Support the troops!

I know Iraq hasn't turned out quite like we were told it would. But I want America to think about something. Just because the going has become tough doesn't mean we should give up, cut and run, whatever you want to call it. All it means is; the going has become tougher and we knew that it would. This is an insurgency, and historically an insurgency is a tough nut to crack.

The one thing that should be foremost in the minds of every American is that our troops need and deserve our unwavering, total support. Americans, with the exception of higher fuel prices and inconveniences of additional security measures at airports have not been asked or required to sacrifice anything. We should be exceedingly grateful to our troops, who have taken 100% of the sacrificing in this war on their shoulders alone, they are sacrificing, we aren't. Except for the occasional homemade billboard displaying "We Support Our Troops" or the yellow magnetic stickers on vehicles, I don't see an outpouring of support for our Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, Airmen and Coast guardsman and frankly as a combat veteran myself this just flat out pisses me off. Don't they deserve our support no matter what our individual opinion of the war is? I hear it time and again, "I support the troops but not the war," but nobody has been able to explain how to do that, I call bullshit on them!

How has the war impacted your lifestyle here at home? What's the beef really? Be honest about this, your life has hardly been negatively impacted at all with very few exceptions and those are more inconveniences than sacrifices. What we have in Iraq, are dirty, filthy, scum of the earth, murdering bloodthirsty, power hungry terrorists, mufisden, who deliberately murder innocent Iraqis, kindnap civilians, cut the heads off of innocents and desicrate the dead in an effort to do exactly what seems to be happening, to divide Iraq along sectarian lines, and scare and demoralize the Americans back home. Why are we giving the enemy exactly what he wants? Did you not understand the nature of these animals? We have come to a crossroad. What will America do? What are YOU willing to do?

As for me? I'm supporting the troops as I always have. I will support their mission as well, for the two cannot be separated. I'll continue to write on my little blog, and call for the redoubling of our efforts in Iraq. That means sending more troops to Iraq to get this civil war thing under control, to deny freedom of movement to the mufisden, to expose them as the liars they are, and to provide adequate security for the Iraqi people. To do that, we must make some adjustments to our strategy and tactics. I think the prime concern should be in providing a secure environment in Iraq, to do that we have to have Soldiers everywhere. They need to be visible to the Iraqi people, they need to mingle with average Iraqis, to build good relations, the Iraqi people need to get to know our Soldiers as people, not just Ninja Turtle looking stormtroopers laden with battle gear stuck under a kevlar helmet passing by on patrol, this does not build trust.

There is one basic reason for the current situation in Iraq and that is that we failed to project our military might in sufficient strength and numbers to control the terrain, towns and cities of Iraq. Our troops are not being out-fought, they aren't being out-thought, however in the strategic realm, our civilian leaders seem to be stuck in reactive mode. The insurgents have the initiative. Americans need to demand we fight this war harder! Demand we fight seriously with every means at our disposal rather than whining like whipped puppies to withdraw! My God, I can't for the life of me figure out what happend to America's backbone!

We are just a few adjustments away from turning things around in Iraq permanently. Insurgencies have been defeated before and this one can be defeated too. President Bush warned us early on that this war would be a long one and it would take resolve to see it through. Back then the Congress and the American people supported him in this endeavor. Why have we turned out back on him, and our troops?

Everyone knows the the mainstream media lie. There are multiple instances of prominent media personalities being caught red handed lying, even manufacturing documents to damage the president's reputation. Everyone knows the media sensationalizes, everyone knows they will tell the tragic story while ignoring the boring good news, highlight the alleged war atrocities as though they were fact, they are quite content in sullying the reputation of our military over unsubstantiated accusations, painting our recruiters as rapists and thugs who press kids into the military, it's crap! The media is every bit as culpable for the drop in support of the war effort as anyone, probably more so. But they could care less, it gets ratings and to the media moguls, that's what its all about, that's all that matters, and Americans are sucking it up. If today's media were reporting on world war II, do you think we would have had the guts to stick with it? Close your eyes and imagine Dan Rather informing the country of American casualties at Iwo Jima, imagine him describing the landing at Normandy, The Axis would have won and Jews might be extinct. Imagine the main stream media reporting the Civil War. The media would have taken a neutral stance on the issue of slavery no doubt. And would have supported the Confederates in their right to secede from the United States. Face the facts America, we knew this war would get tough at some point and we would have to adapt, innovate and overcome, we have always had to do that, in every war we've ever been involved in! Face the fact America, the main stream media doesn't mind lying to you if it gets them ratings. Think for yourself! Terrorism isn't going away anytime soon, even if we gave up in Iraq today!

Remember your roots, remember your history! Forget about what Europeans think about us, how do they impact your life? Do you think they really care about us? Screw the UN! What have they done for America lately? Remember what our ancestors faced, remember the sacrifices that every day Americans made in support of the troops back then, and that you have sacrificed nothing. At least not yet. But if we give up in Iraq, we will feel the ramifications for generations, and we'll fight them again (if we survive), you can count on that, only next time we might be fighting them in our own backyards. You had better wake up America, nothing can stand in the way of a united American people. The only reason we will lose in Iraq is because the folks back home gave up on the troops. Don't let that happen!