Let's Get Down to Politics

I have an opinion on the politics and war we are living in right now.

I fully acknowledge that my view is unpopular, and may even be frustrating to read. But you know what....we have the right to have disagreements in this country. We can agree to disagree. Just because I disagree with you doesn't mean we can't have coffee. I say that because I think very often, in fact most of the time, we lose sight of that. I will say this often--our freedom to do just that, agree to disagree, is a freedom that many other countries do not have. Our freedom to speak our opinion, share it and publish it, is bought and paid for with the blood of our veterans. So let's honor those men and women by not drawing more battle lines and suddenly not speaking to each other, or holding animosities to each other--it sullies that freedom. This is my view, I fully acknowledge and realize yours may be different, I embrace that. It keeps things colorful.

I must give you a bit of my history. I am the daughter of a military officer. I was born on a military base. I am fortunate that while I was growing up I never saw my dad going to war, but he was definitely deployed to far away places during periods of international unrest in the 70's and 80's. I was too little to know what was really going on. All my life I have always been incredibly thankful my dad was never deployed to war.

I have to turn the channel when something is being shown of soldiers coming home and families being reunited with their soldiers. I cry. I don't just have tears coming down my cheeks, I weep. I have a better idea than most what it's like to have a parent gone for a long time while the military takes them away. I can't imagine throwing in the extra stress of knowing that person is at war. I can't imagine having that loved one home for a few months, and them being deployed to war....again....and yet, again. I can't imagine. I weep for those families and I weep when the bad news comes that the ultimate sacrifice has been made, that soldier's life. I mean it, I weep.

Click here for the latest person I have sat at my computer and wept over. His life was too short. This post is to honor this man, Kory Wiens, for his loyalty and sacrifice. I wish I could have known him.

With a full and appreciative heart--I give my absolute thanks for our guys and gals fighting for our freedom in Iraq and Afghanistan right now. I thank them for their sacrifice, their family's sacrifice and the hardships they are enduring so that I have the freedom's I enjoy daily. The bumper sticker says it well "freedom is not free".

So, should we pull out? Absolutely not. You may never click on this blog again because you disagree with me so much. That is okay. That is a freedom we enjoy in this country. We can voice our disagreements with impunity. As a woman, in the middle east, I could be very seriously punished for speaking an opinion.

I am going to try to keep this brief, because this war is no simple thing.

First, who in the name of creation could have predicted 9/11? Our president was on his way to having a productive term in the White House, when that horrible tragedy landed in his lap. I have the feeling some of us have forgotten how absolutely horrific that day was. Several thousand US lives were taken. Those citizens were enjoying the freedom we enjoy--the ability to make a living and earn money through commerce. We know that is the reason the Twin Towers were targeted--they represented the US commerce that we enjoy and make our living with.

Let me add this--I am forever grateful to God alone that Al Gore did not win that election, and 9/11 was his mess to work on. If that doesn't send chills up your spine...

Second, Condi Rice said it the best "they were at war with us before we were at war with them". Ummm.....for those people who post the bumper stickers, signs, etc that say something like "Get out of Iraq, NOW!"--I have to wonder and I want to ask so badly, "Do you think the US pulling out of Iraq will make this all go away? They are at war with us no matter if our troops are there or at home. They are war-ready, we need to be too."

I have a little something that happened to me when the war started, but I don't want to digress.....see the end of this post for that.**

September 11ths will continue, and have continued. They will continue to be at war with us, and we will have a war on our soil. They are at war with us--that means bombs, carnage and suffering directed at us. That is a logical course of events from what the terrorists have made very clear. They are at war with the US and will stop at nothing to continue to make terroristic tragedies happen on a regular basis. So if we pull out, and make no efforts to stop this at the source--what, do we let them continue to be at war with us? Do we continue to allow these people to bomb our country? Do we continue to allow thousands of citizens to die?

They do make those attempts now and will continue to, but at least we are over there, getting intelligence, apprehending bad guys, and stopping potential threats. Why can't we carry shampoo on flights now? Because it was averted because we and the British were over there.

Okay, let's pull out right now. Let's just say the word has come from somewhere and we pull out right now. Well the same thing happened in Vietnam.

History remembered here. Politicians in Washington were sick of the Vietnam war. Resolutions were made around marbled tables in Washington and it was decided inside the beltway of Washington to pull out. My point being, it was not decided on the battlefield in Vietnam. It was a political decision, not a battlefield decision.

