I must say that I missed the tonight’s speech because of work so I’m writing this off of a news report.
President Bush on Tuesday rejected calls for a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq or sending more troops, counseling patience for Americans who question the war’s painful costs.
“Is the sacrifice worth it? It is worth it,” Bush told a nation increasingly doubtful about the toll of the 27-month-old war that has taken the lives of more than 1,740 U.S. troops.
Bush spoke in an evening address for a half-hour from an Army base that has 9,300 troops in Iraq, hoping to persuade the public that his strategy for victory needed only time not any changes to be successful.
I will catch a rebroadcast or read over the speech later but, frankly, I doubt I’ll hear anything that will strike me as news. Hopefully, some who are fostering doubts about our nation’s direction against the radical Islamist threat will. I’ve argued repeatedly for the need to continue our efforts because the impact of failure would be unrepairably horrendous and will haunt our nation for generations.
For this post, however, I’ll leave the argument to a MilBlogger currently serving. Chris Short at Conservative Thinking argues against those working to undermine national morale, particularly those doing so for purely political purposes. He does so from a political angle but then shifts his attack, bringing it from a different direction — the hopes of the soldiers involved.
I’m sure every soldier, sailor, Airmen, and Marine wants the MC (mission complete) in the final block in section 15, column d of their DD Form 1351-2 (travel voucher) to mean more than, “Our politicians told us to tuck tail and run.”
We, as a nation, certainly failed not only an ally but also a generation of our nation’s military in the past. For the sake of those in uniform today, like Chris Short and his comrades in arms, we cannot fail our military again in a winnable effort. The risk is theirs, and they face it bravely as they work to reduce the risk that is our society’s.