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The War That Will Not End*****************************
I used to feel comfortable saying that Democrats did not understand military power, or the application of military power. Now, as Republicans are showing the same weakness, I am no longer comfortable with that adage. The baby boomer Republicans have joined the ranks of the crowd, which thinks nothing is worth fighting for. Never mind that some poor dogface soldier gave his life so the entire baby boomer generation could live, and prosper, in freedom. Talk about ingratitude!We, as a nation, are going to have to do something. Americans no longer have the stomach for a fight. Trying to fight a "politically correct war", and have a large portion of our troops assigned to "Nation Building" is getting our combat forces chewed up, resulting in the needless deaths of our servicemen and servicewomen. The micro managing of the war, by our politicians, is dragging out a conflict, which could have been over years ago. American lives are being lost just to make a political point.
When FDR decided the time was right to invade Europe and conquer the Nazis, the Supreme Allied Commander, General Dwight D. Eisenhower was given the job. The President relied upon Eisenhower to get the job done. It was a clear case of allowing the military to do its job. We all know how that turned out. Even though we won that war decisively, we STILL, to this day, have US troops in Germany. We fought to a tie in Korea, and we have thousands of troops in South Korea today, as well. We lost in Vietnam. Both those war efforts, Korea and Vietnam, were micromanaged by Washington at the cost of thousands of US lives, and… over 50 years later…. we are STILL in Korea and we lost the war in Vietnam to an inferior opponent! Clearly, our national leaders have learned nothing from their predecessor’s mistakes… or… from history.
There is something else that is abundantly clear. The philosophy of “Winning the Hearts and Minds” of the enemy is so much wimpy bunk! Defeat them first, defeat them decisively, then make-up… if we really want to.
Today in Iraq, we are setting the stage for the third war in Iraq. We have not decisively defeated our enemy there and there is a better than even chance that soon our forces will be withdrawn…certainly if Obama wins in November. But… here’s the thing: the withdrawal will be temporary. Clear thinking folks know we will return to Iraq. We have to.
Chances are very high that sometime in the next few months we will be at war, on some level, with Iran. Wishing the coming conflict with Iran away will not work. The planet cannot allow Iran to gain nuclear weapons. Flaunting their missiles recently, Iran has done nothing but increase the rapidity with which the US and Israel reach the point at which action against Iran will be taken.
There are, currently, only two countries capable of taking on Iran: the US and Israel. I cannot see President Bush leaving office without first doing severe damage to Iran’s nuclear facilities… at the very least. And… lest we forget… we are fighting Iranians today in Iraq. Our military has told us so.
There is no way the US is going to be allowed a clean break from the Middle East. The US is at war and will be at war for many years into the future. Like the Cold War, we are looking at a 40 to 50 year military engagement in the Middle East… unless, we give the US Military free rein to fight, and win, the war in that region. Until the US politicians back away and allow our military to use the “Overwhelming Force” we are capable of… this Middle Eastern conflict will drag on for years and years and, when it finally does peter out… there will be no clear winner. That is unacceptable.
Let us understand something. The conflicts in Iraq, and in Afghanistan, are not “WARS”. They are “fronts” in the same war… the War on Terror.
I AM a believer in “Peace through Victory”. If the world would get out of the way and allow Israel to decisively defeat the so-called Palestinians, there might be something that could be “called” peace in that region. But so long as we continue to drag both sides to negotiating tables and demand concessions from Israel in “pre-doomed” attempts at pacifying the so-called Palestinians, that conflict will drag on and on, and on, ad infinitum. Too many Israeli lives have been lost because the US, and the UN, have meddled in Israel’s politics, and in the efforts of the IDF to finally wipeout those renegades surrounding them. I must tell you… I am convinced that the only reason the Iranian nuclear facilities remain standing today is because the US refuses to allow Israel to attack. There is no doubt in my mind that had the pressure from Washington not prevented it, the Iranian nuke factories would have been smoking ruins many months ago.
