A revalation came to me this morning in the form of an email from Amawalk John. I have finally figured out what the Democrats mean by "wrong war, wrong place, wrong time." But before we get to that, let's play a game. I'm going to give you a list of quotes and you see if you can tell me who they belong to. The answers will be in the additional section of this article.

1. He will rebuild his arsenel of weapons of mass destruction. Some day, somewhere, I am certain, he will use that arsenel again as he has ten times since 1983.


2. Saddam Hussein certainly has chemical and biological weapons. There's no question about that.


3. There's unmistakable evidence that Saddam Hussein is working aggressively to develop nuclear weapons. And will likely have nuclear weapons in the next five years. We also should remember we have always underestimated the progress that Saddam has been able to make in the development of weapons of mass destruction.


4. He continues to attempt to gain access to additional capability including nuclear capability. There is a real debate on how far off that is. Whether it is a matter of years or whether it is a matter of less than that.


5. Good Evening. Earliear today I ordered America's armed forces to strike military and security targets in Iraq. Their mission is to attack Iraq's nuclear, biological and chemical weapons programs. Saddam Hussein must not be allowed to threaten his neighbors or the world with nuclear arms, poison gas or biological weapons.


6. Other countries posess weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles. With Saddam, there's one big difference. He has used them. Not once, but repeatedly. And I have no doubt today that left unchecked, Saddam Hussein will use these terrible weapons again.


7. Inspectors are saying that even if they could stay in Iraq their work would be a sham. Saddam's deception has defeated their effectiveness. Instead of the inspectors disarming Saddam, Saddam has disarmed the inspectors.


8. The hard fact is that as long as Saddam is in power, he threatens the well-being of his people, the peace of the region, the security of the world. The best way to end that threat, once and for all, is with a new Iraqi government. A government willing to live in peace with its neighbors. A government that respects the lives of its people.


9. The decision to use force is never cost free. Whenever American forces are placed in harm's way, we risk the loss of life. And while our strikes are focused on Iraq's military capabilities, there will be unintended Iraqi casualties.


10. Heavy as they are, the costs of action must be weighed against the price of inaction.


11. Saddam will strike again at his neighbors. He will make war on his own people. Mark my words. He will develop weapons of mass destruction. He will deploy them. And he will use them.

Posted by: Drew at 08:16 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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"Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it." - George Santayana

Generals know how to fight wars. That's how they get to be Generals. It's not something that's just handed out. So when the General you put in charge of something starts telling you things, it's probably wise to listen. We didn't learn this lesson in Vietnam and it looks like we still haven't learned it.

Lt. General John R. Vines, commander of the Multinational Corps Iraq, disagrees with Congressman Murtha on the pullout of our troops from Iraq. Considering he is the one on the ground and in charge of making things happen, I think it would behoove our leadership to listen to what he has to say.

Lt. Gen. John R. Vines, who commands the Multinational Corps Iraq, said that 36 Iraqi battalions, about one-third of the total force, are now responsible for their own security sectors and can fight the insurgency. But they are not yet ready to operate totally independent of U.S. supply lines and tactical advice.

Because of that, he said, now is not the time for an American withdrawal.

"Iraqi security forces are able to conduct operations in a large portion of their area with only limited coalition support," Gen. Vines told Pentagon reporters via a teleconference from Baghdad. "They do require our support at this time. That support will be increasingly less over a period of time, but a precipitous pullout, I believe, would be destabilizing."

That, to me, sounds like good news. We've got a lot of troops trained and we're gradually moving things over to the Iraqis as they can handle them. Imagine for a moment that you would like to be a pilot. You go to the airport, sign up for lessons and get started. The instructor teaches you the basics of flying and how to take off, then takes you up for your first flight. Halfway through the flight, the instructor simply bails out. He hasn't taught you to land yet, but suddenly you're on your own. Sounds like a pretty messed up situation, doesn't it? And yet that's exactly what Congressman Murtha and his Democratic compadres propose doing to the Iraqis. And the exact same thing they forced us to do to the Vietnamese. It wasn't right then and it isn't right now.

The mistakes that the politicians made in Vietnam were fatal and avoidable. Certainly it was a brutal war, but does that make it not worth fighting? Wasn't our own Revolutionary war quite bloody? Did that keep the French from coming to our aid? Without them, we might still be paying taxes to Britan. Our future certainly would have come out very differently. Now it's time to give other people in the world the same chance. It's time to stop all the political bickering and get the job done right. Stop worrying about trying to score political points and listen to what your commanders are telling you. We've started a job. Let's finish it and prove to the world that we CAN learn from the mistakes we've made in the past.

Posted by: Drew at 07:20 AM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
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