The last two weeks have been both enlightening and encouraging in terms of our progress in a very important battle in the War on Terror: the battle for Iraq. With both anticipation as well as some skepticism I listened closely to Gen. David H. Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker's report on the troop surge and state of our mission in Iraq. I watched with the opinion that this war has been mismanaged for the last three years and the Iraqi politicians need to start meeting our benchmarks.
But, it was absolutely no surprise to me that before, during and even after these promising reports, the loony defeatist leftists were at it again. I am disgusted by recent Liberal attacks on Gen. Petraeus, their downplaying of the progress on the battlefield of Iraq and most recently, their shameful, ridiculous, troop demoralizing freak show held in Washington D.C.
I first will address the despicable New York "Slimes" advertisement by MoveOn.org attacking the patriotism of our esteemed commander in Iraq, Gen. Petraeus. Its ad questions his patriotism by naming him Gen. "Betray Us." Let's first point out the blatant hypocrisy when Liberals bellyache about Conservatives questioning their patriotism. How can these same people denounce what they call "Conservative attacks on their patriotism" when they outright attack a general whom their Liberal friends in the Senate overwhelmingly approved? I remind Liberals that this same general was approved by a unanimous 99-0 vote.
He has proved as correct the confidence that the entire senate had in him to carry out the mission in Iraq. He has done it successfully and valorously and anyone who's a real American will denounce the despicable ad by ultra-liberal MoveOn.org. In addition to this condemnation, hopefully liberals will learn the facts and consequences pertaining to their gross misconceptions about this struggle for freedom over islamofacist tyranny.
The first misconception I am sick of hearing is that this war is "illegal." I think when Liberals are desperate to make people see their way with Iraq, they use this word, completely ignoring how improper its usage is. Perhaps they don't know what the word "illegal" means, I don't know.
This battle in Iraq is far from illegal, and here's why: the United States Congress gave President George W. Bush, through an overwhelming majority, authority to engage in military operations in Iraq. Secondly, the United Nations passed a dozen resolutions since 1990 pertaining to Iraq's violations, as well as resolution 1441 declaring Saddam Hussein's violation of previous resolutions and impending military action for noncompliance. The United States and its coalition had to do the work that the United Nations was too inept and incompetent to do, which was follow their own resolutions. Of course, Liberals accuse America first with their "illegality" nonsense instead of pointing to the many real illegalities of brutal tyrant Saddam Hussein.
The second Liberal notion of equal absurdity is this idea of giving the terrorists a "timetable" for retreat. Liberals will use the word "redeployment" but the fact is they are playing right into the terrorists' desires if our country lays out a timetable for our mission. Who in their right mind during World War II would've told the Nazis that we were going to cease operations at a particular time and date?
The answer is no one would have, and the reason is a tenet of common sense: you don't give your enemy your battle plans! Why don't Liberals understand that any timetable fits right into their strategy? There is no doubt in the minds of many that Liberals will resist any notion of progress in Iraq whatsoever because they are terrified that their loony assertions will be disproved.
This has been the case with the recent report by Gen. Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker. Anbar province has greatly improved and so has Diyala province, and the populace is realizing how valuable fighting al-Qaeda with the Americans can be for their livelihood. Liberals just don't get it.
The fact that Liberals just don't get it is rather evident in the recent freak show of a protest held this past week at the Capitol. Now, I admire the ambition of anyone willing to drive four hours and rally in a protest. I was proud to have participated in a protest two years ago with well over 100,000 pro-life youth in Washington D.C. These anti-war protesters have good cause to be angry because of the mismanagement of the war for the last three years and the benchmarks not being reached. I am just as disappointed. But let's be honest here. No one at my protest was idiotic enough to get arrested and then blame the police for what they knew was going to happen if they jumped security barriers.
I am a firm believer in exercising First Amendment rights, but those who were arrested protesting the war went to the extreme. I am also a firm believer in personal responsibility. There are responsible ways to display one's political viewpoints with rationality and reasonability, and then there is what ensued at the anti-war freak show.
Here's some genuine, heartfelt advice for Liberal anti-war crusaders: the point of a protest is to get a point across without making yourselves look like rebellious ignoramuses. While doing this, it helps if you give yourselves some credibility by not getting arrested doing it. And it also helps if you don't demoralize and disrespect the mission and sacrifices of our military. Oh, and having the facts and knowing what "illegal" means will get you some respect while you're at it.
Unlike the Liberals, I won't ever question one's patriotism, but I will question one's grasp of personal responsibility and ability to act intelligently. Clearly their radical views at this protest prove that the latter is impossible for Liberals, and the former is as far from them as their minds are from the realities of a post-9/11 world.
