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shawa
CNO
Joined: 03 Sep 2004
Posts: 2004
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 Posted: Thu May 11, 2006 12:43 pm Post subject: |
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WOW!! Thanks for posting this, powsmias.
A thoughtful, superbly written article.
It's a Keeper!!
| Quote: | When conservatives repossess the motto "No more Vietnams," it will be a perfect occasion to address one of the most important questions of our time. Is American policy based on rights or on duties? Is America in Iraq because of our duties or their rights? If "their rights" is the answer, liberals are correct: We have stuck our necks out unnecessarily; we could just as easily have let someone else worry about it, the way France and Germany did. If the answer is "our duties," we had no choice. We had an obligation to take charge of our own safety in a world that is lousy with terrorists, and we had to face up to our obligations as the world's strongest nation. And obviously we have duties in nations besides Iraq also. America doesn't have the power to help everybody--which is no excuse for helping nobody.
American character is on the line. For the sake of this nation--of its good name, its big heart, the sacrifices of its many brave defenders, the genius of its creators--of its greatness, in short--conservatives had better not lose this fight.
The administration was wrong to let Americans get the idea that Iraq would be easy. But it was right to fight. And because Iraq is exactly Vietnam all over again, our eventual victory won't only be good for Iraq, the Middle East, and peace on earth. It will repair American self-respect. And it will turn the Friends of Cowardice, the U.S. Mothers for Despair, and all their allied groups back into the peripheral players they always used to be in this country--until Vietnam. |
_________________
“I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. ‘Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death.” (Thomas Paine, 1776) |
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BuffaloJack
Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy
Joined: 10 Aug 2004
Posts: 1637
Location: Buffalo, New York
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| Posted: Thu May 11, 2006 12:59 pm Post subject: |
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WOW !!
This is a keeper!
_________________
Swift Boats - Qui Nhon (12/69-4/70), Cat Lo (4/70-5/70), Vung Tau (5/70-12/71) |
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shawa
CNO
Joined: 03 Sep 2004
Posts: 2004
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| Posted: Thu May 11, 2006 1:17 pm Post subject: |
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This one paragraph remains engraved in my thoughts:
| Quote: | | All these lies are present symbolically in the Vietnam wall near the Lincoln Memorial in Washington. Many other memorials, in Europe especially, have commemorated fallen soldiers by listing every name. The soaring (yet knotted-up, anguished) Thiepval Memorial Arch at the Somme, by Sir Edwin Lutyens (1924), is the most extraordinary and celebrated instance of the list-every-name school of memorial design. Our own wall is different, for one, insofar as it stands in a scraped-out hole in the ground; a symbolic open grave. Some day we will tear down that wall and fill up the open grave, and rebuild the wall above ground and re-engrave every name, and add two more words at the end. Two words the designer did not see fit to include. Thank you. On that day we will finally have gotten over Vietnam. |
From one grateful American and my family: "THANK YOU"
_________________
“I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. ‘Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death.” (Thomas Paine, 1776) |
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Me#1You#10
Site Admin
Joined: 06 May 2004
Posts: 6503
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| Posted: Thu May 11, 2006 1:24 pm Post subject: |
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A good piece, but I strongly disagree with the premise of the following...
| Quote: | In Iraq as in Vietnam, the government gave the American people an unrealistic estimate of how hard the war would be.
<snip>
The administration was wrong to let Americans get the idea that Iraq would be easy. |
I must've slept through those "estimates" as I've always been under the impression that this effort could easily span generations. Americans were told...and if their perception actually is as the writer alleges, they just weren't listening. |
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dusty
Admiral
Joined: 27 Aug 2004
Posts: 1264
Location: East Texas
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| Posted: Thu May 11, 2006 5:48 pm Post subject: |
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The article was great. But I have to agree with Me#1's critique. I remember the President saying repeatedly that this would be a long, hard struggle. Indeed, the quick initial victory in Iraq was a shock to the Administration. They believed it would be much harder and take much longer than it actually did. And told us that going in.
Dusty
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Left and Wrong are the opposite of Right! |
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