Tuesday, March 22, 2005
Two Years On.. A Toast.
March 19th was the 2nd anniversary of the kick-off to the largest and longest war the United States has been in since Vietnam. In two years, the United States Government has accomplished more in Iraq and the Middle East than any nation ever dreamed of. (Yes, some say the Brits might have one over on us regarding this statement, but I'll save that for another history lesson.)
Two years ago I had just returned from my deployment in Kyrgyzstan and spent every waking hour watching the coverage of the columns of tanks and amored personnel vehicles pouring into Iraq from the South. If you watched the late-night coverage and didn't have feelings of pride and hope, then something was truly wrong with you. (Either that, or you were rooting for the wrong side.)
My basic point in all of this is that we've accomplished so much in so little time. If you don't believe we've done anything right over there, you haven't been reading Arthur Chrenkoff's 'Good News from Iraq' column, which is updated every two weeks. (link here) I used to say give Iraq 10 years and you'll see. Now I'm confident that it'll be just a few more years before most war detractors will look and see a thriving nation and people. Yes, I know you'll still have morons who would rather have Iraqi's under Saddam then under a democracy, but all you can do with them is buy 'em a one way ticket to Iran and watch how quickly their opinions change.
Having been to Iraq last year I was impressed by its people and culture. It's an amazing country of very proud and hopeful people. Their confidence in their own future made me more confident in our mission in Iraq.
So, two years on... two years of success, freedom, and hope. Yes, bad stuff happens, but if anyone with half a brain were to report on the good stuff, the evening news would have nothing else to gripe about.
So, in the time-honored tradition of the military...
A Toast!
To all of those who backed your sons, daughters, countrymen and allies when they fought and won the war... Here Here!
To all of those who drove the tanks, flew the planes, and ruled the day so that others may live... Here Here!
To all the Iraqis who fought against Saddam, knew who the real enemy of Iraq was, and who welcomed us as liberators... Here Here!
And last but not least, to all of those brave men and women, American, British, Polish, Italian, Ukrainian, El Salvadorian, Australian, Korean, Japanese, Fillipino, and Iraqi, who gave their lives to the cause of freedom and liberty for the oppressed... Here Here!
Here's to a long life and a merry one.
A quick death and an easy one.
A pretty girl and an honest one.
A cold beer—and another one!
posted by El Capitan at 9:45 AM
1 Comments:
Michael Hawn said...
Cheers, Semper Fi, Ooh-Rah, Shit Yea, Hell yea, God Speed,
11:20 AM