Securing the Right to be Who You Want

Questing Cat has a very good post on how he's thinking about the world and his place in it. (QC is deployed in Iraq, FYI.) If anyone ever claims that our soldiers are brutal Gestapo maniacs, point them here.

Innocence and guilt. A simple process in America, or so it would seem. If someone has done wrong, then they are guilty, if they have not, then they are innocent. But here, that seems to carry weight which can not hope to be born. Every action you take here makes you guilty in the eyes of some one. When cultures around the world can gather at there TV sets and watch your every move, and judge you solely on the actions they see, then of course, you are guilty to someone. There are stories down here of a soldier killing a local child so burned and in pain from an IED that he didn't think he would live. A mercy killing. There is much talk in the news of a soldier putting a round in a body, or a casualty, or whatever, while clearing a house. What is claimed as a murder of a helpless person. I have, on occasion, known of an incident where a soldier engaged for all the right reasons, right down the line. But the target was wrong. But now the whole world can see it. And for them, judgment waits.

Little can describe the rhythmic chaos that ensues during a firefight. Engagement in Iraq is constantly sought, rarely expected, always prepared against, and brutally fought. That is the life that soldiers lead here. And state of mind is a soldier by soldier thing.

Politics. The world is full of ideas. Everyone has them, and it is part of the ego that one wants your ideas heard. Personally, I have always felt it would be best to finish my time here before I began to talk about right and wrong. Maybe with this experience I could find people whose writing I could follow. Who would give me direction? Learn from others. I hate the thought of telling others the course of things I have no concept of, and there are a million things out there to argue over. So many people totally self interested. God knows I am. I have spoken from here on a number of occasions on things I believe would benefit me and my kind. I fully realize I've gotten ugly about it too. But really, my interests are somewhat uniform among a fairly large group. I think all soldiers want armor when we have to go out in sector. I think we all want the Iraqis as placid as possible when we have to roll through their towns. And by a larger extent, I think this benefits all. We are the sons and daughters of America, and I know everyone wants to see us home. Well, at least most of you.

What I don't understand is how belief in a few issues that are not represented allows people to thoroughly dispense with the government around them. I once knew a girl who sowed an American flag patch to the seat of her pants because she was a democrat and George Bush was elected president. Therefore, America was not in her good standing. I guess it is my army brainwashing, I took offense to that. Often, I think the country at home will be like that for a long time. Divided on one side or the other. As much as we all have our views, I still accept us as one country.

[snip]

There is much in this world I can spend a life time trying to understand. The subtleties of pacifism and war. The lines between good and evil. The struggle of the soul for acceptance. There is much I could spend lifetimes debating. But I am simple person, with a complex life. I look and say simply, "Do I agree with that?" And go from there. I try hard to keep my view from warping to fit my statements. I try not to draw judgments that are irreversible. And I always try and afford courtesy to those around me. Even when I am fully armed. Even when we don't speak the same language. Even when I don't understand. I am not always a saint, and I have my moments, but mostly, I want the best for all.

Iraq has that chance. It has gotten there through one of the hardest times in its history. It has long to go before it can begin to be the countries that Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait are with no effort. There much that has to change for it represents itself, defend itself, and look after itself. Even then, I doubt its culture will much resemble the States. And I am glad. This country is its own. Let Germans be German, French be French, and Iraqi be Iraqi. I may not always like them, but they earn the right to be what they are. And here, we secure that right.

Go read the whole thing. Really.

Useful and Unusual Ways to Support the Troops

There are many needs that the troops have that are not met by the "usual methods" like sending mail to "any soldier" (I'm not disparaging those methods, by the way; they too are useful). I'd like to spotlight four of them, because there are some unusual projects that are very helpful.

Phone Cards for Wounded Soldiers

The combination of excellent protective gear (including universally-available body armor), unparalleled combat care, rapid medical evacuations, dedicated and experienced trauma surgery units very near the battlefield, and the advances made in modern medical care mean that many soldiers who would have died in past wars are instead wounded, sometimes terribly so and in ways that require long convalescence. This is a good thing.

Unfortunately, one of the less good consequences is the long convalescence, and the fact that the Army doesn't pay for long-distance calls made by the convalescing soldiers. One of the most in-demand items among the wounded soldiers is phone cards to call home with. You can send them to Walter Reed Medical Center at:

Medical Family Assistance Center
Walter Reed Medical Center
6900 Georgia Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20307-5001

Hugh Hewitt has details.

