[Vision2020] Give Devoted Military a Worthwhile War to Fight

Wed Dec 27 13:05:49 PST 2006

Unless I'm reading it wrong, it's the columnist's brother, not Tom's.

But that's not the only thing you got wrong, Tony.  Tom Hansen is not a 
defeatist.  He has guts and with his military service he's earned the right 
to our gratitude -- as well as having earned a platform of experience and 
perspective from which to criticize wrongdoing.

His frequent citing of Dick Cheney's comment on "a classic definition of 
'quagmire'" is an important reminder that "something" has changed in the 
neocon mind regarding justification of this war.  The question continues to 
be what that something is, and if the change in strategy it wrought came 
from valid reasons.  I contend that it didn't.

keely

From: "Tony" <tonytime at clearwire.net>
To: "Tom Hansen" <thansen at moscow.com>
CC: vision2020 at moscow.com
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Give Devoted Military a Worthwhile War to Fight
Date: Wed, 27 Dec 2006 12:20:36 -0800

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
 >
 > ***************************************************
 >
 >
 >
 >
 > =======================================================
 > List services made available by First Step Internet,
 > serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
 >               http://www.fsr.net
 >          mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
 > =======================================================
 >
 >

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  List services made available by First Step Internet,
  serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
                http://www.fsr.net
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