I publish electronically nearly everyday and many days I publish more than once. Almost everyday I’m writing my thoughts on this electronic medium. I’m sharing what I’m thinking with people I’ve never met nor will ever meet. Last week I shared that I had written an editorial for a local paper. Paula expressed an interest in knowing what I wrote. Here is the editorial which was published in the Olean Times Herald last night. Several people complemented me in the last day since this was published. One lady who also is a regular visitor to Mt. Irenaeus called our home last night to thank me for the editorial. My wife thought it was the best letter I’d written to the paper. You’ll have to be the judge. You read more of my thoughts than anyone else. Peace.
“Four years ago I wrote letters to the President, to the Senators from New York and to our former Congressman Amo Houghton. The letters had one thing in common they voiced my opposition to the War in Iraq. I got replies from everyone. I even got a personal letter from the White House. In only a few instances was anybody opposed to this debacle in Iraq. One of the votes against this tragedy came from Congressman Amo Houghton. The letter I received from the President’s spokesman said that while the President appreciated my concern he knew more than I did and that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction and for the good of the American people and the world he must be removed from power.
There were no weapons of mass destruction. Saddam Hussein was never a serious threat to American interests in the region. He was boxed in a “no fly zone.” He had no air force, no navy and not a very good army either. His regime was toppled in a matter of days. By May of 2003 our own President stood on the deck of an aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf and pronounced “Mission Accomplished.” In fact there was no mission. There never was a mission. As each day, week and year progressed we’ve been fed an unending litany of hogwash, lies and deception about our presence in Iraq. From day one we changed from WMD removers to installers of a democracy in Iraq. This President, vice-President, and all of the fellow travelers of this administration are guilty of gross misconduct and subverting the Constitution of the United States of America. They initiated a policy that has cost the lives of over 3,000 of our service men and women and wounded nearly twenty-thousand others.
In November of this year, we the people, the owners of the country voted overwhelmingly to remove the President’s party from power and the single issue that motivated this tea party was the War in Iraq. Now, our President is attempting to subvert congress and our system once again by escalating the presence of U.S. forces in Iraq. His supporters like our own Congressman John R. Kuhl think we ought to give the President a chance to kill more Americans and countless thousands of Iraqis. Mr. Kuhl believes that we need to support the troops and our President. Randy’s right we need to support the troops. The troops have never been supported in this war, they’ve been ill-equipped, underfunded and stop-lossed to the point of breaking. Mr. Bush is fond of being called the Commander-in-Chief. He never misses an opportunity for a good photo with real fighting men. Good commanders belong at the scene of the battle. All the good ones in our history were at the front leading. Good commanders never ask their troops what they themselves are unwilling to do. Therefore Mr. Bush belongs on point with the men and women he’s sending to Iraq. I think Mr. Kuhl ought to join him too. I’ve gotten tired of all the folks who say they support the war, but never ever served in one. Therefore I suggest that if you support this war and this President that you ought to get off your butt and get down to the nearest recruiting station and sign up. If you’re in Congress or too old for the military then you ought to fly to Iraq as quickly as possible and join the troops outside the “green zone”. Go to Anbar province and walk point with the U.S. Marines and U.S. Army that are on daily patrols. Get your hands dirty and face death everyday as they do. Put up or shut up. I’m getting a little sick of the tough talk. I’ll bet none of the shirkers will sign up. What do you bet?”
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iraq war, commander in chief, war supporters