More Thoughts from Duke in Iraq:
I wasn’t planning on revisiting this subject, but a recent discussion with a friend of mine and what I read in today’s Stars and Stripes has motivated me. My friend recently saw Monster In-Law for free at the base theater. He asked me if I were going to see it. I told him no because I had no desire to support Jane Fonda in anyway. I do not think he fully understood my position but a letter to the editor in today’s Stars and Stripes puts it very well.
We have heard that Jane Fonda is planning a war protest bus tour. This is the majority of a letter written from a soldier stationed in Baghdad.
“I’d like Jane to witness Iraqi women demonstrating for their right to participate in the drafting of the Iraqi constitution. She could park her eco-van in front of a local Iraqi father whose four children were just murdered by insurgents, or visit the families of Iraqi soldiers who died fighting for a free Iraq.
She could witness headless bodies of children floating in the Tigris River and view pictures of mass graves, one showing a child size skeleton still clinging to its mother’s leg. She should protest in front of families clawing at these graves with bare hands, tears streaming down their weathered cheeks. Tell any of those people that this war is wrong.
The popular phrase, “I support the troops and thus I am against the war,” is a slap in the face. It trivializes what we do and suggests that we are victims. We are not victims! It is imperative that these terrorists die quickly, and the troops here are ensuring that happens. We are proudly serving our country and protecting our families.
Jane your smile would get you nowhere with these terrorists. They would call you an infidel, rape and then brutally murder you. They aim to do the same to our families. With God’s help, we are the brick wall stopping them. As you relive your Viet-Nam days, take one second to think about the Iraqi families who have suffered so horribly, and understand that there are men and women daily risking their lives to ensure this does not happen to you and your family.” Captain Rachel Enicks
In the same paper there is a survey that shows people who know someone who has been to Iraq are much more likely to support the decision to go to war, approve of the war, and not subscribe to the notion that the war has increased the threat of terrorism. It is interesting that those with a more personable knowledge of the situation support it more. Knowledge is the key. We hear too much about a few deaths and very little of the increasing rights of women, rebuilt schools, improved water, sewage and electric, etc.
When I hear people like Cindy Sheehan insult our president and ask for an explanation of why we went to war, I would remind her of headless children floating in a river and women completely covered in black with a purple finger indicating they had voted for the first time in their lives.
As for Jane Fonda, I will continue to put my self in harms way to support her freedom of speech. I want nothing less for the Iraqi’s; neither should she.
A few more thoughts to come,
Soli Deo Gloria
awesome post. thanks for being a hero.
Posted by: Keith at August 27, 2005 10:26 PMI got this arthritic body up early yesterday and headed down to Crawford by myself. I wanted to be at the YOU DON'T SPEAK FOR ME, CINDY, TOUR's rally. It was most impressive and there were mothers and fathers and servicepeople, and ordinary folks there...angry at the liberal press and its attempt to indoctrinate America.
I then drove out past Ms. Cindy's mess. It was a time warp out of the 60's that will earn a good story from me. There were the left over hippies, new hippies, the wanna be hippies, those professors sent up from UT Austin, and just plain misspent fools. It was something to see. And the Queen Bee strolled among them, like an adored, fawned pet.
There was an old weathered wooden Baptist church about 400 yards away and I went there and prayed over that bunch.
Be blessed. Know that what you read in the news about stuff happening at home is claptrap. Bev Gunn...the rancher, military mom and wife of retired officer
Posted by: B Gunn at August 28, 2005 05:32 AMWe, here at home, rely on you, those actually in Iraq, for our news about Iraq because we cannot rely on the media to give us the truth.
I encourage you, in Iraq, to rely on the blogosphere to let you know what's going on at home because you cannot rely on the media to give you the truth.
God speed.
Posted by: I. Ronnie at August 29, 2005 08:37 AM
