The problem that I have whenever I think of the disturbing things that are occurring in the USA today. Economic meltdown, spending by Congress out of control, weakening of our defense capability and the rapid erosion of personal liberty. I think that the fact that anyone under the age of fifty(50) has never experienced a war allows a mind set that denies the horrors and sacrifices of war.
Being a senior citizen who witnessed from afar the great struggle of WWII,including rationing of food and gasoline,and personally being involved in the Korean war has given me a perspective that my children and grand children have not had.
Because those of us who lived through "declared" war experienced the possibility that we might actually loose the war, and the real possibility that you or one of your loved ones would be killed brings a perspective of dread and angst to mind about those who were the enemies we fought. Japanese and Germans were demonized in the media and we all believed anything was allowed as long as we win the war!
Today only those who lost loved ones on 9/11/01, and those who lost men or women in Iraq and Afghanistan can related to what was an ever day event from 1941 to 1945. Even the death of civilians and hero's in uniform from 2001 to today has apparently not had the impact on the populace, as those of us who lived through WWII. A time when casualties on the Island of Tarawa in a 76 hour period were 3,000! One thousand Marines were killed by the Japanese, and two thousand wounded. This produced 1000 telegrams to anxious loved ones that brought war home with a sudden clarity and grief!And the flag in the front window was changed from a blue star to a gold star!
Today the total killed in action in Iraq and Afghanistan, and by terrorist action
on 9/11/01 is less than the KIA's in the battle for IWO JIMA! 6,821 Marines were killed in 35 days! This statistic is not mentioned to deprecate the loss of life in Iraq and Afghanistan, but to highlight the terrible horrors that Americans experienced daily for four years. And there was no sympathy for the enemy as is seen by the left in today's media frenzy over water boarding of terrorist who were captured, and imprisoned in Iraq.
You can call it selective transparency as do the Obamaphiles. But I believe it is that time has made the Americans forget that war is a fight to the death for us or the enemy. It is not a video game or TV series. War is horrific and destroys bodies and minds.You win if you inflict more violence on the enemy than he does on you!
Despite the fact that the Bush administration succeeded with the interrogation policy in question, when it comes to Left-partisan politics, no good deed goes unpunished.The water boarding did produce valuable information that prevented loss of life, and compared with the terrorist cutting off heads of their captives is not even in the same category.
A perfect example of the naivety that comes with the lack of experience is the speech that president Obama gave to the CIA recently regarding water boarding.
"I have put an end to the interrogation techniques described in those OLC memos, and I want to be very clear and very blunt. I've done so for a simple reason: because I believe that our nation is stronger and more secure when we deploy the full measure of both our power and the power of our values -- including the rule of law."
Tell me how we are safer when you announce to the world that you will treat terrorist prisoners better than the average American prisoner is treated in our prison system. Do we supply special meals for Kosher Jews? We supply prayer blankets, Korans and Islamic dietary foods to the prisoners in that terrible place called Gitmo!
War is Hell, and the rules of engagement do not specify that we must treat the enemy in a humane way when we kill him before he kills you. People should realize that talk is cheaper than cheap, but the nasty truth is that the only way to defeat an enemy is to be tougher on him then he is on you. All this talk of what the world thinks of us disappears when you face the enemy on the field of war!
"Values"? Like the values which form Obama's "vision for America." are "pie in the sky" values that should not even be considered in a time at war!
"Rule of law"? Everything the Obama administration has done and plans to do is an affront to constitutional Rule of Law. He has announced to the world and Al Qaeda, that we are a country of debaters not fighters! We might as well surrender now!
In fact, the the releasing the memos publicly accomplished two things immediately. First, it gave our enemies an exact knowledge of exactly how far our interrogations are allowed to go, which means that even where we have probable evidence that a captured jihadi has first hand knowledge of an imminent strike, there's absolutely no weapons left that the interrogator has to use when questioning a terrorist captive. And the president believes this makes us safer?
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