Today, in this miraculous information age everyone is zigging and zagging every which way while balancing eight plates of fruit and pancakes with silverware in their mouths. It is amazing. It is fascinating. It is frightening. Of course it's good to have people busy and informed, however, it becomes dangerous when people read a couple news articles, assume they are informed, and then press for change. We are always looking for answers...which is good. But it seems we want immediate results. When it takes two minutes to heat your hot pocket, you get antsy. When the guy at the stop light takes an extra second to react, you go berserk. That is scary. I mean, what were you planning on doing in that one second that was so important? Why aren't we more grateful that we didn't have to bake the dough and stuff that hot pocket by hand? On that note, I'm going to get a little political here, however, I think you should read it slowly and methodically and try to understand where I'm coming from before declaring that I'm wrong and out-of-step.
We are some of the most impatient and ill-informed people on the planet. I am constantly seeing poll after poll of Americans who are dissatisfied with the recent war strategy and the war as a whole. Obviously we have not made the best decisions all along since the beginning, but one thing I must point out is that the strategy that we have currently employed, "the surge" has only been in effect for a month, yet senators, presidential candidates and a great deal of the general populace is already calling for a change.
How is a war that is five years old supposed to suddenly come to a perfect conclusion in a month's time? We are not giving our soldiers nor are we giving our commanders the chance to do their job. The little reported truth is that the surge HAS been effective. However, because it is still early, military leaders are hesitant to broadcast their small successes.
However, because the democrat-controlled congress wants to build momentum before Petraeus reports in September, people are of the minds that a decision must be made now. If the white house and congress call this surge to an abrupt end, it strikes me as fickle. It also sends a message to our military and commanders that not only do we not support them and their operations, but we don't think they can do their job properly.
But I suppose the thing that bugs me the most is that all involved here in the US, from citizens to senators, are not on the ground, and honestly do not care what the real situation is. If the media would rather cover death tolls and car bombs than victories and civilian parties in the streets, it does a great job demoralizing our men and women in uniform. Of course I'm not pro-war. No one in the military is even pro-war, but I do believe in logical, well-planned decision making. It wasn't done in the early days after Saddam's regime was toppled, but it does need to been done now. If we act quickly without giving our strategy and commanders time to do their job and report, we are going to suffer a much greater catastrophe. We must think logically, plan coherently and act in the best way we know how. Give our military a chance.
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