Okay, so we pulled out. It happened quickly. If you want to see a good depiction of what that looked like, I recommend the movie "The Killing Fields". It was sudden and abrupt. By the way, the actor that plays the Vietnamese man who escapes the killing fields, himself survived the killing fields, but his wife and children did not. He also endured torture, when you watch it, look closely--he is missing his pinky fingers from the torture he endured at the hands of the Khmer Rouge.

Guess what happened next? The Khmer Rouge came in and committed amazing human atrocities that we are still learning about today. The killing fields of Vietnam happened after the US forces pulled out. The corrupt faction of the Khmer Rouge saw the opportunity to take over the weakened Vietnamese. Thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands of people, not armed soldiers in uniforms were murdered systematically. Every now and then you hear of a new "killing field" found in Vietnam, and it usually has skeletal remains of women holding babies, elderly, and weak.

I absolutely believe and will put a bet down with anyone--the Shiite's are just waiting for politicians in Washington to put down on paper the "date" we have to pull out. I will put money down that the killing fields will begin again, and that Al Sadir freak will be in charge. The Iraqi government cannot protect themselves from his forces right now--and everyone knows it. Al Sadir will commit tragedies that will make Vietnam pale by comparison. I'll bet on it.

We are about to repeat Vietnam and the killing fields of Vietnam, if we continue to pressure our politicians to finish the war. Leave the war decisions with those who know the most about it--the military personnel who are fighting it--and what are they saying, "hang on, we can't pull out now."

Am I the only one who thinks this? No, so far the only one in the public eye who agrees with me is John McCain. Interesting. He was a POW in Vietnam and has the killing fields in his adult memory. Interesting that he has predicted that we will repeat the killing fields of Vietnam if we pull out now.

So, for those people who keep track of the Iraqis citizens who have been killed so far--you can increase that twenty fold if we pull out now--if you're so concerned about them. I am too, don't get me wrong, but I am more concerned about our gals and guys right now.

Check this out, on cbsnews.com just tonight, they have an article entitled, "What would happen if the US pulled out now?" You can read it, and there several scenarious predicted but here's what interesting:

"Civil war and increased violence are widely anticipated, however, with some military officers contending that whether Iraq splits apart or outside actors take over, "ever greater carnage is inevitable."

I am hoping that John McCain can get his internal affairs together right now. I know he is having staffing issues and fund raising issues. He also is the only candidate right now who has the military balls to finish this war right--from the battlefield and not a cushy, air conditioned board room in DC. Fred Thompson is a close second. I'll let you know later who I vote for.

That is my opinion.

**Summer after the war started, 2002. I am standing at a Mail Boxes Etc store on a Saturday morning to do whatever. A woman walks in and a young male clerk helps her. She asks for stamps. The clerk gives her a book of stamps. Woman tosses them back at the clerk and demands something else. "I don't want ones with American flags. I can't support this country and I never will." She isn't quiet either, everyone could hear her little speech. Poor clerk, who is like 16 years old and hasn't grown a spine yet, says, "Ummm....no that is all we have."

Sidenote--I will be the first to acknowledge, yes, this war is, in part, about oil. Why? Because we can't have a dictator setting fire to the world's oil fields when he gets ticked off. That same dictator shouldn't be allowed to snap his fingers and drop airplanes out of US skies into our buildings. Yes, Osama and Saddam were bedfellowes in their "fight" against the US--religiously, worlds apart, in their hate for the US, rock solid partners. We also need to cut our addiction to oil, and I fully agree with that. Back to my story.

Woman huffs out of the store without stamps, clicks her little clicky thingy that unlocks her vehicle door from a mile away. Her gas guzzling SUV the size of a Sherman tank is right outside the door and it is loud as it unlocks. She huffs her way into the driver's seat and screeches off. Do you see the irony here?

If I had my spine on that day, I would say to her:

If you don't like America, move. If you like the freedoms you have, like being able to be a witch to a male with impunity, all under the clause of "free speech"--then stay. But I'll tell you what, I absolutely dare you to go to the middle east and behave that way, and see how much you appreciate the freedom of speech women like you have here. You can lose a limb talking that way to a man in some middle eastern countries.

I also encourage you to trade your SUV for a 1970's model diesel car that can be converted to biodiesel. If you are going to protest, put your money where your mouth is.

Happy Fourth of July! Stars and Stripes forever!