Baghdad Hobby Club

It's often not well-known to civilians, but fighting a war is usually boring. Most of the time, you are waiting to do something, and in between periods of waiting, you are terrified. Having "episodes of normality" - including mail from home talking about the mundane details and progressions of daily life - is a link to sanity, to a promise of getting home to what you miss most. The Baghdad Hobby Club is a group of soldiers "very interested in gaming, scale models, railroad, and radio control to pass their time in Iraq". Sending hobby gear can help the soldiers keep their sanity and their focus. You can send items to:

Sgt Dean Flyte
Baghdad Hobby Club
ISG/MCT#4/SCP-B
Camp Slayer
APO AE 09342

Winds of Change has background and details.

Fallen Heroes Last Wish Foundation

The Last Wish Foundation provides for the education of children of service members killed in Iraq. There are other such foundations, and a list of worthwhile charities in a similar vein can be found at Roll Call's family support page.

Spirit of America

A big part of the mission in Iraq is to build Iraq up to the point that it can stand on its own as a free nation. Because of decades of deprivation under the Ba'ath tyranny, everything is lacking. Spirit of America provides goods and services to ordinary Iraqis and Afghanis to help them rebuild their country. For example, providing tools to tradesmen or library books to schoolchildren.

Please feel free to leave other suggestions in the comments.

Stories of Heroism You Should Know

The battle for Falluja has been one of the most impressive victories ever won by a joint force. It has also been one of the most bloodless (for the victors) urban fights in modern history. You won't hear the stories of our soldiers' and Marines' heroism much on the news, because frankly the mainstream media have their own agenda, and many of today's journalists do not consider themselves to be American journalists, but journalists who happen to be in America. In any case, you should read some of the first-hand accounts. Our troops are doing an amazing job in incredibly difficult circumstances, and deserve all possible appreciation and gratitude.

Corporal Lonnie Young

The sacrifices, courage and achievements of our young men and women in battle are too often ignored by a cynical, anti-American and pessimistic press. I would like to highlight some of these fantastic Americans here, beginning with Corporal Lonnie Young. Here is a picture of CPL Young and some Blackwater security contractors in action during the fight for Najaf in April, 2004.

Outnumbered, low on ammo, perched on a rooftop for hours in a battle against Iraqi insurgents, Lonnie Young figured his number was up.

It was April 4, 2004, and the war had entered its deadliest month for Americans. Days earlier, four contractors passing through Fallujah had been ambushed, killed, and strung from a bridge.

At least half a dozen other men from their firm – Blackwater USA , based in Moyock – handled security at the Coalition Provisional Authority’s base in Najaf, where Young, a 25-year-old Norfolk-based Marine Corps corporal, was working that day.

[snip]

Moments after the attack began, Young donned his body armor, grabbed his M249 light machine gun, and raced upstairs with a handful of Blackwater commandos. The gun battle against hundreds of members of the al-Mahdi militia, loyal to Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, grew so intense that Young had to stop shooting every 15 minutes to let the barrel of his gun cool. He’d tear through 700 to 800 rounds, then spend five minutes filling magazines with bullets until the metal was cool enough to use.

The first break in action for the Kentucky native came when an Army captain near him was shot in the arm and back. Young dug into his medical kit and bandaged the man up, then eased him down four stories to nurses below. Next, Young dashed across the camp to Blackwater’s ammunition supply room, strapped about 150 pounds of bullets to his body, and sprinted back to the roof.

The noontime battle stretched into the afternoon. Young figured he’d die.

“I thought, 'This is my last day. I’m going out with a bang.’ If I had to die it would be defending my country,” Young said Friday.

“I just felt like we were losing ground, and I thought, 'If I’m going to die, I’m not going down without a fight.’ I knew we were seriously outnumbered. They were coming at us with pretty much everything they had. We were seriously struggling to keep our ground.”

The insurgents had machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades, and a sniper shooting out the window of a local hospital.

Young saw a red flash, then blood spurting 5 or 6 feet out of the jaw and neck of a contractor. He reached into the quarter-sized bullet hole in the man’s jaw and pinched his carotid artery closed, then dragged the man across the roof to where his medical kit lay sprawled open.

Midway across the roof, Young heard a loud smack. Pain danced across his face, chased by adrenaline, and he forgot about it. After a medic packed the man’s wounds with a substance that clots blood, Young strapped the man to his back and carried him downstairs. In all, the Marine left the roof five times: twice to transport wounded comrades, three times for ammunition.

When a group of U.S. Army military police officers joined the fight, Young used his experience as a weapons instructor to talk them through it. Conserve your ammo. Slow and steady before you squeeze. Adjust your sites for range and distance. Take breaks so your gun barrel doesn’t melt.

