[Vision2020] Give Devoted Military a Worthwhile War to Fight

[Craine Kit]

Tony,

Please notice that Tom posted an article from the Spokesman Review.  
It was written by a woman named Emily Miller.

Kit Craine

On Dec 27, 2006, at 12:20 PM, Tony wrote:

> 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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