Our Allies, Kerry, and War Lessons

This post is based on a reply from Tiny Penguin who is not impressed that Japan sent 550 troops to Iraq.

...Again, I think many people underestimate the significance of Japan’s willingness to support the US in Iraq. How many troops *should* they send? How many did France and Germany send? Would we change *our* constitution for *any* ally? No. Again, it sends the wrong message to our allies when we say, “Uh, thanks anyway for those 550 troops and changing your constitution. But where are our REAL allies?” I’d be ticked off beyond belief at John Kerry right now if I were a country in the coalition. He’s dismissing them entirely and pretending to run a campaign that says he will bring people together. One could argue that Bush ran in 2000 as a “uniter” and he hasn’t united everyone in the country much less the world. But the point is I don’t think Kerry can make the argument for being able to bring more people to the table either when he is dismissing our allies at every turn. Bush may be going against the tide but at least he’s not belittling the contributions of our allies. Don’t call it a “coalition” if you want, but I think that undermines the contributions that many countries have sacrificed.

If no Japanese troops die (which I hope that they do not) is their contribution less important? Obviously not-- nor would anyone argue that point. I just don’t want people to forget that in war there are casualties and as a person who is married to a service member I can tell you it is not easy to say this. We can’t back down just because people are being killed. That is what the terrorists want. They want to intimidate, they want us to withdraw our troops, and they believe if they kill enough of us we will just go away. But we can’t let them win through intimidation. Terrorists fight with fear and if we give them what they want they will just continue to terrorize. We will be no safer. We must stand up to them. We must honor those who have died and say that they will not have died in vain. We must honor their memories and say we will fight until terrorism is defeated. The sacrifice of the US and its coalition members is great, but necessary.

I would argue that the political pressure for Britain to pull out of Iraq is about the same as the political pressure for the US to pull out of Iraq. People who are trying to help rebuild Iraq (humanitarian relief and other CIVILIANS) are being beheaded. The knee jerk reaction is to question the leaders and their efforts under these circumstances. Questioning is great, necessary to a degree, and part of a free society, but not evidence of erosion. What evidence do you have of this erosion? The only people breaking from the coalition are those who have given into the terrorists! The terrorists know who they can intimidate! If a country leaves the coalition that is their choice but it won’t make us safer or the world safer and it’s not a reason for us to get out of Iraq.


I think we can agree that politicians are politicians. No matter what you think of Bush or Kerry they are still politicians and each will do some things, change his stance on a policy for example, because of the political wind. But I sense that Kerry often changes his mind in more than just that “typical politician” way. Arguing that Bush is a flip-flopper on gay marriage is not the same as arguing that Kerry is a flip flopper on the war. The war on terror is the most important issue of the day. Gay marriage is way way down the list. No offense to those that are gay, but it’s just not the number one issue of the day. I can’t get behind a candidate who has changed his position AGAIN on the war! Do you know why Kerry’s speech at NYU kicked butt? Because he finally said what most reasonable people have been saying about the war for months! But, he goes and says the opposite on Diane Sawyer’s program this week. Huh? I just want to know what Kerry is really going to do and it’s hard when he is always trying to clarify his point. And why the criticism for Bush when he finally does create a department of Homeland Security? I thought you wanted a politician who recognizes his mistakes? People don’t argue that Kerry is a flip-flopper because Bush isn’t one. They argue that Kerry is a flip-flopper because his nuanced way of looking at things is supposed to be one of his strengths but really it’s just confusing. And I’m still uncomfortable with the lying thing too...like how he can’t remember if he was in Cambodia or not.

Which brings me to Vietnam…There are many points to make on this subject but I shy away from comparisons of the two wars for one reason. You cite that those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it. I couldn’t agree more. I just don’t want this nation to be forever scared of war and death because of how botched things got in Vietnam. Not every war has to be another Vietnam. The worst legacy of that war is that it has made us timid, and maybe rightly so…but we can’t afford to be timid any longer. The security of our nation and of the world and freedom everywhere depends on our willingness to defeat the terrorists. I for one would rather go down fighting. Again, I’m not saying that there aren’t any lessons to be learned from Vietnam and will forgive the comparison of good intentioned Burque Bandit, but let’s not confuse the issue or dishonor the dead and wounded by arguing that staying the course will inevitably lead to doom or failure.