At some point, Young felt dizzy. He realized he couldn’t see out of his left eye. The doctor found a gunshot wound high on his left shoulder. Young didn’t want to leave the fight, but an Army captain told him otherwise.

“Basically, I refused to get down off the rooftop at first,” said Young, the father of a 7-year-old son back in Dry Ridge, Ky.

From myself and my family, Corporal, thank you for your service. Semper Fi.

Stories, Families and Dreams

From BlackFive comes this stirring message of patriotism and hope, and most importantly of understanding of this war we are engaged upon, from a Marine helicopter pilot in Iraq.

We Hold These Truths to be Self-Evident

I believe the Declaration of Independence to be the most beautiful and amazing political document ever written. The Declaration is the foundation of the American system: while we could completely rewrite the Constitution, the new version would not be accepted if it did not live up to the ideals expressed in the Declaration. Indeed, we fought a bitter civil war to uphold those ideals over a Constitutional flaw (allowing slavery as a political compromise to form a single nation), and the Constitution lost - as it should have in this case.

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

A New Birth of Freedom

July 3, 1863 was the last day of the battle of Gettysburg. On one side were forces dedicated to the proposition that a body politic should be able to decide its morality and policies for itself, without the interference of those who do not directly represent it; on the other side were forces dedicated to the proposition that all men were created equal. Some 48,000 men were made casualties in the defense of these two noble ideals. In November of that year, President Lincoln gave the Gettysburg Address, at the consecration of a cemetary for the dead from that battle:

Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of it as a final resting place for those who died here that the nation might live. This we may, in all propriety do. But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead who struggled here have hallowed it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.

It is rather for us the living, we here be dedicated to the great task remaining before us--that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they here gave the last full measure of devotion--that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.

They Hate Us. So?

Sgt. Mom has several trenchant observations today. Here's one:

9/11 shook loose a certain insularity, a tendency by Americans to undervalue ourselves; as Tom Wolfe once observed, the cry of the American artist and intellectual was “They do everything better in Europe!” The true path to enlightenment was to mimic our bettors and import the toys and maybe then we would merit enlightened approval. The outright glee in some quarters, and the barely-veiled schadenfreude from others in the wake of 9/11 was a dash of ice-water in the face. Americans looked at recent and not-so recent events and institutions, and began wondering if we really, really wanted the approval, after all. The UN? A matchless combination of corruption and incompetence, singularly unable to prevent a massacre in so-called safe zones in Bosnia and it’s own employees in Rwanda. The European intellectual set? Considering that they’ve been on their knees for the last 80 years, performing intellectual fellatio on Uncle Joe Stalin and his heirs and ilk, their approval of our works and ways was never a likely thing; nor do they relish the reminder of the human costs of Marxism’s various brave new worlds—especially since so many of the fortunate survivors of the various national experiments finished up here. And the manner by which millions of Europeans-- Jew, Romany, gays, retarded, religious and political dissidents--- were loaded into the gas chambers by their peers and neighbors is a living memory to many Americans; the survivors of that adventure in totalitarianism must relish the pious lectures on toleration and racism received from the same direction as their initial persecution. We have also noted the tendency of certain nations, or political sub-sets of same, to swoon into the arms of a political dictator, or at the very least, sell him nuclear reactors. And now, another collection of rigid religiously-orthodox fascists with imperial ambitions has decided that we--- all of us who do not wish to submit--- are suitable candidates for mass murder by any means available, while the usual suspects rejoice and cheer them on.

Let Freedom Reign!

Ramblings Journal has a photo essay of how President Bush and Prime Minister Blair found out that the sovereignty of Iraq had been reestablished.

Streeterville

I really, truly love this country. Because, rather than in spite, of its eccentricities, there is always something great to learn, and because we bring our kids with us when we travel (I am a consultant; I travel a lot), we can teach them a lot of things they'd never get in class.

Here's what we learned today:

The area we live in is called Streeterville, and is named for Captain George Streeter. In 1886, he ran his boat aground just Northwest of where we currently live. (The East part of Chicago was built up like Holland: we are living on former lake.) Unable to float the boat, and with it silting in, he declared it an independent district, and repeatedly drove off authorities who tried to seize the "duchy". He was let off for assault with a deadly weapon, because buckshot was not considered deadly. He was let off for wounding policemen who tried to evict him, because he was considered to be acting in self-defense.

Though he eventually moved away from his boat, he continued to fight for the "duchy" until his death in 1921.

