John Kerry Owes An Apology to Our Soldiers
By Aaron Goldstein (12/11/05)
I wonder if John Kerry sent a dozen long stemmed roses to Howard Dean. If not for Dean’s quip about not winning the war in Iraq during a radio interview, Senator Kerry might have spent most of this week defending his own ill advised remarks about our soldiers. Fellow Democrats might have been telling John Kerry to shut up rather than the DNC Chairman.
The day before Dean’s remarks, Kerry was being interviewed on CBS’ Face the Nation with Bob Schieffer (a full transcript of the interview can be found at www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/09/18/ftn/main856364.shtml). In response to a question concerning Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman’s support of the Bush Administration on the War in Iraq (more on that later), Kerry told Schieffer, “And there is no reason, Bob, that young American soldiers need to be going into homes of Iraqis in the dead of night, terrorizing kids and children, you know, women, break sort of the customs of the – of – the historical customs, religious customs.”
Wait a minute!
John Kerry believes that American soldiers are terrorizing kids? And women, too?
Where is John Kerry getting his information? From al Jazeera? MoveOn.org? Code Pink?
Does Kerry honestly believe that our soldiers enter the homes of Iraqi civilians for sport? If our soldiers have information that a terrorist or terrorists are inside a private home they must measures must be taken to remove the terrorist or terrorists. Measures must also be taken to protect innocent civilians who might also be inside the home. American soldiers do not enter homes with the intent to terrorize Iraqi women and children. They do so to stop terrorists from carrying out their objectives. In essence, our soldiers risk their lives to prevent more terrorism from happening. Why doesn’t Kerry understand this simple fact? If Kerry does have information that our soldiers acted improperly with Iraqi civilians doesn’t he, as a United States Senator, have an obligation to report this to the proper authorities? If Kerry does not have such information (and there is no reason to believe he does) then he is defaming our soldiers who have selflessly volunteered to put their lives on the line to protect our freedom and help Iraqis with the opportunity for theirs.
Kerry’s remarks suggest that he does not understand the mission in Iraq despite having journeyed there earlier this year. Joe Lieberman, on the other hand, clearly understands their mission. In his November 29th article for the Wall Street Journal titled, “Our Troops Must Stay”, (which can be found at www.online.wsj.com/article/SB11332307590108762.html)Lieberman notes that Iraqis will have voted thrice in less than a year. Lieberman praises the free and vibrant independent print and electronic press. He points out that once cynical Sunnis have chosen ballots over bullets. “None of these remarkable changes would have happened without the coalition forces led by the U.S.”, Lieberman wrote. And unlike Kerry, Lieberman does not view our armed forces as rogues who arbitrarily and capriciously wreak havoc with Iraqi children and women:
I cannot say enough about the U.S. Army and Marines who are carrying most of the fight for us in Iraq. They are courageous, smart, effective, innovative, very honorable and very proud. After a Thanksgiving meal with a great group of Marines at Camp Fallujah in western Iraq, I asked their commander whether the morale of his troops had been hurt by the growing public dissent in America over the war in Iraq. His answer was insightful, instructive and inspirational: “I would guess that if the opposition and division at home go on a lot longer and get a lot deeper it might have some effect, but, Senator, my Marines are motivated by their devotion to each other and the cause, not by political debates.
Somehow I don’t think terrorizing children and women is the cause to which our armed forces is devoted. I also believe there is a difference between someone who characterizes our military as “courageous, smart, effective, innovative, very honorable and very proud” and someone who characterizes our military as an organization “going into the homes of Iraqis in the dead of night, terrorizing kids and children, you know, women.”
There is every indication that John Kerry wants another shot at becoming the 44th President of the United States. This entails being Commander in Chief of our armed forces. How does Senator Kerry expect to have the confidence of his armed forces if he believes them to be terrorizing children and women? Now perhaps our soldiers are strong enough in character and discipline to ignore Kerry’s blather. Yet Kerry’s remarks and those of other Democrats (save for Lieberman) might have a cumulative effect on the morale of our armed forces when it becomes a persistent part of our public discourse. Despite the assurances of the Marine commander with whom Lieberman broke bread our mission in Iraq is only as strong as the willingness of our populace to support it and the troops who are carrying it out. With this in mind, Kerry has a choice to make. He can either choose to continually sully the reputation of our armed forces to curry favor with the Left or he can choose to report for duty and lead our armed forces with steadfast support for its mission and the soldiers who carry it out. If Kerry chooses the latter he must first apologize to our soldiers in Iraq for his inappropriate and reckless remarks. |
