Dont' Just Give Thanks To Our Soldiers, Fight For Them

In 1776, an extraordinary group of men signed a document affirming our God-given right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Their commitment to the principles outlined here are summed up in its final sentence: "And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor."

Since the American Revolution, nearly 1.2 million American Patriots have died in defense of liberty. Additionally, 1.4 million have been wounded in combat, and tens of millions more have served honorably, surviving without physical wounds.

So on this Memorial Weekend the least we can do is fall to our knees in thankful prayer to honor these brave men and women who took the oath to risk their lives to defend our Constitution and the Liberty or Freedom that it so eloquently espouses.

At this time it is my feeling and belief that when we finish this prayer that we must do much more.  We need to fight for the rights, safety, and support of our troops in these times when there are forces who do not respect and honor their mission nor their Constitution.  How?

Let's start with supporting our military leaders, the leaders of all four service groups, who do not want the Congress to cram the elimination of "Don't Ask Don't Tell" down their throats.  These leaders are reported to be furious with Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Obama's top military advisor, James Jones, for negotiating a compromise with the White House to allow the Congress to pass legislation to allow gays in the military WHILE THEY STUDY THE IMPACT of such legislation.  This is another insane act, and in this case, it is clearly to appease the gay lobby even though it could bring great harm to our military readiness.  Common sense says you do not allow a boy to shower and share an open dormitory with girls at summer camp without causing repercussions.  Some of the girls would choose not to attend summer camp.  Some of the parents would not allow this as well.  Some of the kids would misbehave.  The need for supervision would dramatically increase.  The real truth is though, we have no idea what the repercussions would be. The same is most probable in disrupting our military that is terribly strained at this time as we fight two wars and face nuclear threats from Iran and North Korea.

Secondly, we need to leave the war strategies to the military.  My gosh, did we not learn our lesson in Vietnam as to the results when politicians run a war.  Military leaders will tell you today that Nam was a war of logistics.  If we would have used our strength in mining and bombing the harbors in North Vietnam while bombing the supply routes in North Vietnam, China, and Laos the war would have been over much quicker and with a better outcome.  We could have cut the supply lines to the Vietcong and NV troops in the South.  Instead we were afraid the French would get mad if we harmed their ships and fought the Cong in their jungles instead.  Today, our Commander in Chief  tells the Taliban and Al-Qaida when we will leave Afghanistan, drags his feet in sending troops, and then warns the enemy before we send our troops into a city to drive out the bad guys.  This is a "leave so we will not have to harm you and then we will leave your country and you bad guys can come back strategy".  Maybe this worked for a community organizer in Chicago or in a debate at Harvard but it doesn't work in war, and our poor military leaders know it.

Thirdly, let the military (along with the CIA) set the rules of engagement with the enemy and handle captives without lawyers or politicians looking over their soldiers.  When you are going into a village and a guy comes out with a gun, shoot him.  Don't let him shoot first and while our soldier is making sure there aren't people in the line of fire.  If we are not at war, then bring our troops home.  If we are at war, let the military win.

Lastly along with insuring our military is well led, we need to drive our congressman crazy in making sure our service people are well paid, well armed, well supported, and receive world class medical and disability care.  Too many stories are on the Internet about bureaucratic nightmares in providing proper care for returning service people.  To hell with uninsured illegal immigrants.  Take care of our returning soldiers.

Memorial day is a good time to give thanks for our troops and their sacrifice.  The day after Memorial day is a good time to fight for our troops because of their sacrifice.

Think about it,

Jim