Memorial Day

We were moving over the Memorial Day weekend, and still have no Internet access at our new place, so this post is a day late. The citations for all Medals of Honor awarded to date are here. There are some powerful stories here - stories of heroism, pride, dedication, ability and courage. One in particular is meaningful to me, as I just moved across the street from Olive Park, named for this man:

*OLIVE, MILTON L. III

Rank and organization: Private First Class, U.S. Army, Company B, 2d Battalion (Airborne), 503d Infantry, 173d Airborne Brigade.

Place and date: Phu Cuong, Republic of Vietnam, 22 October 1965.

Entered service at: Chicago, Ill.

Born: 7 November 1946, Chicago, Ill.

C.O. No.: 18, 26 April 1966.

Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Pfc. Olive was a member of the 3d Platoon of Company B, as it moved through the jungle to find the Viet Cong operating in the area. Although the platoon was subjected to a heavy volume of enemy gunfire and pinned down temporarily, it retaliated by assaulting the Viet Cong positions, causing the enemy to flee. As the platoon pursued the insurgents, Pfc. Olive and 4 other soldiers were moving through the jungle together with a grenade was thrown into their midst. Pfc. Olive saw the grenade, and then saved the lives of his fellow soldiers at the sacrifice of his by grabbing the grenade in his hand and falling on it to absorb the blast with his body. Through his bravery, unhesitating actions, and complete disregard for his safety, he prevented additional loss of life or injury to the members of his platoon. Pfc. Olive's extraordinary heroism, at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty are in the highest traditions of the U.S. Army and reflect great credit upon himself and the Armed Forces of his country.

Pfc. Olive's bravery is not unique; nor, sadly, is his sacrifice. When someone says we cannot produce such men today, tell them we do:

As Dunham searched for insurgents who had ambushed his battalion's convoy, he approached a run-down white Toyota Land Cruiser. The driver, an Iraqi in a black track suit and loafers, grabbed Dunham by the throat, the newspaper reported. Dunham kneed him in the chest, before the two tumbled to the ground.

Two other Marines rushed to the scene, and Dunham was heard yelling, "No, no, no - watch his hand."

And then, his fellow Marines believe, Dunham placed his Kevlar helmet and his body on top of the grenade to protect his battalion mates, the Wall Street Journal said. The grenade then exploded, leaving Dunham mortally wounded.

The Unreported Story of Abu Ghraib

While Americans focus on the abusive few, Iraqis see a truer picture than Americans usually do.

"Where do we Get Such Men?"

Phil Carter posts some citations for heroism in OIF. Why don't we hear this in the news, rather than 7 days/week/network of how wrongly a few soldiers behaved at Abu Ghraib? I'm all for exposing our wrongs, to ensure that we correct them. I'd also like to hear about what we do right, but this information is not blasted at us, but must be carefully unearthed. Why?

Proof Positive

America is the greatest country on Earth. UPDATE: A hoax? Bummer, well, at least we have senses of humor. Guess I should have actually read the page, instead of just scanning a bit of it.

On a more serious note, Blackfive relates a story about the greatness of the American people, shown through the lens of the burial of one of our war dead.

Semper Fi.

Goodbye and Thanks

Goodbye and thanks to SPC Pat Tillman, whom Intel Dump informs me has been killed in action in Afghanistan. SPC Tillman was a professional football player, who left the game after 9/11 to serve his country in the US Army Rangers - one of the best and thus most constantly committed-to-combat light infantry units in the world.

SPC Tillman put America's interests above his own immediate self-interest, and was killed while participating in an operation to find and eliminate enemy leaders. SPC Tillman provided the kind of example to America that our athletes are supposed to provide, but too seldom do.

My condolences, and my thanks, to his family.

Please Help Support the War Wounded

Ryan at Tasty Manatees has some excellent suggestions for supporting America's war casualties. I cannot urge you enough to read Ryan's post, and take action on it.

Best Description of Today's America EVER

Via Pejman, Charles Krauthammer offers the best description of America today that I have yet seen:

Even Rome is no model for what America is today. First, because we do not have the imperial culture of Rome. We are an Athenian republic, even more republican and infinitely more democratic than Athens. And this American Republic has acquired the largest seeming empire in the history of the world--acquired it in a fit of absent-mindedness greater even than Britain’s. And it was not just absent-mindedness; it was sheer inadvertence. We got here because of Europe’s suicide in the world wars of the twentieth century, and then the death of its Eurasian successor, Soviet Russia, for having adopted a political and economic system so inhuman that, like a genetically defective organism, it simply expired in its sleep. Leaving us with global dominion.

