Major Mike
I was inspired by Lt. Zirkle, a guest on the Hugh Hewitt show yesterday, and a co-founder of Vets For Freedom, to review some on my previous writing on Iraq. Upon further review...most of it wasn't half bad...here are some extracts. Some are reprinted from My Sandmen and others are reprinted from my original Major Mike site.
A collection of my finest prose on the subject of Iraq...
From my first post on the now retired Major Mike site...
January 6, 2005..."Winning Asymmetric War"
"The final, but most important factor for success in Iraq is to maintain and cultivate a strong national will. Sorry to say, but our individual and collective will have been in decline since we completed the settlement of the west. Our national will has indeed ebbed and flowed over the years, but each time it has been tested in the last fifty years, it retreats farther from its previous mark. This has largely been influenced by the now unabashedly, left leaning press, and the continuous stream of negativism that it spews. Americans MUST be convinced that the fight for peace and freedom is righteously occurring in Iraq. Americans cannot let their collective will be polluted by the anti-Bush negativism that is flowing like the Euphrates from Iraq through the US media.
The enemy has the Ho Chi Minh playbook, and they are counting on the American press to do their part,…and the press is. They are counting on the erosion of our unit effectiveness and morale,…this will not happen. They are also counting on the American public to do their part and become weary of this fight, righteous or not, in order to seal their victory and our defeat, this CANNOT happen. Toughen up America. Our future really does depend on winning in Iraq.
Got Will?"
January 7, 2005..."Gut Check America"
"Today, courage is expected only of those who have volunteered for dangerous occupations. It is time for us to become brave and courageous. It is time to find our inner toughness. It is time to do a “gut check.” It is time to discover what we are made of. It is time to rediscover that it takes courage to maintain our dreams of opportunity and freedom.
The heroes of Flight 93 showed us how to defeat terrorism. Fight back. We must fight not only as a nation, but also as individuals. We must be toughened by this tragedy. We must be reinforced by our anger at the terror and injustice these individuals bring into our lives. We must recognize that true “self-preservation,” at times, requires aggressive and dangerous, and even perhaps, mortal action.
I continue to salute the heroes of Flight 93. I salute their courage; a courage equal to those that have earned medals in combat. I salute them for showing America that, as with Gettysburg, a scarred hillside in Pennsylvania is again the turning point in a desperate fight for true freedom, freedom from fear."
January 9, 2005..."Iraq Is Not Another Vietnam"
"We clearly need to guard against a protracted low-intensity conflict in Iraq, but the final solution will ultimately be a political one. The Iraqis will have their freedom, and hopefully they will have the will to keep it. Regardless of the ultimate outcome, our participation in Iraq will reveal itself to be less a post-colonial folly, and more a necessary attempt to fight the next battle in the war on terrorism, a battle that is effectively reducing the capability of terrorists. At its worst, it has been a battle that has stopped the murder and torture of hundreds of thousands, and freed millions in the process.
Iraq is Iraq. Vietnam was Vietnam.
Got History?"
January 13, 2005..."Comments Posted On Belmont Club On Troop Strenghts In Iraq"
"The reasons for post-invasion occupation success are as varied as the situations in which they have occurred. Docile and defeated populations, free from outside agitation, have been relatively easy to pacify. Divided nations where the unpopular will of an outside nation is being imposed, have been costly and deadly to occupy. I doubt this will change in the near future, regardless of the amount of strategic analysis that occurs. I submit that our current force structures, with our ability and experience in task organizing, our weaponerring, and our advanced military educational programs, can provide workable solutions long into the future without major force or structural changes. In the end, it will be our mastery of the operational art that will be the difference between success and failure, not mathmatics."
February 1, 2005..."Courage America" (Comments about a statement that commentator Chris Wallace made about him not having the courage to stand in a line and vote in an Iraqi election.)
