In 1942 there was much disagreement among the Allies about how to prosecute the war, such as which front and what tactics to use. Much the same discussions as concerns Iraq and Afghanistan now. How long do we stay, how much money do we spend, how many men do we use. How much should each country contribute?
In Afghanistan, our NATO allies, for the most part, are unwilling to pay the political price of doing what is right and helping to stabilize Afghanistan. Canada and Britain, our staunchest allies, are having problems deciding whether to follow through to the end. Europeans have almost always been "Johnny come lately's" in facing down tyrants and fascism, until forced to face reality. If you don’t shove the Europeans too hard and just use small constant pressure, you can move them right off a cliff, while they continue eating their cheese and drinking their wine until they hit bottom.
Most of Europe wants to sit in the shade while America, Canada and Britain do the heavy lifting. European governments are simply lukewarm to the idea of using troops to stabilize Afghanistan. They send some troops, but not to the areas they could be used best. They don't want to see coffins draped with THEIR countries flag on the front page of their home newspapers. (And by the way, American newspapers were really pissed at not being able to take pictures of every coffin of every U.S. service member killed in Iraq. Those pictures, of course, would be front page news every day if the media had their way.) Those pictures would turn the public against the politicians who support the war against terror and make it harder to be re-elected.
Here, I am reminded of a cartoon I saw once; A politician is standing in front of a mob carrying torches and signs and looking very angry. The politician has his hands up as if stopping the crowd and he is saying "Tell Me Where You're Going and I'll Lead You!"
The media cooperates with the defeatist politicians, or is it the other way around. In America "defeatist" is spelled D-E-M-O-C-R-A-T. (Even decorated Viet Nam veteran former Marine Congressmen. They make me sick just thinking about them.)
Each and every death is faithfully reported, on the front page if possible. The death is tallied, chronicled, examined, investigated, discussed, and cried over. If the dead soldier had a pregnant wife or a newborn he had not yet seen, then all the better to crank up the weeping machine. Let’s all cry on each other’s shoulder over the terrible loss and wring our hands as if the death of one soldier is the greatest tragedy mankind has ever suffered. By the way, how many people were killed in World War 2? Anybody want to guess? Anybody know? Anybody care?
For those of you who may not know, soldiers are WARRIORS. They are also volunteers. They train to find, engage and kill the enemy. Soldiers know, if they have a brain, that their work is dangerous and sometimes fatal. They do it to protect the rest of us from threats that almost all of us would not have the guts to face. A picture of a Policeman comes to mind. They do it for us, you and me. I am humbled by the thought they do this for me without my asking them to.
I DO mourn their deaths. I honor their sacrifice and will fight to make sure their sacrifice is never forgotten. One should remember they are warriors and warriors are sometimes killed in battle. That is just the way it is. Innocent civilians are also killed in the battles. This is also just the way it is. Innocent’s being killed is to be avoided if possible, but not at all costs.
I am a former soldier. As soldiers, we were taught that in our line of work the levels of importance were; accomplishment of the mission, then the welfare of your men. Depending on the importance of the mission, the welfare of the men may not even be a consideration. Your men may have to be sacrificed for the accomplishment of the mission. A horrible tenet, but one that has helped us win almost all the wars America has fought. (At least the ones we weren't fighting with one hand tied behind our back.)
We should not go into a war with the goal of just defending ourselves. No war was ever won simply by being on the defense. You must attack. When you attack, people die. It is an ugly, ugly business to fight a war. We do it too quickly and too often, but we should never be afraid to fight. If we go into a fight, we should fight to win. “To the victor go the spoils”. In Iraq and Afghanistan, the spoils are freedom, democracy and all the rights of free men.
On to another subject.
Border Security.
I found another parallel from World War 2.
Recently, the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Michael Chertoff, announced plans to phase in the requirement for proof of citizenship for persons attempting to enter the United States at land border ports of entry.
The parallel from World War 2;
In early 1942, when the German submarines were sinking a merchant ship every day along our eastern seaboard, the War Department attempted to implement a blackout to turn off the lights along the coast line. These coastal lights were silhouetting our ships against the shore making them easy to spot by the German submarines. Many ships were being lost. At the mention of the required blackout, there was a cry that went out all along the coast. “You’re ruining our tourist season”, “Killing my profits”, “It’s unworkable” were all heard. People wrote and called their congressmen to try to get the blackout plan stopped. In the end, the blackout was instituted, but it took months to get it in place past all the political wrangling. During this time, hundreds of our merchant sailors died and hundreds of thousands of tons of our merchant ships were sent to the bottom of the ocean because business owners along the east coast did not want to lose profits.
Oh, how we love our money.
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