Second, we are unlike Rome, unlike Britain and France and Spain and the other classical empires of modern times, in that we do not hunger for territory. The use of the word “empire” in the American context is ridiculous. It is absurd to apply the word to a people whose first instinct upon arriving on anyone’s soil is to demand an exit strategy. I can assure you that when the Romans went into Gaul and the British into India, they were not looking for exit strategies. They were looking for entry strategies.

In David Lean’s Lawrence of Arabia, King Faisal says to Lawrence: “I think you are another of these desert-loving English. . . . The English have a great hunger for desolate places.” Indeed, for five centuries, the Europeans did hunger for deserts and jungles and oceans and new continents.

Americans do not. We like it here. We like our McDonalds. We like our football. We like our rock-and-roll. We’ve got the Grand Canyon and Graceland. We’ve got Silicon Valley and South Beach. We’ve got everything. And if that’s not enough, we’ve got Vegas--which is a facsimile of everything. What could we possibly need anywhere else? We don’t like exotic climates. We don’t like exotic languages--lots of declensions and moods. We don’t even know what a mood is. We like Iowa corn and New York hot dogs, and if we want Chinese or Indian or Italian, we go to the food court. We don’t send the Marines for takeout.

That’s because we are not an imperial power. We are a commercial republic. We don’t take food; we trade for it. Which makes us something unique in history, an anomaly, a hybrid: a commercial republic with overwhelming global power. A commercial republic that, by pure accident of history, has been designated custodian of the international system. The eyes of every supplicant from East Timor to Afghanistan, from Iraq to Liberia; Arab and Israeli, Irish and British, North and South Korean are upon us.

That is who we are. That is where we are.

Needless to say, read the whole thing.

Cracker Barrel Culture

Today is my birthday, and also that of my second son, Aidan. To celebrate (ok, to put off cleaning the house), we went to Cracker Barrel for brunch. While we ordered the food, the younger two boys were being a bit needy, so after we ordered, I took Griffin around the restaurant, showing him the various implements and portraits on the wall and telling him about them. (He was confused by the stuffed bass, but thought the plow and the gun were really interesting.)

I was thinking, as I ate, about what a hard life the pioneers had - even their children, in the 1920s and 1930s, were impoverished, and led a very rough existence by our standards, or even the standards of the coastal cities of their time. And it occurred to me that a big part of the difference between the culture of the fly-over states and the culture of the coasts is that the coasties, if they ever went to Cracker Barrel, would do so to laugh at the kitsch, or would imagine that we in the fly-over states somehow romanticize the pioneer past; while we in the fly-over states actually tend to look at that time as one where the people undertook almost heroic deeds, performing incredibly hard work without letup and under conditions of real poverty, to ensure that they could be their own masters and their children could have a better future than they themselves.

While I was thinking this, the waitress came up and told us that the couple at the next table, who had left several minutes before, had taken care of our check. For a six-person family, that is not a small amount of money, even at the reasonably-priced Cracker Barrel. I could not that that couple there, so I'd like to do it here. Thank you for your kindness and generosity. You brought a real joy to my family and myself, and we appreciate it deeply. It is a blessing to pass on, not to keep, and you can rest assured that we have already done so.

This event got me thinking of something my father did, when I was young. We had a trailer that converted into a tent that would sleep 6, and kept it in our back yard. We were living in a suburb of Oklahoma City at the time, and my father had a hobby of hunting coins with his metal detector. One day, he came home from the park with a family. The man and woman and their children (two if I remember correctly) had come upon some misfortune, the details of which I don't remember. As a result, they were homeless, and had set up a camp in the park while they tried to work their way out of their problem.

For a couple of weeks, my father housed that family in our tent trailer, had them eat with us, and helped the father of that family look for a job. After he got one, they were able to move out, and become independent again.

I know that there is a very distorted image of America peddled by the LA and NYC elites who largely control the images we see on television and at the movies and in the news. I cannot really blame people who have not been into America's heartland for not understanding the true generosity and character of this land's people. But this is the heart of America, the willingness to give of one's self to help a complete stranger, not necessarily because they need it, but because you can.

A Thanksgiving Tribute

The Wall Street Journal has a tribute (registration required) to our soldiers. It concludes:

The patriot Thomas Paine once said, "If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, so that my children may have peace." This is a creed many soldiers adhere to quite literally. To a man, the deployed GIs I know tell me they don't want any waffling or hesitation about finishing the job in Iraq. They say it is much less important that the Iraqi war be over soon than that it be successful, and they know that will take time.

