From the far-left we continually hear about the sins of this country, complete with so-called “intellectuals” labeling the US as the biggest terrorist country in the world. Lest we forget, the lowest point in this country’s history was reached through the actions of the far-left.
Though certainly a contender, slavery was not this country’s lowest point. That was a very dark era, but slavery was not invented here and it was not unique in the history of the world. It was a major factor for the Civil War, another dark era but, again, not unique in world history. What was unique, however, was the turning of citizens against other citizens serving the country in the armed forces.
The hatred and actions from the left towards Vietnam servicemen in the late 60’s and early 70’s was despicable. It is true that there were occurrences in history where citizens feared, despised, and turned against their military, but it was always due to the military’s viciousness under the direction of a repressive regime. It did not and it should not occur in a country based on democracy and freedom – but it did.
It is estimated that 2/3 of the men who served in Vietnam were volunteers and those who were drafted went because they felt it their duty to serve when called. They were not responsible for the decisions leading to the war or the planning of military operations. They were young men (the average age of an infantryman in Vietnam was 22) willing to put their lives on the line to serve their country. They earned and deserved respect, honor, and decency from their countrymen – not vilification.
One can understandably argue about the legitimacy of the war, the actions of our government, and the motivations of those making decisions. Increasing protests during that period did just that, but the far-left fomented hatred and created an opportunity to begin a “transformation” that continues to this day.
The hatred shown by the far-left towards Vietnam vets during that time was as real as it was despicable – and it was the lowest point in this country’s history. With the aid of useful idiots such as Jane Fonda, those intent on tearing down this country made that hate seem legitimate, allowing it to spread with the growing distaste for the war. Though now hidden, it still exists.
Those who served in Vietnam will never forget the depth of depravity the far-left is capable of. Everyone needs to be mindful of it during the presidential campaign when the bashing becomes loudest and the hatred is bared.
Our abandonment of Vietnam in 1975 was a national disgrace. Scenes of helicopters on rooftops desperately trying to evacuate people at the last minute continue to haunt responsible Americans, especially those who served in Vietnam. There are many lessons to be learned from the entire fiasco of that war, but it seems the only lessons learned have been the wrong ones.
One of those wrong lessons has been to simply declare a war over when it is no longer popular and pack up and leave. In Vietnam, a pretense of a peace agreement was used to rationalize our abandonment along with a promise of aid if North Vietnam broke that agreement. Our abandonment became official when Congress refused to finance the aid promised.
In Iraq, Obama took that lesson further by declaring beforehand when the war would be over and pulling all our troops out at that designated time. The pretense of a peace agreement was replaced by the pretense of an Iraqi army capable of defending the country but the abandonment remained the same.
The task of evacuating those who helped us during the war was also abandoned in Iraq. Our attempt to evacuate those who helped us in Vietnam was honorable but there was little preparation and little time to accomplish it properly. Our hasty retreat caused chaos and thousands of those we left behind were tortured and killed because of our inability to get them out.
The lesson learned from that was to avoid the entire mess by not even trying. In Iraq, no preparations or efforts were made for evacuation. Collaborators were knowingly left behind to fend for themselves when our troops left, therefore, thousands died when we abandoned our honor along with our commitment – just to fulfill a campaign promise.
Allowing a president and his civilian, political advisers to form and dictate military strategy failed in Vietnam where rules of engagement based on political fallout and civilian casualties put our troops in danger and forced a stalemate. Rules of engagement have become even more politically based since then and politicians continue to subvert military experts’ strategies for political purposes. When will we ever learn?
ISIS continues to grow in number and power, committing even more horrendous atrocities as it takes over more territory in the Middle East. In response, the Obama administration is ramping up its politically correct agenda of denial.
A White House spokesman said there is no particular “vulnerable community” prone to producing radical violence so they are looking to see how they can find those who are susceptible to recruitment to violence, adding that Muslims aren’t being targeted in this search. This fear of offending Muslims has become a driver for Obama and it hampers all administration efforts to fight terrorism.
State Department spokesperson Marie Harf said “we cannot win this war by killing them” and we need to go after the root cause such as “a lack of opportunity for jobs”. When challenged, Harf put on elitist airs and insulted the intelligence of critics saying her comments were too nuanced for them to understand.
This academic drivel is useless against the evil and violence of ISIS and it is a pitiful excuse for inaction. Obama’s distaste for U.S. military might was nurtured during his early association with radicals and it fueled his anti-America apology tour when elected. His only concern is social engineering and he tries to ignore threats rather than deal with them.
In the past, Obama told us that victory was not a goal in Afghanistan and that he didn’t even like the word “victory”. His inaction concerning ISIS, therefore, should not be a surprise, but the depth of his denial is astounding and his total immersion in political correctness has gone far beyond foolishness. Shunning victory can only result in defeat, and we are being defeated.
This all makes the latest Gallup poll finding Obama’s job approval at 50% mystifying and frightening, especially since a CNN poll found that 57% disapprove of his handling of ISIS. Is it really possible that more than half the people believe ISIS terrorism is a real threat but find Obama’s personal “transformation of America” more important – and acceptable?
If so, survival of this country is questionable.
The U.S. embassy in Yemen is closing as turmoil in the country increases and security deteriorates. This is the same Yemen that President Obama held up last September as a successful model for fighting ISIS, the same ISIS he compared to a “JV team” a little over a year ago.
Obama is now seeking war powers from Congress to help in the fight against ISIS. His premature promise not to put boots on the ground (where there were already boots on the ground) is starting to look a lot like his promise of keeping your doctor and your health insurance plan. He is now considering “limited” ground combat operations against ISIS. Zero has turned into limited – and this is far from over.
He gave terrorists advance notice of when he was going to pull out of Iraq and then, ignoring military advice, pulled all of our troops out and proclaimed the war in Iraq to be over. As predicted, terrorists immediately began taking over Iraq. Obama denied this and began a victory dance over Osama bin Laden’s death and his self-proclaimed decimation of Al Qaeda, the same Al Qaeda that has tripled attacks since 2010 and just now seized an army base in Yemen.
In 2012, President Obama set the use of chemical weapons as a “red line” for using military force in Syria and then did absolutely nothing when chemical weapons were used. Later, in 2013, he tried to say he never set that red line in the first place, blaming the “world” for setting it. It is clear he set it and reneged, setting the stage for ISIS to grow into the world threat it has become.
This president has been horribly wrong on everything concerning the Middle East and terrorism. How wrong does he have to be for supporters and the media to hold him accountable and seriously question his leadership? How much more damage can he do while we wait for that to happen?