The Discerning Texan
All that is necessary for evil to triumph, is for good men to do nothing.
-- Edmund Burke
-- Edmund Burke
Thursday, October 25, 2007
As unbelievable as Col. David Hunt's allegations are, there is no question that this war has been the most overlawyered in history (thanks, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton...), nor that our rules of engagement in this War--because of the lawyers and because of America's enemies in the Democrat Congress--have served to prolong the war and cause more loss of life both for our military and for civilians.
It is time for the President to say "enough is enough" and to assert his full Constitutional authority to wage war as he chooses. That right was given to him by the Constitution and nothing can take it away.
On the other hand, Bin Laden may have already assumed room temperature in some cave somewhere long ago; sources close to the intel on his latest "video" assert that all of the "current" content was rolling in "audio-only" mode while the video showed only a still picture. The only synchronization of video/audio occurred when Bin Laden was speaking on topics which he could have filmed years ago. Not exactly a slam dunk for his still being among the living.
But in a sense, that is beside the point on Col. Hunt's speculation; the real point is that America is fighting a global war with a downsized military with rules of engagement that favor our enemies. How about we allow our brave men and women to fight without one hand tied behind their back, for a change?
Anyone who was lucky enough to watch Ken Burns' brilliant documentary The War knows exactly what I mean. Once upon a time, America and its leadership had the cojones to fight an all-out war to WIN. Today for the first time in history, those we are fighting have a good chance to get their hands on real WMD's, given enough time and enough appeasement by the postmodern, Euro-wimped West. So there has never been a more compelling argument for total war--at least not in that sense. Yet our biggest enemies (the internal ones) continue to throw up roadblocks at every turn and our media's sabotage of our War effort has become a national disgrace.
It is nothing short of miraculous that--despite these huge constraints--the fact that we have nevertheless been so incredibly successful with our Iraq surge is a testament to the genius of men like General Petraeus, and the tenacity of our troops and a solid President willing to fight difficult political battles at home.
Perhaps enough so that a Thompson or Giuliani or Romney would consider Petraeus as a running mate--assuming that the war continues to go as well as it has in Iraq. This guy is a legitimate American hero, and would easily trump any Wesley Clark or Bill Richardson the Dems could throw up as a VP nominee.
It is time for the President to say "enough is enough" and to assert his full Constitutional authority to wage war as he chooses. That right was given to him by the Constitution and nothing can take it away.
On the other hand, Bin Laden may have already assumed room temperature in some cave somewhere long ago; sources close to the intel on his latest "video" assert that all of the "current" content was rolling in "audio-only" mode while the video showed only a still picture. The only synchronization of video/audio occurred when Bin Laden was speaking on topics which he could have filmed years ago. Not exactly a slam dunk for his still being among the living.
But in a sense, that is beside the point on Col. Hunt's speculation; the real point is that America is fighting a global war with a downsized military with rules of engagement that favor our enemies. How about we allow our brave men and women to fight without one hand tied behind their back, for a change?
Anyone who was lucky enough to watch Ken Burns' brilliant documentary The War knows exactly what I mean. Once upon a time, America and its leadership had the cojones to fight an all-out war to WIN. Today for the first time in history, those we are fighting have a good chance to get their hands on real WMD's, given enough time and enough appeasement by the postmodern, Euro-wimped West. So there has never been a more compelling argument for total war--at least not in that sense. Yet our biggest enemies (the internal ones) continue to throw up roadblocks at every turn and our media's sabotage of our War effort has become a national disgrace.
It is nothing short of miraculous that--despite these huge constraints--the fact that we have nevertheless been so incredibly successful with our Iraq surge is a testament to the genius of men like General Petraeus, and the tenacity of our troops and a solid President willing to fight difficult political battles at home.
Perhaps enough so that a Thompson or Giuliani or Romney would consider Petraeus as a running mate--assuming that the war continues to go as well as it has in Iraq. This guy is a legitimate American hero, and would easily trump any Wesley Clark or Bill Richardson the Dems could throw up as a VP nominee.
