2007 Soap Box Archives

Surge

As we all know we have recently deployed more troops in Iraq. It's called the surge and whether you believe it's working or not depends on which politician you listen to.

To Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi it is a dismal failure, a waste of time, to many on the other side of the aisle it is a success.

First of all, let's look at what the surge is. We have deployed an additional 30,000 troops to the theater and General Petraeus stationed many of them in neighborhoods in Baghdad where the Al Qaida insurgents were terrorizing the population.

The military's mission was two fold. To take back the neighborhood and encourage the citizens to help in locating and destroying the Al Qaida forces who had for so long terrorized their neighborhoods.

Iraq is a conundrum of different Islamic beliefs and different ways of practicing it. You have the Sunnis, the Shias and the Kurds, all different in their own ways and not really having much use for each other.

The Sunni and Shia may not like each other but they are starting to realize that Al Qaida is a common enemy bent on destroying any opposition to their Taliban brand of Islam.

The upshot of the surge is that some 3,100 families have returned to their Baghdad neighborhoods and are trying to open businesses and bring some semblance of normality to their lives.

This is not to say that things are not still deadly dangerous in parts of Iraq but the number of citizens killed on a daily basis has fallen from an average of 56 a day to about 30 a day and while the numbers are still unacceptable, at least there has been significant headway made in securing the neighborhoods.

The culture of Iraq is ancient and complicated and old vendettas are still in evidence after centuries of enmity. But even enemies finally get tired of watching their children senselessly slaughtered by a group of foreign terrorists who have neither one of their interests at heart.

Even if you only look at the hard statistics progress is being made in Iraq. Of course you'll never get Reid and Pelosi to admit it. They have played all their chips on a disgraceful defeat in Iraq. In Texas Holdem terms they've gone all in and they'll use every trick at their disposal to convince the American public that the surge is not working.

Honest criticism is one thing but to turn your back on facts just because they don't fit your greedy political position is treasonous in my book.

They all claim that they support the troops but how can that be the truth when they won't even give them credit for the progress they've made?

Nobody but Almighty God knows for sure what is going to happen in Iraq, but for right now the surge is working and war is a one day at the time proposition especially with an enemy who is willing to sacrifice their lives just to kill a few innocent people.

I know I reflect the attitude of millions of Americans whose hearts, prayers and gratitude go out to the brave heroes who are making the surge work.

And I would say to those troops who hear the rantings of the Charles Schumers', Dennis Kucinichs', Harry Reids', Nancy Pelosis', et al, let em holler. With an 11% approval rating evidently nobody is listening to them anyway.

Pray for our troops.

What do you think?

God Bless America

Charlie Daniels

November 9, 2007