Tuesday, August 17, 2004
The Standoff at Najaf
The Standoff at Najaf
The American Military cannot effectively function if it cannot be allowed to recognize its targets. If a building is being utilized as a fortress regardless of its previous designation by inhabitants, it is for military purposes a fortress and needs to be neutralized. This has been a necessity for all successful military actions and will not change because of some silly notions of displaying “sensitivity”. A courageous leader would point out to the enemy that if you treat your “sacred” places as a place to hide and fight from, you have by your actions shown that the only ones who should respect your shrine are your enemies. This double standard is unacceptable in war.
Why do you suppose Al Sadr has retreated to this “holy” mosque if not to count on our accepting his rules of warfare? How many times have we witnessed our soldiers disarmed by our political leaders because they don’t want to offend some group be it religious , foreign or of another political persuasion? Politicians talk of supporting the troops but to give them artificial barriers is not support but the sentence of a long drawn out standoff when immediate and decisive victory could be won. The American people should wake up and demand that we have not forgiven the thugs and their leaders for the defacing of our beautiful skyline, the lives of our citizens and disrupting our way of life. This sickly hand wringing with concern about what the opinions of countries that would never support us under any circumstances has to be recognized for the reality it is. We already had a President who didn’t want to recognize the truth. Now we are faced with another who is pretending we are not in a fight to win at any cost. Perhaps this explains why the support from the younger voters is fading. They do not want to be led by a Commander in Chief that orders them to charge the hill without stepping on the sacred ground of the enemy. There is no room for contradictory orders on the battlefield.
The American Military cannot effectively function if it cannot be allowed to recognize its targets. If a building is being utilized as a fortress regardless of its previous designation by inhabitants, it is for military purposes a fortress and needs to be neutralized. This has been a necessity for all successful military actions and will not change because of some silly notions of displaying “sensitivity”. A courageous leader would point out to the enemy that if you treat your “sacred” places as a place to hide and fight from, you have by your actions shown that the only ones who should respect your shrine are your enemies. This double standard is unacceptable in war.
Why do you suppose Al Sadr has retreated to this “holy” mosque if not to count on our accepting his rules of warfare? How many times have we witnessed our soldiers disarmed by our political leaders because they don’t want to offend some group be it religious , foreign or of another political persuasion? Politicians talk of supporting the troops but to give them artificial barriers is not support but the sentence of a long drawn out standoff when immediate and decisive victory could be won. The American people should wake up and demand that we have not forgiven the thugs and their leaders for the defacing of our beautiful skyline, the lives of our citizens and disrupting our way of life. This sickly hand wringing with concern about what the opinions of countries that would never support us under any circumstances has to be recognized for the reality it is. We already had a President who didn’t want to recognize the truth. Now we are faced with another who is pretending we are not in a fight to win at any cost. Perhaps this explains why the support from the younger voters is fading. They do not want to be led by a Commander in Chief that orders them to charge the hill without stepping on the sacred ground of the enemy. There is no room for contradictory orders on the battlefield.