"What would Chris have done if he had been on flight 93 as it was heading back to DC? Protecting our freedoms takes a firm resolve of ALL of our citizens…men, women, and maybe children. If our citizens ever fail to vote because they simply fear for their personal safety, we are through as a nation. We have to KNOW that we would vote, regardless of the personal risks. It is this kind of resolve that protects our democracy.
Failing to participate out of fear will open the door to myriad of anti-democratic forces. Imminent? No, but exercising our rights is what keeps our system functioning, just as physical exercise strengthens the body.
Our Defense Department only protects the citizens, the citizens protect the democracy. We need to understand that voting IS worth any risk. And while the physical risks in defending our democracy are usually borne by our soldiers, everyone needs to be prepared to assume some of that risk should the time come."
March 30, 2005..."We Have Bad News Or No News"
"Which brings me back to a point I have made time and again…the MSM players are doomsdayers and naysayers, and by covering only the negative aspects of Iraq they fail to give the military the credit they deserve for making the difference. As the US policy proves to be more and more successful, and Iraqis begin the process of governing themselves, coverage drops to nil. Conclusion, the MSM hates good, or even neutral, news.
Extending my argument a bit here…this is why their “body count” approach to “keeping score” in Iraq disrespects the sacrifices made by our troops. Because the payoff from those sacrifices is not reported, and just the raw carnage is, the press is using these images and numbers to sell papers, not to honor those who have helped achieve success. Their pictures of soldiers re-habilitating were not published as compelling human-interest pieces, but in my mind, as additional imaging that helps paint the negative picture that they intend to project. A balanced approach would ensure that the sacrifices made by our troops in the field were honored with appropriate reporting of the follow-on successes.
Shame on the MSM here…report both sides with equal enthusiasm and you will find balance and an audience. Continue to negatively slant your representations of the situation in Iraq and you continue to lose market share, credibility, and eventually, as your papers go out of business, your jobs. Get the clue."
May 23, 2005..."Good David Brooks Piece"
"The sobering conclusion…
“Finally, they are strategically ruthless. Jeffrey Goldberg of The New Yorker, who has spent years reporting on extremists, says they use manufactured spasms of hatred to desensitize their followers. After followers spend a few years living through rabid riots and vicious sermons, killing an American or a Jew or even a fellow Muslim seems no more consequential than killing a mosquito.
That's how suicide bombers are made…These are the extremists, the real enemy. Let's keep our eye on the ball.”
Good idea."
Comments April 14, 2006,...lest we forget our enemy.
August 29, 2005...My Sandmen, "Playbook For Defeat"
"Did the Defeatists of Vietnam take responsibility for the resulting deaths of the Communist takeover and “re-education” camps? For the atrocities that occurred in Cambodia after the region was destabilized? At some point, wouldn’t a few thousand more American deaths be worth the millions that actually died after the Defeatists game-plan was actually executed. Isn’t this just a liberal form of white elitism? A few thousand of us are worth millions of you….
This is not about the 1400+ combat deaths, note the subtraction of over 400 non-combat deaths. This is about the Defeatists wanting to win elections, not doing the right thing. The Vietnam protests were more anti-Nixon than they were anti-war. The war was the excuse to turn up the heat. And, as the current Sheehan movement starts being infiltrated by Dem operatives and opportunistic politicians, it will be more about elections and less about the war and its dead. We have probably already crossed the fulcrum on this.
The current Defeatists aim to saddle another generation with the loser malaise that was predominate post-Vietnam. They have no shame in doing this, and they revel in it…much like hooking the poor on welfare. They are attempting to create another generation of self-loathing losers who will dependent on the liberals to lead them out of the falsely created darkness. They are attempting to build a constituent base at the expense of the actual people they are claiming they are trying to protect.
Lastly, let’s don’t lose sight on the fact that it was America that has rose to defeat fascism and communism in the last century. And that this effort required determination and resolve. In fact, our occupying forces still add to the stability of western Asia and central Europe. We are not attempting to annex any part of the Middle East…we are simply adding more nations to the list of the democratic and protecting millions as we go. What is there to mock in that?
What is there to defeat?"
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