Let’s put politics aside and consider the serious nature of the War on Terror.
July 18th, 2007 | by admin |The Current Iraq War Casualties: 4,008 American military dead. Our prayers and thoughts go out to the family members of these brave men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice for freedom…
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Think about this… Here are some statistics from previous conflicts involving the United States and the loss of our soldiers lives…
The Vietnam War: 58,209 Killed in Action
The Korean War: 36,516 dead (including 10,395 non-combat)
World War II: 407,300 American military dead.
World War I: 116,708 American military dead.
American Revolutionary War: 25,000 military dead.
We had the backbone to face evil once, where is our resolve now? Whether you agree or disagree with reasons for entering this theater of the War on Terror (Iraq), we are there now and we are fighting terrorists now.
Why are some of the American people ready to abandon the fight for freedom in the midst of the battle against radical Islam? The “Left” is adamant about leaving immediately. Surely they are not suggesting an end to all fighting of terrorists. The avoidance of this conflict is a pipe dream. It will either be fought in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other theaters of war abroad or it will return to our homeland.
One of the reasons we have not experienced another 9/11 is because we have the terrorists playing defense. Not to sound cliche’ but the best defense is a good offense is it not?
The strategy by some is to abandon the idea of a democracy in Iraq. They would have us give up on a base of operations for fighting the War on Terror in the region (much like German bases were set up for the purposes of holding Communism in check.) If that is the case, then what is the alternative strategy? Where will we deploy next? What will be the next front in the War on Terror? Do we pull out of Iraq so we can hit Iran? Do we pull out so we can focus on Syria? Maybe we should just nuke the entire area?
Senator Amy Klobuchar was on my program, Hot Talk, last week. She suggested leaving the battle in Iraq to be fought by our Special Forces Units. That sounds eerily like the Blackhawk Down incident and the Battle of Mogadishu. That didn’t turn out very pretty.
I’m very frustrated by the lack of patience when it comes to the report from our commanding officers in the field. A report from General Petraeus is due in September. Why can’t we wait and see what that report says before jumping to conclusions?
Great God in Heaven people! Who doesn’t want to see our boys come home? Who wanted to see as many people die as did in all the other wars that we’ve fought? There comes a time when you have to fight for freedom and for our security. This is the greatest challenge of our time! The fight against radical Islam! You can see it tearing apart countries around the world. Look at countries in Europe and Africa and southeast Asia.
If we don’t come together and show some backbone we’re going to lose this country. It’s not such a radical idea. It’s very real and it’s time everyone from the left, from the right, from the middle, or from whatever background politically, take a step back and evaluate whether or not we want to have a land of the free and a home of the brave.
Andy Barnett
(Andy is the host of Hot Talk on Newstalk 1450 KNSI in St. Cloud airing weekday mornings 6-9. For more information call in to the show at 320-251-1990 or visit http://knsi.blogspot.com or e-mail him: Andy@1450knsi.com)
By Anonymous on Jul 19, 2007
Andy,
Refute this paragraph, if you can (emphasis mine):
For the United States, the world is now, as a result of the Iraq war, a more dangerous place. At the end of 2002, what is sometimes tagged “Al Qaeda Central” in Afghanistan had been virtually destroyed, and there was no Al Qaeda in Iraq. In 2007, there is an Al Qaeda in Iraq, parts of the old Al Qaeda are creeping back into Afghanistan and there are Al Qaeda emulators spawning elsewhere, notably in Europe.
From an essay in the LA Times by Timothy Garton Ash, senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford.
By Talk Radio Personality on Jul 20, 2007
I would argue that the reports of Al Qaeda being stronger are really dependent on your definition of “stronger”.
If by stronger they mean they have done better at recruiting and at garnishing support then that might be true.
I do not believe however they are organized any better, financially they can’t be better off, and their bases of operation have been disrupted.
The question about Al Qaeda in Iraq is irrelevant. They are there now. Were they there to begin with? No one really knows, we weren’t in Iraq at the time.
Have we stirred up a hornets nest? Maybe so, but it was already stirred up by past actions by the United States and others.
We’ve never been liked by followers of extreme Islam because of our support for Israel. They hit our homeland in 2001 and it doesn’t make any sense to not go on the offensive at that point.
You might notice that I use Al Qaeda and followers of radical Islam interchangably. I’m aware of this and I do so with no apologies.
Radical Sunni, Radical Shia, Al Qaeda, Hezbollah, Hamas, they all have the same goals to terrorize and control while attacking freedom and democracy. They hate Israel, they hate the west, they want to kill us. They’ve made this very clear.
You cannot appease such enemies. You’d think we would’ve learned that by now.
I know Iraq is a difficult situation. I know that the entire War on Terror is a difficult situation. There have been grave mistakes on our part. Regardless, we still have to fight in Iraq, or elsewhere abroad, or it’s coming to our homeland.
By Anonymous on Jul 20, 2007
Andy,
You say “we” have to fight in Iraq. Who do you mean by “we”?
I don’t know your age, but from your picture, you would seem to be eligible for military service.
Have you ever considered joining so you could back up your words with some actions?
Or does “we” really mean someone else?
By Talk Radio Personality on Jul 22, 2007
Funny guy! I get a real kick out of the fact that people leave “anonymous” comments by the way. Whatever floats your boat.
I don’t know about you, (whoever you are) but I consider myself a citizen of the United States of America. When I say “we” need to fight, I’m referring to the military arm of the citizens of the United States.
One of the great things about our military is the fact that it’s all volunteer. The men and women who have volunteered to fight the battle on the front lines are our finest.
One reason why I chose an occupation that I can use to rally support for our troops is to in some small way pay tribute to our armed service members.
While it’s not the same as fighting in the trenches I’d like to think I can help do my part by supporting and honoring our armed forces over the air waves.
I stand by our leadership in the White House, and I stand by our troops who are fighting daily to protect out freedoms. I am merely a voice rallying the cry for democracy and for what’s right.