SwiftVets.com

[jalexson]

I bought a cheap DVD with old cartoons recently at Walmart. The first one was an WWII cartoon in which Daffy Duck operates a scrap yard to support the war effort. The Nazis send in a goat to eat the scrap. Daffy initially has trouble getting rid of the goat and says "I give up". An apparent dream reminds Daffy that Americans don't give up. Daffy not only takes care of the goat, but it captures a German sub. When he "wakes up" the sub is on top of the scrap heap.

Iraq isn't the worst situation Americans have been involved in. George Washington didn't give up even after spending a very bad winter at Valley Forge during the Revolutionary War. He and his soldiers survived the winter and went on to win the war because they didn't give up.

Americans didn't give up during the War of 1812 even after British troops invaded the capital and destroyed several buildings. They kept fighting and even won an overwhelming victory in the Battle of New Orleans.

Northern Americans had trouble winning battles in the early years of the Civil War, but didn't give up. They continued to fight and eventually won the war.

Americans didn't give up in World War II even after being forced out of the Phillipines. They came back and defeated the Japanese.

Americans didn't give up in Korea even after being nearly pushed out into the sea.


The situation in Iraq doesn't come close to comparing to the difficulties Americans encountered in these wars so why do Democrats want to give up? Are they as unfamiliar with American history as the people Jay Leno interviews on Jaywalking?

Or, are they losers whose only interest is playing silly little political games? They don't care about America. They only care about their political careers. They would rather lose in Iraq than risk having a Republican President handle it successfully. Democrats want to create a disaster in Iraq so they can blame it on the Republicans.
_________________
"That awful power, the public opinion of a nation, is created in America by a horde of ignorant, self-complacent simpletons who failed at ditching and shoe making and fetched up in journalism on their way to the poor house."
-- Mark Twain

[jalexson]

Americans shouldn’t be discouraged because some violence continues in Iraq. The violence doesn’t mean the U.S. is “losing the war”. Our troops are actually preventing the hatred that exists among Iraq’s ethnic groups from producing a full fledged civil war. Al Qaeda is trying to use violence to provoke a full civil war, but our troops are preventing it.

Those who think Iraq is in the middle of a civil war should review the history of real civil wars beginning with our own. Is the level of violence in Iraq really comparable to 20th Century conflicts in Vietnam, Nigeria, the Balkans, Darfur, etc.?

Do those who believe Iraq is in the middle of a civil war also believe that the United States experienced a civil war in the 1950's and 1960's with violent attacks, including murders and bombings, on black protestors, massive urban riots and the actions of violent groups like the Weather Underground and the SLA. Perhaps the labor violence of a century ago was a “civil war”. What about the violence of the Al Capone era with Tommy gun toting gangsters?

What about the gang “wars” in various sized cities from major metropolitan areas to Dodge City, Kansas? Does the fact that the various different groups in Iraq throw bombs instead of bullets at each other make Iraq a civil war, but not the U.S.?

As a native of Kansas I’m aware that the American Civil War was preceded by fighting between various groups along the Kansas Missouri border over the issue of slavery. The actions of men like John Brown was followed by full scale war. The violence among groups in Iraq could eventually become a full fledged civil war, but the conflict is not yet at that stage.

Maybe John Brown didn’t go around blowing up plantations, but that was because he didn’t have access to the necessary explosives, not because he was unwilling to.

Iraq has over 22 million people with nearly 6 million living in Baghdad. The level of violence involves only a small portion of the population. The type of violence being used requires a relatively few people and thus can be difficult to stop.

Only a couple of people are required to plant bombs or prepare vehicle bombs. Recall that two men were responsible for the Oklahoma City bombing. Nineteen men conducted the 9/11 attacks. The Unibomber and clinic bomber Eric Randolph worked alone.

