. I want each of you to understand, you will be honored ever and always by the country you served and by the nations you freed.

When the invasion was finally over and the guns were silent, this coast, we are told, was lined for miles with the belongings of the thousands who fell. There were life belts and canteens and socks and K-rations and helmets and diaries and snapshots. And there were Bibles, many Bibles, mixed with the wreckage of war. Our boys had carried in their pockets the book that brought into the world this message: Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

America honors all the liberators who fought here in the noblest of causes, and America would do it again for our friends.

Coverage courtesy of The Seattle Post-Intelligencer

RIP: Ronald Reagan

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Former President Ronald Reagan has passed away, aged 93, at his home in California.

The first of what is sure to be extensive news coverage has begun:

New York Times:

Ronald Reagan, the cheerful crusader who devoted his presidency to winning the Cold War, trying to scale back government and making people believe it was “morning again in America,” died Saturday after a long twilight struggle with Alzheimer’s disease. He was 93.

He died at his home in California, according to a family friend, who initially disclosed the death on condition of anonymity. The friend said the family has turned to making funeral arrangements. A formal statement from the family was expected later.

In Paris, White House spokeswoman Claire Buchan said President Bush was notified of Reagan’s death in Paris at about 4:10 p.m., EDT, by White House chief of staff Andy Card.

The United States flag over the White House was lowered to half staff within an hour.

MSNBC:

Derided by his adversaries as glib, doctrinaire and uninformed — a mere actor, they scoffed — Reagan demonstrated throughout his political career the power that comes from being underestimated.

He won power by defeating overconfident Democratic incumbents — Gov. Pat Brown in California in 1966 and President Jimmy Carter in the 1980 presidential election.

“It was said of Dwight Eisenhower (and could have been said of Ronald Reagan) that his smile was his philosophy,” wrote columnist George Will. And many Americans found Reagan’s smiling optimism appealing.

CNN:

Reagan led a conservative revolution that set the economic and cultural tone of the 1980s, hastened the end of the Cold War and revitalized the Republican Party. He suffered from Alzheimer’s disease since at least late 1994.

At least two of his children and his wife, Nancy, were at his bedside, according to the former president’s Los Angeles office.

Ron Reagan Jr. and Patty Davis — children from his current marriage to Nancy Davis Reagan — were with him, the office said.

Boston Globe:

Ronald Reagan, an infectiously optimistic president who forged an enduring relationship with the American people, dedicated his presidency to two goals — the destruction of Soviet communism abroad and the reduction of government at home. He lived to see the first achieved, if not the second.

[…]

Five years after he left office, he revealed, on Nov. 5, 1994, in a note in his own handwriting, that he was a victim of Alzheimer’s, a mind-crippling disease, and had begun the journey “into the sunset of my life.”

Through a lifetime in the public eye, Reagan demonstrated an uncommon ability to give voice to the innate patriotism of the American people. And, more than any other politician of his time, he had an affectionate, long-lasting relationship with his countrymen.

Personally, Reagan was the first President that I was really aware of. He was sworn into office when I was but seven years old – but I remember that day. I also remember the hostages from the Iranian Embassy returning home in the days that followed. I remember my mother coming to me in early 1981 to tell me that the President had been shot. And I remember watching the political conventions with my grandparents to see Reagan and others speak.

It’s a coincidence that Reagan’s speech at Pointe du Hoc twenty years ago today that ranks as one of his best:

We’re here to mark that day in history when the Allied peoples joined in battle to reclaim this continent to liberty. For four long years, much of Europe had been under a terrible shadow. Free nations had fallen, Jews cried out in the camps, millions cried out for liberation. Europe was enslaved, and the world prayed for its rescue. Here in Normandy the rescue began. Here the Allies stood and fought against tyranny in a giant undertaking unparalleled in human history.

We stand on a lonely, windswept point on the northern shore of France. The air is soft, but forty years ago at this moment, the air was dense with smoke and the cries of men, and the air was filled with the crack of rifle fire and the roar of cannon. At dawn, on the morning of the 6th of June 1944, 225 Rangers jumped off the British landing craft and ran to the bottom of these cliffs. Their mission was one of the most difficult and daring of the invasion: to climb these sheer and desolate cliffs and take out the enemy guns. The Allies had been told that some of the mightiest of these guns were here and they would be trained on the beaches to stop the Allied advance.

