Redstate

Attention Chickenhawkers: The Stoooopid Troops Think You're Morons

By Thomas Posted in 2006 — