[Vision2020] Give Devoted Military a Worthwhile War to Fight

[debismith at moscow.com]

Heading up that letter:
Give devoted military a worthwhile war to fight
> By Emily Miller
> Washington Post
> December 27, 2006

Don't think Emily Miller fom the Washington Post is Tom Hansen in 
disguise. A more careful reading (of many things!) could be beneficial 
prior to posting. Leaping to a confusion can become habit forming....
Debi R-S


> Nice try Tom, but the difference between you and your brother is that 
you 
> are a defeatist who has no faith in our military while your brother 
thinks 
> he can accomplish what he is tasked with.
> 
> If the American people listen to the likes of you, we will withdraw in 
shame 
> and defeat to the glee of our enemies.  If they listen to the likes of 
your 
> brother, we will likely achieve our objective to the dismay of our 
enemies.
> 
> I wish him well.
> 
> Best,  -T
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Tom Hansen" <thansen at moscow.com>
> To: "Vision 2020" <vision2020 at moscow.com>
> Sent: Wednesday, December 27, 2006 6:31 AM
> Subject: [Vision2020] Give Devoted Military a Worthwhile War to Fight
> 
> 
> > >From today's (December 27, 2006) Spokesman Review -
> >
> > ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > Give devoted military a worthwhile war to fight
> > By Emily Miller
> > Washington Post
> > December 27, 2006
> >
> > Here is what my brother, a member of the Army National Guard, told me 
as 
> > he
> > prepared to serve in Iraq this year:
> >
> > The difference between a democracy and a dictatorship is who controls 
the
> > armed forces. Civilian command of the Army is a cornerstone of our
> > democratic system.
> >
> > My brother told me that he takes his oath to defend the Constitution
> > seriously and that he will fight and die if necessary to honor his
> > commitment. When I asked him if he would be offended if I 
participated in
> > activities opposing the war, he replied that it was not only my right 
but 
> > my
> > obligation, and the obligation of all civilians opposing this war, to 
try 
> > to
> > change bad policy. "Give us good wars to fight," he said.
> >
> > While acknowledging that another possible moral option is to refuse to
> > participate in a bad war, my brother chooses to place his oath to the
> > Constitution and his belief in our democratic system at the pinnacle 
of 
> > his
> > moral convictions. That some of us might differ with him is basically
> > irrelevant - we (most of us) are not faced with his decision.
> >
> > For the record, he believes that the war on terrorism is necessary to 
deal
> > with real threats facing the United States. He is not convinced of 
what 
> > Iraq
> > has to do with the matter, which puts him fairly well in the 
mainstream of
> > American opinion.
> >
> > So it is terribly upsetting to me to hear that some people despair 
that
> > there is "no point" to their soldier's death or wounding in the Iraq 
war.
> > America does not have to be right in order for our soldiers' service 
to 
> > have
> > meaning.
> >
> > What I find offensive is the idea that we have to "follow through" in 
> > order
> > to give their deaths meaning post hoc. It is dreadfully apparent from 
the
> > Iraq Study Group report that Iraq isn't going to have a democracy in 
any
> > meaningful time frame. Even if this administration does everything
> > perfectly, the best-case scenario is that we might maintain the barest
> > outlines of order.
> >
> > Victory being out of the question at this point, the only democracy my
> > brother is fighting for in Iraq is our democracy. The only 
constitution he
> > is in Iraq fighting to defend is our Constitution. If my brother 
dies, it
> > will not be for a mistake but rather because of his deeply held 
belief 
> > that
> > the time it takes us as a people to figure out through democratic 
> > processes
> > that we are wrong is more important than his own life.
> >
> > This places upon us an obligation. My brother and other service 
members
> > living and dead have given us the sacred responsibility to use the
> > democratic means we have at hand to bring judgment to bear on whether 
any
> > given war is worth our soldiers' lives.
> >
> > Despite the clear results in last month's elections and the grim 
> > conclusions
> > of the Iraq Study Group, we are still hearing intransigent rhetoric 
and
> > seeing unrealistic posturing from some of our leaders. This is 
> > unacceptable.
> >
> > It's not too late for us to honor the almost 3,000 U.S. service 
members 
> > who
> > have died defending the principles of our democracy.
> >
> > It is morally imperative for us to honor our living service members 
and to
> > do what is demanded of us by our democracy and by common decency. We 
have
> > taken a small step by changing some of our leadership in Washington, 
but 
> > now
> > it is incumbent upon us to follow through at home and demand 
> > accountability
> > from our leaders.
> >
> > What are you, fellow citizens, willing to do to defend our 
Constitution?
> > Will you dignify the sacrifices of our soldiers? Will you honor my 
> > brother's
> > faith in our system? Will you let my brother or others die to eke out 
a
> > slightly smaller disaster in Iraq? These are the questions we face in 
the
> > wake of the Baker-Hamilton report.
> >
> > My brother is betting his life that you are not going to ask this of 
him. 
> > He
> > has placed his trust in the idea that we will not ask him to die for
> > anything less than the necessary defense of our democracy. Reasonable 
> > people
> > may have at one time disagreed about the necessity of the Iraq war, 
but 
> > now
> > that it has become abundantly clear from every quarter that we cannot 
win,
> > will you be responsible for asking my brother to stay?
> >
> > My family begs of you: Do not ask this of him. Do not ask this of us. 
My
> > brother is doing his constitutional duty. Now it is time for us to do 
> > ours.
> >
> > ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > Seeya round town, Moscow.
> >
> > Tom Hansen
> > Moscow, Idaho
> >
> >
> > ***************************************************
> >
> > "Seldom, if ever, has a war ended leaving the victors with such a 
sense of
> > uncertainty and fear -- with such a realization that the future is 
obscure
> > and that survival is not assured."
> >
> > - Edward R. Murrow
> >
> > ***************************************************
> >
> >
> >
> >
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> > 
> 
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