The Rangers looked up and saw the enemy soldiers — at the edge of the cliffs shooting down at them with machine-guns and throwing grenades. And the American Rangers began to climb. They shot rope ladders over the face of these cliffs and began to pull themselves up. When one Ranger fell, another would take his place. When one rope was cut, a Ranger would grab another and begin his climb again. They climbed, shot back, and held their footing. Soon, one by one, the Rangers pulled themselves over the top, and in seizing the firm land at the top of these cliffs, they began to seize back the continent of Europe. Two hundred and twenty-five came here. After two days of fighting only ninety could still bear arms.

Behind me is a memorial that symbolizes the Ranger daggers that were thrust into the top of these cliffs. And before me are the men who put them there.

These are the boys of Pointe du Hoc. These are the men who took the cliffs. These are the champions who helped free a continent. These are the heroes who helped end a war.

Gentlemen, I look at you and I think of the words of Stephen Spender’s poem. You are men who in your ‘lives fought for life…and left the vivid air signed with your honor’…

Forty summers have passed since the battle that you fought here. You were young the day you took these cliffs; some of you were hardly more than boys, with the deepest joys of life before you. Yet you risked everything here. Why? Why did you do it? What impelled you to put aside the instinct for self-preservation and risk your lives to take these cliffs? What inspired all the men of the armies that met here? We look at you, and somehow we know the answer. It was faith, and belief; it was loyalty and love.

The men of Normandy had faith that what they were doing was right, faith that they fought for all humanity, faith that a just God would grant them mercy on this beachhead or on the next. It was the deep knowledge — and pray God we have not lost it — that there is a profound moral difference between the use of force for liberation and the use of force for conquest. You were here to liberate, not to conquer, and so you and those others did not doubt your cause. And you were right not to doubt.

You all knew that some things are worth dying for. One’s country is worth dying for, and democracy is worth dying for, because it’s the most deeply honorable form of government ever devised by man. All of you loved liberty. All of you were willing to fight tyranny, and you knew the people of your countries were behind you.

RIP, President Reagan. Rest in Peace.

Hanson: Our Reptilian Brains

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Victor Davis Hanson writes another blockbuster in last week’s National Review Online:

The only thing worse than the amoral use of force is the failure to act when it is the only right and moral thing to do. In short, I think our sole serious mistake in this war is that we have forgotten the lessons of history, the essence of human nature, and what constitutes real morality. Small armies, whether those of Caesar, Alexander, or Hernan Cortés can defeat enormous enemies and hold vast amounts of territory — but only if they are used audaciously and establish the immediate reputation that they are lethal and dangerous to confront. Deterrence, not numbers, creates tranquility and the two are not always synonymous.

A thousand Marines shooting the first 500 gunmen they saw, broadcast on al Jazeera, would be worth the deterrence of another armored division. Taking Fallujah and killing Baathist killers while putting victorious Iraqi coalitionists on television would have been the equivalent of calling up another 40,000 reservists.

The U.N., the EU, the Arab League, and the host of domestic critics, triangulating pundits, and democratic politicos will never properly appreciate our necessary audit and censure of prison abuses. Nor will they praise the restraint shown in Fallujah. Nor will they try to place the combat losses of Americans in historical perspective — of the near impossibility of subduing a country of 26 million people at such a cost. Nor will they do the hard moral calculus of appreciating $87 billion and hundreds of American lives — at a moment of all-time high petroleum prices and during an acrimonious election year — spent to end fascism and inaugurate democracy, at least not when they can scream “No blood for oil” for psychic satisfaction on the cheap. But they most certainly will go silent when al Sadr relents or is in chains, calm returns to Baghdad, and al Qaedists flee from or are killed in Iraq.

For now, forget the potential paradoxes of the transition (in Korea, after all, U.S. troops remain autonomous). Ignore cries for more troops (as if 40,000 — or 100,000 — Americans could stop a North Korean invasion). Pay no attention to what the New York Times predicts will befall us (as if it were right about Afghanistan or the three-week war).

Instead, stay true to our values — but also realize that we are judged by those who think reptilian and will thus join us for the pragmatically wrong, rather than the morally right, reasons. Or as the sometimes vulgar and crass Al Davis put it far better, “Just win baby.”

Britain Sending More Troops

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CNN is reporting that the United Kingdom is sending more troops to Iraq:

British Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon has announced to parliament the sending of an additional 370 British troops to Iraq, bringing the total there to 8,900.