Amid the sour soap opera of Jessica Lynch, Americans should remember that there are many U.S. soldiers who displayed real self-sacrificial heroism in the Iraq War. Just among the 82nd Airborne there are men like Medic Alan Babin, who left a covered position and exposed himself on the battlefield to come to the aid of another soldier. He was shot in the abdomen and is now fighting his way back from the loss of numerous organs, several full-body arrests and 20 operations.

When you talk to our wounded soldiers they say, astonishingly, that they don't regret the fight. Almost universally, they say they are anxious to return to their units as soon as possible. Most American warriors subscribe to the words of John Stuart Mill: "War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."

It's easy for critics on both the left and right to convince themselves that the U.S. is a decadent society, that our young people have gone soft, that we will never have another generation like the men who climbed the cliffs at Normandy. That judgment, I'm here to report, is utterly wrong. We've got soldiers in uniform today whom Americans can trust with any responsibility, any difficulty, any mortal challenge.

At the end of this strenuous year, we give thanks for them.

Also, Mark at Sha Ka Ree has some key Thanksgiving proclamations.

To be American

Steven Den Beste has a fantastic post on what it means to be American.

I've had the great privilege, recently, of spending some time with a man born in the USSR, who was employed in a very sensitive position in their government, and who is alive and here in the US today because of the courage of a State Department official. One of the things that he told me is that it is hard to be a Russian and not in Russia - there's too great of a tie to the land. I told him that it is a good thing that he is American, then.

After that, we drank a lot.

The point is, though, that being American is not about where you were born, or to whom you were born, but what you do and who you are. I grew up largely overseas, and most people both in the US and overseas don't seem to understand this. Americans don't understand that other places aren't that way, and non-Americans frequently don't understand that fundamental quality of Americans. Incidentally, this is one reason why I favor immigration and assimilation: it keeps the American spirit fresh and alive, because it provides a constant infusion of examples of the difference between America and everywhere else.

Power

Bill Whittle writes about the moral use of power. You must read this. Seriously.

Memory is Precious

Hold on to memory 9/11. Hold on tight. Because, for some, truth is a word to be put in quotes, and reality is a meaningless non-entity. But for a moment stop, now, and listen to the voices.

We Support You, Too

Here is a very moving tribute to the US military.

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good. He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them. He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only. He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures. He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people. He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within. He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands. He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers. He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries. He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance. He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures. He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power. He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation: For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us: For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States: For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world: For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent: For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury: For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies: For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments: For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever. He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us. He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation. He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands. He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

The 56 signatures on the Declaration appear in the positions indicated:

Column 1
         Georgia:
            Button Gwinnett
            Lyman Hall
            George Walton



Column 2

         North Carolina:

            William Hooper

            Joseph Hewes

            John Penn

         South Carolina:

            Edward Rutledge

            Thomas Heyward, Jr.

            Thomas Lynch, Jr.

            Arthur Middleton



Column 3

         Massachusetts:

           John Hancock

         Maryland:

           Samuel Chase

           William Paca

           Thomas Stone

           Charles Carroll of Carrollton

         Virginia:

           George Wythe

           Richard Henry Lee

           Thomas Jefferson

           Benjamin Harrison

           Thomas Nelson, Jr.

           Francis Lightfoot Lee

           Carter Braxton



Column 4

         Pennsylvania:

   Robert Morris

            Benjamin Rush

            Benjamin Franklin

            John Morton

            George Clymer

            James Smith

            George Taylor

            James Wilson

            George Ross

         Delaware:

            Caesar Rodney

            George Read

            Thomas McKean



Column 5

         New York:

            William Floyd

            Philip Livingston

            Francis Lewis

            Lewis Morris

         New Jersey:

            Richard Stockton

            John Witherspoon

            Francis Hopkinson

            John Hart

            Abraham Clark



Column 6

         New Hampshire:

            Josiah Bartlett

            William Whipple

         Massachusetts:

            Samuel Adams

            John Adams

            Robert Treat Paine

            Elbridge Gerry

         Rhode Island:

            Stephen Hopkins

            William Ellery

         Connecticut:

            Roger Sherman

            Samuel Huntington

            William Williams

            Oliver Wolcott

         New Hampshire:

            Matthew Thornton

 

The Surreal World of Iraq

Victor Davis Hanson writes yet another great column, this time on the contraditions and unreality of Iraq, and our soldiers' ability to do their jobs through it all.

