PrintNovember 2, 2009
Commander in Chief or Commander in Least?
As a Marine, Operation Iraqi Freedom veteran, and Honorably Discharged Sergeant, I know a thing or two about mission accomplishment versus troop welfare. As a matter of fact, any Marine can tell you the clearly stated objective of the Marine Corps is mission accomplishment. Troop welfare comes secondary.
Commanders and military leaders learned long ago that success on any battlefront depends chiefly upon mission accomplishment. Troop welfare, while important, does not trump mission accomplishment. For the enlisted Marine on the ground, this is sometimes a hard pill to swallow. But we understand. And actually, this is one of the reasons why the Marine Corps is one of the finest and most effective fighting forces in the world.
Our current Commander in Chief (who never served in the military) has not demonstrated that he comprehends the concept of mission accomplishment before troop welfare. Disappointingly, President Obama has not demonstrated that he comprehends the concept of mission accomplishment at all. We have no clear mission in Afghanistan. We have no concise finalization strategy for Iraq. The President has yet to establish just what we are supposed to be doing in either of these theaters.
Furthermore, the President seems to be thwarting any forward momentum with regard to mission accomplishment by manifesting an attitude that troop welfare is paramount. Obama has also hastily portrayed an apologetic attitude for American strength. This destructive attitude breeds not only optimism in our enemies, but despair in those in uniform who are genuinely proud to serve the country they love.
Not only that, the President is arguing with the very commander he appointed to do what needs to be done. Consequently, Obama's indecisiveness, or "dithering" as Cheney put it, is costing American lives and wasting precious time needed to gain momentum toward mission accomplishment -- for whatever the mission may be.
For someone who neither served in the military nor had any executive leadership experience prior to the presidency, Obama has yet to do anything to assuage the collective apprehensions from those of us who feel he is too green for the job of Commander in Chief. The presidency is not the place for on-the-job training, especially in a time of war. Although Obama has probably learned a lot in his first nine months in office, he has not asserted to Americans or our enemies that the new administration has any idea how to handle a war, let alone two.
To the 30% out there who are lie-down Obama supporters no matter what, and to the sycophants in the media who exalt every aspect of his presidency, I would ask one very serious question: Why? As responsible American citizens, we are supposed to be questioning our leaders, demanding accountability, and settling for nothing less than what our Constitution was ratified for: freedom, liberty, and a limited government with checks and balances.
Hypocritically, it seems, some apply this standard only when a Republican is in office, and I fear that their lack of vigilant citizenship is just as damaging to the country as the Obama administration is proving to be. Given nine months' continually compiling evidence pointing to the administration's dangerous incompetence; its clear anti-American actions and attitudes; and the vast, almost un-countable contradictions that spew forth from Obama's own mouth, why...why do you blindly believe and support such insults to your own intelligence and patriotism?
Among other things, I would highly recommend to our rookie President that he catch up on some history. For starters, he could read up on the first term of a fellow Democrat, Lyndon B. Johnson. Johnson had great domestic aspirations with the Great Society, Medicare, and civil rights, but was hampered by a little-known nuisance at the time in Southeast Asia. Although President Kennedy initially involved the U.S. in Vietnam, it was Johnson and his advisers who ultimately bungled and exacerbated the conflict to an irrevocable boiling point. At very high cost with little gain, the Vietnam Conflict, generally speaking, serves as a warning to future generations of what can happen when politicians mismanage a war.
For cathartic reasons, I have outlined a plea that I so ardently wish for the President to fundamentally believe, hold in his heart, and take action to uphold:
The United States military is the best in the world. We have the best warriors, equipment, weapons, training, leaders, and intelligence resources. Combine that with the highest esprit de corps and morale from an all-volunteer force, and you have the finest military the world has ever known. For every person who holds contempt in his heart for America, there are a thousand others in our debt because of the security we provide, and a thousand more who would give up everything they have -- even risk death -- just to live here.
Mr. President, if you are not proud of this land, then how can you possibly believe that you are what is best for America right now? And if you want to get out of Iraq and Afghanistan, then make that your mission, and just get out! If not, then be the leader our nation needs in this desperate hour...and lead.
In the meantime, our sons, daughters, grandsons, granddaughters, husbands, wives, brothers, and sisters lives are held in the balance while you throw parties at the White House, attend fundraisers, and refine your chip-shot. Need I even mention the time and money already wasted while you demonstrate your incompetence and display to the rest of the world how weak and indecisive America has become under your administration? Our strong military is not something to be ashamed of, not something to apologize for. American strength is something to be proud of, not embarrassed about. We are one Nation under God, not one Nation under the Opinion of a Few.
Although history has a nasty way of repeating itself, it also has a cleansing way of balancing itself out. Conservatism, common sense, traditional Christian values, and the grand old unique-to-America fighting spirit are in the midst of a great reawakening. As destructive as the Obama administration may ultimately prove to be, responsible citizens will not allow its deception to prevail. We may be giving way to one of our finest hours. Ultimately, it will be our children and grandchildren who will either reap the benefits of our fight or drown in the wake of our apathy.
I have a vision for my grandchildren. Someday, before I die, I would want them to be able to thank me and my generation for fighting back when our country needed us the most, for confronting tyranny, exposing and debunking the deception of Socialism, standing up for our constitutional rights, and proudly proclaiming, "Don't Tread on Me!"