Suicide attackers are particularly difficult to stop because they are ready to die. They don’t worry about being prosecuted and jailed because they plan to die. The only hope is for someone to point them out to the police ahead of time as happened in Riverton, Kansas, a year ago. Iraqi police usually have even less advance knowledge of possible suicide attempts than the campus police at Virginia Tech had before a suicide killer acted there.

The fall of tyrants often produces a period of lawlessness until someone can reestablish order. Such periods occurred after the French Revolution in the late 18th Century and the Russian Revolution late in WWI. Napoleon eventually reestablished order in France and then took over western Europe. Joseph Stalin reestablished order in Russia and subsequently conquered eastern Europe.

Do we want to take a chance that a tyrant will eventually take over in Iraq and try to conquer the region? Or, would we be better off attempting to reestablish order ourselves?

Television and movies have given Americans the impression that police solve crimes in an hour and everyone starts living happily ever after as soon as the tyrant is overthrown.

Americans who think that criminals are captured quickly should consider that it took Wichita, Kansas, police 30 years to capture the BTK killer.

Bomber Eric Randolph eluded capture for several years in the United States. He was only captured when an alert deputy sheriff spotted him dumpster diving. The Unibomber mailed bombs for several years until a family member told the FBI of his suspicions.

The D.C. snipers eluded capture by various federal, state and local law enforcement agencies while continuing to kill. They were captured only after the FBI found clues to their identity a continent away.

Los Angeles firefighters know they cannot save every home in every neighborhood when the Santa Anna winds turn minor fires into major conflagrations. The fires are going to burn large areas regardless of what the firefighters do. Firefighters don’t give up because they cannot immediately put out the fire. Instead, they work to save the houses and neighborhoods they can to minimize fire damages. American troops in Iraq cannot hope to prevent all violence in Iraq, but they can limit the violence to a few small areas at a time.

Civil rights demonstrators didn’t let police violence, including murders, discourage them. They continued demonstrating for much longer than American troops have been in Iraq.

The violence in northern Ireland continued for 30 years after British troops were sent in to protect the Catholics from the Protestants. The troops stayed in spite of bombings in England as well as Ireland. Their patience paid off and both sides are now relying on the political process to work together.

Israelis and Palestinians have been fighting for 60 years, but the Israelis have no intention of giving up.

Gang violence continues in Los Angeles and other cities. Should police in those cities stop anti-gang efforts because they cannot eliminate gangs? Should the war on drugs, which occasionally results in police officers and bystanders being killed, be discontinued because drugs remain available?

“Winning” in the war on crime doesn’t mean police have eliminated crime. Winning means they are limiting crime. “Winning” in Iraq should mean our troops are preventing a full scale civil war by limiting violence. The conflict in Iraq is an endurance contest. The “winner” will be the side with the greater endurance.

President Lyndon Johnson declared war on poverty 40 years ago. Yet poverty still exists in the United States. Using the standards of the Democrats that would mean the war on poverty is a failure and anti-poverty programs should be ended.

President Richard Nixon declared war on cancer over 35 years ago. 556,690 people died from cancer in 2003. By the Democrats’ standards that means the war against cancer has been lost and federal funding of cancer treatment has failed and should be discontinued.
_________________
"That awful power, the public opinion of a nation, is created in America by a horde of ignorant, self-complacent simpletons who failed at ditching and shoe making and fetched up in journalism on their way to the poor house."
-- Mark Twain

[jalexson]

Those who want the United States to withdraw from Iraq while the fighting is going on need to explain how they plan to accomplish this task. Do they think Scotty is going to bean our troops out of Iraq? Maybe, they think they can call a timeout and get out?

General George Washington was adept at retreating from battle, but most generals since have had trouble retreating. General Douglas MacArthur was a great general in many ways, but he couldn’t get all our troops out of the Philippines before the Japanese took over. Generals normally get their jobs for the ability to move forward rather than an ability to move backwards.

American forces cannot withdraw from Iraq without someone to protect their backs. Otherwise violent groups like al Qaeda will fire at them so they can claim credit for forcing us to flee. Members of al Qaeda hate the U.S. and would love to have an opportunity to kill our troops when our troops are not in a good position to defend themselves. Our enemies will feel free to attack because they know that troops who are retreating cannot fire back easily.