The Founders' Constitution

OK, Zenpundit owes me hours, nee days of my life for this link to the Founders' Constitution. Basically, the Founders' Constitution is the entire Constitution, with an incredible amount of backing information from addresses to various legislatures and groups, the Federalist Papers, various writings of prominent politicians at the time and so forth. It's amazing the things that can make me very, very happy.

Core Principles for a Free Iraq

Don Rumsfeld has an article in today's WSJ that is worth reading, on the future of Iraq.

It is now just seven weeks since Iraq's liberation--and the challenges are there. As Thomas Jefferson put it, "we are not to expect to be translated from despotism to liberty in a featherbed." It took time and patience, but eventually our Founders got it right--and we hope so will the people of Iraq--over time.

We have a stake in their success. For if Iraq--with its size, capabilities, and resources--is able to move to the path of representative democracy, the impact in the region and the world could be dramatic. Iraq could conceivably become a model--proof that a moderate Muslim state can succeed in the battle against extremism taking place in the Muslim world today.

We are committed to helping the Iraqi people get on that path to a free society. We do not have an American "template" we want to impose: Iraqis will figure out how to build a free nation in a manner that reflects their unique culture and traditions.

Rumsfeld lays out current and future Coalition activities. I must say that I've been a bit worried about the focus of the occupation, because it would be very easy to give in to the Scylla of turning Iraq over to Iraqis and getting out as fast as we can, or to the Charybdis of imposing forms and methods of governance on Iraqis. Reading Rumsfeld's list of principles, I am more confident now than ever that the Bush administration is steering a good course.

The Essential Nature of America

I think that most non-Americans - and more than a few Americans - miss the essential nature of America, particularly in their behavior towards other nations. Here is the quick and dirty guide to understanding American foreign policy:

• If you leave us alone, we will leave you alone. Heck, we'll even give you money if we think you need it more than we do. Mind if we send some tourists your way?
  
• If you trade with us, we will trade with you. The more barriers and annoyances you put in place, the more we will do so as well, and eventually we will trade less with you for it. On the other hand, the more open you are, the more open we will be. We would just as soon eliminate tarriffs and the like: we have the income tax now and don't really need them. Please, let us open branch offices and fast food joints.
  
• If you are our faithful ally, trustworthy and honest, we will shower you with every benefit we can give. We will defend you against all threats. We will send our young men and women, if necessary to die, by the millions to aid you. We will spend our blood and our treasure freely on your behalf. All that we will ask of you is a plot of land to bury our dead.
  
• If you pose an existential threat to us, we are the most ruthless bastards on the face of the Earth, and we will bend you to our wills, or we will kill you. Witness, if you will, the American Civil War, the way we fought against Japan in WWII, Dresden and so forth.
  
• If you interfere with our interests abroad, we will be annoyed with you, and will attempt to marginalize and contain you, even to destroy your economy and culture if necessary. I'm looking at you, Fidel Castro.
  
• If you threaten us (empty or not) and act to develop means to hurt us, see the point about posing an existential threat. After September 11, we are not going to put up with that crap any more. I'm looking at you, Kim Jong-Il.
  
• If you think we are a pawn to play in your regional games, and in the process decide to interfere with our attempts to maintain our security, we will work to thwart your ambitions. I'm looking at you, Jacques Chirac.
  
• We are large, rich, powerful and diverse. What other nations see as major acts of war (bombing our embassies, for example), we frequently see as annoyances and part of the price for being in the world. Eventually, we will notice if you keep it up. I'm looking at what's left of you, Osama bin Laden.
  
• We are not always wise, but we are always intelligent. We are always kind and generous and loyal to our friends, ruthless and implacable to our enemies, and we generally ignore those who don't fall into either of the above categories as best we can. We make mistakes, but we correct them. We are repentant, but we are not guilt-ridden. We are religious, but we are not fanatics.
  

Tolerance, to a Point

From the comments to this post:

Every American, other than Native Americans and African-Americans, either is, or is descended from, someone who packed up and left his motherland because he'd had all the shit he could stand. This makes us one of the least tolerant peoples on Earth. Most of the time, this is a good thing. When a problem arises, we don't say "inshallah", we demand that the problem be fixed. Intolerance of inefficency and injustice has made America one of the freest and most prosperous nations on Earth.

We are taught, as children, to be tolerant of other peoples, but our tolerance is not infinite. At its limit, that tolerance is not like butter scraped over too much bread. It is more like a cable stretched too tight. When it finally snaps, the poor bastard who broke it, and anyone else in the way, will get hurt.

