Letter From Iraq
By Jan Larson (09/14/05)
Note: The following was originally published as a “Letter to the Editor” in the Polk County News (Stromsburg, NE) on September 1, 2005.
Greetings to all. With the recent upswing in the anti-war demonstration, lead initially by Cindy Sheehan (who has since become a front person for other left wing forces), I wanted to let you know another side of the story. With “boots on the ground” here in Iraq, I claim as much if not more authority than Ms. Sheehan to express my views as “reality.”
First, let me respond to various criticisms regarding the start of the war – “not enough pre-war planning,” “the war should have started a [week, month, six months, year] later,” “there were not enough troops at the start,” etc., etc. While some of these criticisms have some validity, remember what they say about hindsight. It is easy to see what happened and play Monday morning quarterback. The truth of the matter is the US military is composed of the world’s best. The plans were the absolute best given what was known at the time. Could all the problems have been foreseen and taken into account? Of course not. War is not a game played in the backyard which can be restarted if things are not going right. There is an opposing force with their plans. Any plans are good for about 5 minutes and then require updating based on the enemy response. So why discuss what went wrong at all? A legitimate discussion involves ways to avoid similar problems in the future. I can assure you there is much talk within the military for that exact purpose. If the “discussion” is meant to improve political standing, score political points, or prove the person spouting the rhetoric would make a better leader, I say the discussion is anti-American and not patriotic at all. It is using the war for selfish reasons to advance a personal agenda.
The same reasoning is true regarding the conduct of current military operations. If you honestly believe you can prosecute the war to a successful conclusion better than the 3 and 4 star Generals currently in Iraq, go ahead and comment (but please pardon me if I take such comments with a grain of salt). Criticism is appropriate when you are trying to help win the war. It is inappropriate when you use the war to get reelected (or elected to a higher office) through posturing and demagoguery for political benefit. This applies to all aspects of the political spectrum Republican and Democrat; right and left wing, conservative, liberal and moderate. I have heard both Republicans and Democrats expound on how we are losing the war and frankly I am tired and offended by the “I support the troops but disagree with the war” comments. This is an impossible dichotomy. Support of the troops means support of what we are doing – fighting a war. We are here to win. We are winning. We will win.
Regarding Cindy Sheehan and her views on the war, I would like to briefly quote Ann Coulter. “We’re sorry about Ms. Sheehan’s son, but the entire nation was attacked on 9/11. This isn’t about her personal loss. America has been under relentless attack from Islamic terrorists for 20 years, culminating in a devastating attack on U. S. soil on 9/11. It’s not going to stop unless we fight back, annihilate Muslim fanatics, destroy their bases, eliminate their sponsors and end all their hope. A lot more mothers will be grieving if our military policy is: No one gets hurt!”
You hear ever night about the latest casualties, but how costly is this war in terms of American lives? A single American killed in battle is a tragedy and I honor the ultimate sacrifice given by so many of my fellow Americans. They are Heroes with a capital “H.” But if you look at the cost in lives, the number killed in 2.5 years of battle is about 2/3 of the number killed in 2.5 hours at the WTC, Pentagon and United Flight 93 in Pennsylvania. We fight them on the battlefields of Iraq or we fight them on the streets of America.
I have heard comments that the war is taking too long and the American people are getting tired. Some are even trying to schedule our military withdrawal. But how long is a war supposed to last? Is there a time limit? Can we be penalized for “delay of war?” Who gets to throw the yellow flag and determine the penalty? Our enemies will take as much time as they need to defeat us. In fact, their only hope of winning is to drag the war out until the American people get tired and they win politically (by our military withdraw before absolute defeat of the enemy). There is absolutely no hope they will win militarily. So the “delay of war” penalty flag can only be thrown by the American people. The penalty is defeat. There is really only one overriding rule in war – fight to win! It will take all of America to win this war – both the military on the battlefield and the people of America in support of the troops AND the war.
In the military, we are trained to take the fight to the enemy. We are the best in the world. We are in Iraq to win a war. As an extra added bonus, we will win the peace as well. It will not happen tomorrow. It may or may not happen next year. But it will happen. We are winning. We will win.
I love you all. God bless.
Col. John R. Ekstrand
U. S. Army Medical Corps, Iraq
Col Ekstrand had been in Iraq since April, serving as Director of Medical Services, working with the Iraqi Ministry of Health and the American Embassy.
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