Can we win? Can we lose?
A couple serious thinkers, such as Lex, have asked lately the two burning questions all of us should be faced with right now:
Can we win?
Or.. Can we lose?
And the answer to both of these questions is yes.
I’m the son of a Vietnam veteran, the grandson of two World War II veterans. Both of these experiences weigh heavily in my own thoughts and feelings about the conflict that we find ourselves in today.
World War II was undeniably the good fight - where right triumphed, with great sacrifice, over wrong. Millions died, not a few of them Americans and our allies. Great sacrifices were made on many fronts. All that we had as a nation was poured into that war.
Vietnam was another story. Our nation was sorely divided over our role in the conflict between North and South Vietnam - and the aftermath on our nation and on our military took years to recover.
The shadow of Vietnam looks over everything that we do today.
I firmly believe that regardless of the current situation that we have done the right things as a nation since 9/11. Going after the first sanctuary of terrorism in Afghanistan was the right thing to do - and confronting Iraq and taking military action such as we have done was also the right thing to do.
I believe this because I believe that our nation’s outlook on what it would take to defend our people, our territory, and our interests changed significantly - we could no longer take the risk that a nation like Iraq could possess weapons of mass destruction - so we took that government out.
But even more importantly, these actions combined, over the long term, will change the long term outlook of this region - the power structure of what makes up the Middle East will change and change in huge ways in years to come… if we are successful in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In these areas, I believe we are on the path to victory.. we can win.. but it is not going to be easy.
And this is where I think we can lose.
I think that since Vietnam, we’ve lacked a certain sense of will and determination overall. It was obvious during World War II that it was there.. Korea a bit less so, Vietnam clearly not so overtime. Even during Operation Desert Storm you saw the warnings about massive casualties and major defeat for our forces…
I fear that we’re in for a long multi-year struggle that will take place on many fronts - economically, politically, and militarily - it will happen on distant battlefields, on the high seas, on airplanes and airports, in shopping malls and subway trains, but most importantly around our own dinner tables. As we saw in London, the terrorists are going to bring this battle into our backyards - it’s only a matter of time before we see suicide bombings here in the United States.. and that’s a day as a professional that I dread…
But the most important conversations are those that will happen around our dinner tables, around the grill in the backyard with the neighbors, and in our own living rooms - it’s about being prepared for the battle ahead - and the long road it will take to be safe and secure in our nation and around the world.
It’s not going to happen overnight - it’s not going to be easy - but we have no choice but to engage the world and those trouble spots in this conflict. That’s where the left is dead wrong - and where I fear if we listen to their arguments - and travel down their path - that we’ll lose.
And that cost will be too high for us to bear.
July 13th, 2005 at 11:21 pm
What I don’t understand is why the US had to change its whole way of life in the wake of 9/11. The Patriot Act and Son of Patriot Act have changed our lives. The fear that children are growing up in is unhealthy. It’s the reaction of Americans, their willingness to give up their freedoms, the conversations they’re having around their dinner tables and their backyard grills, that have brought terrorism its victory.
Look at Londoners? Are they hurt? Of course. Are they giving up their way of life, as Americans have? Dude, the Underground was back up and running mere hours after the bombs went off. The British are strong that way. Many Americans, especially those who live in Dumbfuckistan, maybe not so much.
July 13th, 2005 at 11:52 pm
I’m still trying to understand the massive loss of freedom that the patriot act supposedly brings.
Been trying for four years, still don’t get it, and I’m a Libertarian.
B
July 13th, 2005 at 11:55 pm
As far as fear goes, I’m afraid of two things:
1) another attack
2) us losing the will to fight
Another attack is inevitable. Do I sit around and let it paralyze me..? No. Do I worry about it? Sure. Do I think people walk around in fear all of the time? No.
I do worry about the will to fight - that people wil truly understand the conflict that we’re in - that they’ll forget what this is really all about.
Too many have their head in the sand like Ostriches - others are too busy yelling BUSHHILTER like I saw in Cambridge today….
Bryan
July 14th, 2005 at 10:03 am
– I’m still trying to understand the massive loss of freedom that the patriot act supposedly brings. –
I notice you use the word ‘massive’ to describe the loss of freedom the Patriot Act has blanketed on the US. While ‘massive’ wasn’t my word, it does raise a question for me. Is ANY loss of freedom OK? I remember you telling me, a long time ago, that Libertarians don’t want the government meddling in personal affairs as much as they do. But now expanding government is OK, if the expansion is not ‘massive’, and only for certain reasons?
I have actually heard people say that it’s all right with them to lose freedoms, because they’re not doing anything wrong, and since they weren’t exercising those freedoms, they aren’t losing anything.
I posit that these are the same people who are offended by paying for school taxes when they don’t have children and paying for roads when they don’t drive, but smoke and eat McDonalds every day, raising my health care costs.
– others are too busy yelling BUSHHILTER like I saw in Cambridge today –
THAT is surprising. You’d think most people in Cambridge are smart enough to know that it’s Karl Rove, not Bush, who makes all the policy.