He added that “no decision had been made” on whether to send a large number of extra military personnel to the region.

Hoon told the House of Commons on Thursday that because of a “continuing threat from violent groups,” commanding officers decided that a light infantry battalion which ends its six-month tour of duty in July should be replaced with an infantry battalion from the Black Watch trained in the use of Warrior fighting vehicles.

“American has no truer friend than Great Britain” – President George W. Bush

National Cathedral Speech

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For the first time, during the flight home from St. Croix to Boston, I heard President George W. Bush’s speech at the National Cathedral a few days after September 11th.

I had never heard this speech – I was working that day and never got a chance to hear it. I may have read it in the days following, but I certainly never saw it on television or on the radio.

It’s fantastic speech – and one that I deeply regret missing at the time.

I have been thinking about September 11th the last few days – just finished reading American Ground about the deconstruction of the World Trade Center between September 11th and May of the following year. It’s a great read that looks at the emotional anguish of the firemen and police – and others – as well as the technical and leadership challenges involves in cleaning up after an incident of that magnitude.

As the sky darkens as this plane races north, my thoughts float back to what we experienced – and how I felt – how we all felt..

I remember. Do you?

Lex: Political Radicalism

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Lex writes today of political radicalism and leaves behind some clear statements about the current state of the War in Iraq:

But whomever wins in November, we’ve still got a war to fight, and it’s not the time to get wobbly. Setbacks and embarrassments aside, we’ve got boots on the ground over there, and a mission we can still achieve. All the realpolitik thought going around the blogosphere and elsewhere about exit strategies and political transformations short of democratic rule miss the entire point – we went there to ensure our security, and along the way liberate a people – not really because we’re extra special wonderful people, but because doing so would fundamentally change the calculus in a region where the balanced equation isn’t familiar, and make us safer in the long run. Tiptoeing away when the going gets rough will ensure that all those soldiers died in vain, will present an energizing victory to those who deserve it least in Iraq and virtually guarantee that the next front will be fought much closer to home.

I do not want to see Kerry win – but I think if he does – his ideas that he’s proposed about the situation in Iraq aren’t going to fly as well as he thinks they will – they’re simply not going to be able to find a way to bring the UN back into Iraq – and Europe has made it clear, right or wrong, that they’re not coming to this particular dance and will sit things out.

The bottom line is.. we have 135,000 men and women over there risking all that they have – and we’ve got to support them – and the strategy – to the hilt.

If you’re going to oppose this effort, at least be part of the loyal opposition instead of the crazy leftist opposition.

Smash: Kerry’s First Flip-Flop

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Smash has posted an excellent analysis of the Swift Boat Veterans for the Truth press conference today blasting Kerry as unfit to be commander in chief:

FORTUNATELY, it was just a dream. But for John Kerry, the nightmare is real. After he left Vietnam behind, he turned against his military brothers, accusing them of committing various acts of cruelty. He even went before Congress and testified about war crimes that he later admitted he had not personally witnessed.

Needless to say, some of these veterans aren’t very enamored with Senator Kerry. And now they’re throwing him a press conference.

Of course, this is all politically motivated. One can pick through Kerry’s military records, question whether he earned all of his medals, and ask why he requested reassignment after just four months in country – but none of this changes the fact that he volunteered for combat duty, and served bravely and honorably.

So why are partisan Republicans making an issue of Kerry’s military record?

Part of the blame lies with Kerry himself. Throughout the primary campaign, he repeatedly called attention to his service in Vietnam in order to differentiate himself from his opponents. He also brought along some of his fellow veterans on the campaign trail. He shouldn’t be surprised, then, that some of his former brothers-in-arms, who weren’t quite so happy about his post-war activities, have decided to speak up. While serving in Vietnam, Kerry was part of a very close-knit community of Sailors, Coastguardsmen, and Special Forces who make up the “Brown Water Navy.” Under fire, these men became as close as family. So Kerry’s sudden conversion from Navy Hero to Anti-War Activist must have come as quite a blow to these brave men.

Which brings us to the crux of the matter: Kerry’s political career begins with his decision to leave Vietnam, quit the military, and join the Anti-War Movement. To Kerry’s supporters, this decision represents a Change of Heart.

To his opponents, it was Kerry’s First Flip-Flop.

Much more to read over at Citizen Smash.