One Person at a Time

Read this article from Arab News where the journalist recounts her experiences as an embed with Marines. (Hat tip: InstaPundit)

American Soldier

A story worth reading:

"Jessica Lynch," called out an American soldier, approaching her bed. "We are United States soldiers and we're here to protect you and take you home."

Peering from behind the sheet as he removed his helmet, she looked up and said, "I'm an American soldier, too."

Brothers in Arms

These mist covered mountains
Are a home now for me
But my home is the lowlands
And always will be
Some day you’ll return to
Your valleys and your farms
And you’ll no longer burn
To be brothers in arms
Through these fields of destruction
Baptism of fire
I’ve watched all your suffering
As the battles raged higher
And though they did hurt me so bad
In the fear and alarm
You did not desert me
My brothers in arms
There’s so many different worlds
So many different suns
And we have just one world
But we live in different ones
Now the sun’s gone to hell
And the moon’s riding high
Let me bid you farewell
Every man has to die
But it’s written in the starlight
And every line on your palm
We’re fools to make war
On our brothers in arms

- Dire Straits

Thanks to Lyrics Heaven for the lyrics.

The images came from War Photos and Free Republic.

Where do They Get Young Men Like This?

From LT Smash:

Martin Savidge of CNN, embedded with the 1st Marine battalion, was talking with 4 young Marines near his foxhole this morning live on CNN. He had been telling the story of how well the Marines had been looking out for and taking care of him since the war started. He went on to tell about the many hardships the Marines had endured since the war began and how they all look after one another.
He turned to the four and said he had cleared it with their commanders and they could use his video phone to call home.
The 19 year old Marine next to him asked Martin if he would allow his platoon sergeant to use his call to call his pregnant wife back home whom he had not been able to talk to in three months. A stunned Savidge who was visibly moved by the request shook his head and the young Marine ran off to get the sergeant.
Savidge recovered after a few seconds and turned back to the three young Marines still sitting with him and asked which one of them would like to call home first, the Marine closest to him responded with out a moments hesitation “ Sir, if is all the same to you we would like to call the parents of a buddy of ours, Lance Cpl Brian Buesing of Cedar Key, Florida who was killed on 3-23-03 near Nasiriya to see how they are doing”.
At that Martin Savidge totally broke down and was unable to speak. All he could get out before signing off was “Where do they get young men like this?”.

Empire Building?

Colin Powell offered this quote, as part of a long response to a question from the Archbishop of Canterbury:

We have gone forth from our shores repeatedly over the last hundred years and we’ve done this as recently as the last year in Afghanistan and put wonderful young men and women at risk, many of whom have lost their lives, and we have asked for nothing except enough ground to bury them in.

Reasons why I'm Proud of our Military

First, from this article about the battle at Hindiya

At one point, U.S. soldiers spotted an elderly woman in a black chador lying wounded in the middle of the bridge. Using his Bradley fighting vehicle for cover, company commander Capt. Chris Carter of Watkinsville, Ga., ran to center of the bridge, saw that she needed urgent help and called for an armored ambulance to take her to an aid station.

He used his M-16 rifle to provide cover while the medics put her on a stretcher. Carter then returned to the U.S. side of the bridge.

Next some pictures of soldiers caring for kids from around the warzone. (hat tip: Sgt Stryker)

Attitude

Here is an image sent to me in email, that I hope you enjoy. It shows the attitude of the American warrior pretty well, I think. The ship, by the way, is the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72). (click on the pic for the 1300x860 pixel full-size image)

American Values are not Just Theoretical

From Joanne Jacobs, we have another example of why the US is the greatest country on Earth:

Immediately everyone in the place rushed to her side to make sure she was all right. A few random women sat with her until the paramedics came, holding her hand and rubbing her forehead with a damp towel. . . (The paramedic/firefighters) were wearing shirts that said "Menlo Park Fire" on the back, but on the sleeves was written "FDNY." When I saw that I remembered that the Menlo Park fire department had been one of the first groups clamoring to go to New York to help the rescue effort at the World Trade Center. Then I started to cry.

When they finally wheeled the fainting woman off on a stretcher, one of the women who had happened to be sitting nearby offered to go with her to the hospital. Another two said they would drive her car home for her.

Sometimes I forget what all this is for. Sometimes I forget what Bush means when he says we're going to war to protect American freedoms and American values. But then I see something like this and it all comes back to me. I don't understand how anyone sitting in that coffee shop with me tonight and who saw what I saw could say that America is an inherently selfish country, filled with people only looking out for their own interests. In a random night that involved little destruction and no big speeches, I remembered everything I love about living here.