If our forces withdraw under current conditions, al Qaeda will claim a major victory and use that “victory” to increase recruitment. Democrats seem incapable of understanding the fact that Iraq is part of a global war on terror. A “victory” for terror in Iraq will encourage those using terror in other countries to believe they can also win.

Terrorists in countries like Thailand and the Philippines may not have a realistic chance of taking over those countries, but they are not rational enough to understand the difference between their situation and the situation in Iraq. The only thing they will see is that terror has succeeded in Iraq

The Palestinians will falsely believe they can defeat Israel with terrorism and abandon the negotiations that could bring peace.

The retreat would be hampered by the thousands (possibly even a million or more) of Iraqis anxious to flee ahead of the major civil war that would follow withdrawal of American troops. Recall the scenes from Vietnam when the North Vietnamese invaded in 1975. The situation would be much worse if American troops were attempting to get out of the country at the same time. But, then maybe that is what the Democrats want - a disaster that they could then use to win the 2008 elections.

The Sunni and Shiites would begin killing each other on a larger scale with al Qaeda attempting to manipulate the situation to take over the country, or at least the Sunni and Shiite areas. If al Qaeda succeeded, Osama bin Laden would be able to move to Iraq and be immune from capture by the U.S.

The Kurds may be sufficiently organized to avoid a civil war, although they would likely kill Sunni in their area or force them to flee. The new Kurdish state would likely support efforts to separate the Kurdish area of Turkey from that country.
_________________
"That awful power, the public opinion of a nation, is created in America by a horde of ignorant, self-complacent simpletons who failed at ditching and shoe making and fetched up in journalism on their way to the poor house."
-- Mark Twain

[jalexson]

The Democrats attempt to set an arbitrary pullout date in Iraq is typical of members of the wealthy celebrity class. They don’t think they need to take responsibility for their actions.

Have a wreck or get caught doing something wrong and wealthy celebrities blame booze, drugs, etc.; say “I’m sorry” and check into rehab. A man drives off a bridge and his passenger dies because he didn’t seek immediate assistance. Hey, no problem...if he’s a wealthy Senator.

The United States removed the established government of Iraq that was limiting ethnic conflicts to the murders of members of groups that opposed the government.
Democrats believe the U.S. is like a wealthy celebrity and doesn’t have any responsibility to stay in Iraq until a new government develops the ability to limit long running ethnic conflicts. Democrats believe the pottery barn rule “you break it you buy it” doesn’t apply to wealthy nations.

Wealthy individuals often assume they can buy whatever they want. They believe their servants can perform whatever service they request.

Democrats have that same attitude toward Iraqi officials. They believe that the Iraqis should be able to handle all government functions because the U.S. wants them to even though these Iraqis have no experience in running a democracy. The founders of the U.S. needed two tries to establish an effective government organization even though they had previous experience with limited self government. We need to help the Iraqis deal with violent groups until government officials gain the experience to handle the situation themselves.
_________________
"That awful power, the public opinion of a nation, is created in America by a horde of ignorant, self-complacent simpletons who failed at ditching and shoe making and fetched up in journalism on their way to the poor house."
-- Mark Twain

[Me#1You#10]

[dusty]

Hear..hear. Well said jalexson. Impeccable logic on the second post referencing the wars on poverty and cancer.

Me#1, I sure know what you mean. It's not even the same America I grew up in.
Insanity rules the day now. Everything is upside down and inside out. Common sense and logic has taken a walk and is nowhere in sight.

Dusty
_________________
Left and Wrong are the opposite of Right!

[BuffaloJack]

Democrats do what democrats always do, PREEMPTIVE SURRENDER.
_________________
Swift Boats - Qui Nhon (12/69-4/70), Cat Lo (4/70-5/70), Vung Tau (5/70-12/71)