I used to feel comfortable saying that Democrats did not understand military power, or the application of military power. Now, as Republicans are showing the same weakness, I am no longer comfortable with that adage. The baby boomer Republicans have joined the ranks of the crowd, which thinks nothing is worth fighting for. Never mind that some poor dogface soldier gave his life so the entire baby boomer generation could live, and prosper, in freedom. Talk about ingratitude!We, as a nation, are going to have to do something. Americans no longer have the stomach for a fight. Trying to fight a "politically correct war", and have a large portion of our troops assigned to "Nation Building" is getting our combat forces chewed up, resulting in the needless deaths of our servicemen and servicewomen. The micro managing of the war, by our politicians, is dragging out a conflict, which could have been over years ago. American lives are being lost just to make a political point.
When FDR decided the time was right to invade Europe and conquer the Nazis, the Supreme Allied Commander, General Dwight D. Eisenhower was given the job. The President relied upon Eisenhower to get the job done. It was a clear case of allowing the military to do its job. We all know how that turned out. Even though we won that war decisively, we STILL, to this day, have US troops in Germany. We fought to a tie in Korea, and we have thousands of troops in South Korea today, as well. We lost in Vietnam. Both those war efforts, Korea and Vietnam, were micromanaged by Washington at the cost of thousands of US lives, and… over 50 years later…. we are STILL in Korea and we lost the war in Vietnam to an inferior opponent! Clearly, our national leaders have learned nothing from their predecessor’s mistakes… or… from history.
There is something else that is abundantly clear. The philosophy of “Winning the Hearts and Minds” of the enemy is so much wimpy bunk! Defeat them first, defeat them decisively, then make-up… if we really want to.
Today in Iraq, we are setting the stage for the third war in Iraq. We have not decisively defeated our enemy there and there is a better than even chance that soon our forces will be withdrawn…certainly if Obama wins in November. But… here’s the thing: the withdrawal will be temporary. Clear thinking folks know we will return to Iraq. We have to.
Chances are very high that sometime in the next few months we will be at war, on some level, with Iran. Wishing the coming conflict with Iran away will not work. The planet cannot allow Iran to gain nuclear weapons. Flaunting their missiles recently, Iran has done nothing but increase the rapidity with which the US and Israel reach the point at which action against Iran will be taken.
There are, currently, only two countries capable of taking on Iran: the US and Israel. I cannot see President Bush leaving office without first doing severe damage to Iran’s nuclear facilities… at the very least. And… lest we forget… we are fighting Iranians today in Iraq. Our military has told us so.
There is no way the US is going to be allowed a clean break from the Middle East. The US is at war and will be at war for many years into the future. Like the Cold War, we are looking at a 40 to 50 year military engagement in the Middle East… unless, we give the US Military free rein to fight, and win, the war in that region. Until the US politicians back away and allow our military to use the “Overwhelming Force” we are capable of… this Middle Eastern conflict will drag on for years and years and, when it finally does peter out… there will be no clear winner. That is unacceptable.
Let us understand something. The conflicts in Iraq, and in Afghanistan, are not “WARS”. They are “fronts” in the same war… the War on Terror.
I AM a believer in “Peace through Victory”. If the world would get out of the way and allow Israel to decisively defeat the so-called Palestinians, there might be something that could be “called” peace in that region. But so long as we continue to drag both sides to negotiating tables and demand concessions from Israel in “pre-doomed” attempts at pacifying the so-called Palestinians, that conflict will drag on and on, and on, ad infinitum. Too many Israeli lives have been lost because the US, and the UN, have meddled in Israel’s politics, and in the efforts of the IDF to finally wipeout those renegades surrounding them. I must tell you… I am convinced that the only reason the Iranian nuclear facilities remain standing today is because the US refuses to allow Israel to attack. There is no doubt in my mind that had the pressure from Washington not prevented it, the Iranian nuke factories would have been smoking ruins many months ago.
If we Americans don’t re-connect with reality, and understand that there are enemies out there who will stop at nothing, short of completely defeating America and enslaving her citizens, the US is destined to pay a price in blood you will not believe.
Longstreet
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