“We have to consider the need for additional troops to be in Iraq, to take out the militias and stabilize Iraq. I would say 20,000 to 30,000.”
OK, who said that in early December 2006?
In January, President Bush proposed a tactical increase in troops in Iraq to focus on supporting the Iraqi army in their effort to dismantle the insurgents. The Democrats – and many Republicans – have questioned and criticized his intentions.
But it was NOT President Bush who publicly advocated the increase in troops a few months ago. It was Democrat Silvestre Reyes who is now the Chairman of the influential House Select Committee on Intelligence.
The fact is that whatever President Bush recommends for Iraq – or for the economy for that matter – the Democrats and their media allies immediately attack his statements and efforts. Even Representative Reyes has now spun his own words in a Kerry-like “I was for it before being against it” attempt to fall into line with his political party.
Enough with the politics of war. It is time for our elected officials to put down their partisan gloves and work together to complete our mission in Iraq so that we can begin to bring back our troops or deploy them to other areas in the world where they are needed.
So what is that mission? I will be the first to say that the Bush administration has been less than consistent in its public comments. First it was to rid the world of Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction. Then it was to stop his support and funding of terrorists. Then it was to help form a stable democratic country in that turbulent part of the world. And now it is because Iraq has become the epicenter on the war on terror.
I believe most people would agree that we won the war against Hussein and his brutal government but failed to win the peace. The Bush Administration should be held accountable for its failure to win that peace. His political party certainly paid the price in November. And already the newly empowered Democrats are fighting with each other over what they can do.
Here is what I think we should do. Regardless of whether the Iraqi war should have ever been started - and I think it was a just cause – today’s reality is that the war brought to the surface the depth around the world of anti-western, Islamic fundamentalists who have launched attacks in Spain, France, England, Indonesia, Australia, Russia and many other lands.
I believe our world – that of freedom of religion, of free markets, and freedom to choose one’s path in life – is at much at risk now as it was during Hitler’s attempts to dominate the continent sixty years ago. Our country’s military force proved invaluable then and it must do its duty now to rid the world of those “death to the west” religious fascists.
My father, and his generation fought too hard and paid too heavy of a price, for our country to become appeasers now to the terrorists seeking to destroy our western way of life. We must support our military effort in Iraq and demand that other countries provide their fair share of men and resources. If the terrorists defeat us in Iraq, the entire world will suffer the consequences. Instead of cowering, we must dedicate whatever resources are necessary to kill our enemies before they kill us.
