Monday, April 28, 2008

I'd like to send kudos to the United States military, all of our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines who are doing an incredible job in an impossible situation. In Afghanistan, you are understaffed, under-supplied and unfortunately, in the shadow of Iraq. In Iraq, you are hampered by stifling and possibly deadly Rules of Engagement. You have been stop-gapped, deployed multiple times and had those deployment times increase while time with your families has decreased. Yet, you are expected to be both warrior and diplomat. You need to keep your fellow soldiers safe while not upsetting the locals. You are forging democracy one village at a time because those at the top can't seem to get the job done.

I want to know where the diplomats are? Where is the State Department? Where is Condi Rice? Where is Bush? If the Iraqi government can't seem to get it together, why isn't Bush with them behind closed doors knocking their heads together.

We have asked more of you, dear soldiers, then we have in the past. We ask that you win a war, then make nice with those who have tried to kill you. We not only ask for security but also to forge together some kind of stability. It seems the politicians can send you to war, but they can't be bothered with creating peace. They are too busy with the blame game and elections. So it falls to you, young soldiers, to broker peace while making war.

My hat is off to you, my heart is out to you and always will you have my awe and deepest respect.

1 comment:

KA said...

thanks for the kind words