the Right Angler
It’s time for a little game dear readers. Its called “Who Said It?” It’s simple to play really. I am going to provide you with a quote and you are going to guess: “Who Said It?”, an elected leader from our country or one of our enemies. Should be simple, right? Well, let’s see.
“Let me be clear. The violence in Anbar has gone down in spite of the Surge, not because of the Surge. The inability of American soldiers to protect these tribes from Al Qaeda said to these tribes, ‘We have to fight Al Qaeda ourselves.”
This one is easy right. Only one of our enemies would publicly disparage our troops by labeling them failures. Only a enemy of this country would suggest that the tribes in Iraq are outperforming our troops. This must be a quote from an enemy attempting to embolden the terrorists. Right? Wrong. This quote came from Senator Charles Schumer (D: NY).
“There was no firefight. There was no IED that killed these innocent people. The troops overreacted because of the pressure on them, and they killed innocent civilians in cold blood.”
Surely, this must be a quote from one of our enemies. Only one of our enemies would publicly accuse American Soldiers of murdering innocent civilians in cold blood. Especially, since the details of the event were unclear, and there hadn’t been an investigation yet. This public declaration of guilt and accusation of murder must have come from one of our enemies in an attempt fuel hatred and influence opinion. Sorry. This is a quote from Congressman John Murtha (D: PA).
“…you would most certainly believe this must have been done by Nazis, Soviets in their Gulags or some mad regime—Pol Pot or others—that had no concern for human beings. Sadly this is not the case. This was the action of Americans in the treatment of their prisoners.”
No brainer. Only one of our enemies would compare U.S. soldiers to the Nazis, Soviets in their Gulags or Pol Pot’s regime, right? After all, the Nazis murdered over 6 million innocent people in their concentration camps, the Soviets murdered at least 20 million in their gulags or by starvation, Pol Pot murdered 2 million people in his killing fields. Surely, one of our elected leaders wouldn’t compare our soldiers to any of these historically evil groups. Granted a few of our soldiers took some embarrassing pictures of detained terrorists, but no one in this country would compare that to murdering millions of innocent civilians. Wrong again. This quote came from Senator Dick Durbin (D: IL)
“Are you going to tell us lies like you’re telling us today? Is that how you are going to fund the war. You don’t have money to fund the war on children. But you’re going to spend it to blow up innocent people; if he can get enough kids to grow old enough to send to Iraq to get their heads blown off for the President’s amusement.”
This quote is hard to follow. One would guess it came from our enemies just because it lacks basic language skills. Plus, only an enemy of this country would suggest that the President of the United States enjoys seeing the heads blown off of our own troops. This quote is so over the top and inflammatory that it could never have come from one of our leaders, and it would never have been said on the floor of Congress. Yes it did. Yes it was. This quote came from Congressman Pete Stark (D:CA) last week.
“The war is lost and the Surge is not accomplishing anything.”
Finally, a quote from one of our enemies, right? There isn’t anyone in a leadership position in this country dumb enough or malicious enough to publicly declare a war that we are actively fighting is “lost”. After all, that would embolden our enemies to fight harder and longer, and discourage the brave men and women in uniform who risk their lives everyday. This comment is obviously from one of our enemies trying to motivate the terrorists, disparage our troops and crush the families of soldiers at home. This quote is so damaging to our effort in Iraq, it could never have come from one our own. Sadly, this quote is from Harry Reid (D: NV). He is the Senate Majority Leader.
Well, as it turns out, this game is not so fun. Let’s try another one. Go back and read these quotes again. Only now, you’re an American soldier fighting in Iraq: how do these quotes from your leaders back home make you feel? Now, you’re a terrorist fighting in Iraq: do these quotes strengthen or weaken your will to fight? Lastly, you have a family member or friend fighting in Iraq. Can this really be labeled “support” for our troops?
Let me leave you with an actual quote from one or our enemies, Osama Bin Laden: “It is far better for anyone to kill a single American soldier than to squander his efforts on other activities.” Some members of Congress need to better appreciate the sacrifice that our brave fighting men and women make to preserve the freedoms that put them in office.
...more columns by Todd A. Carges
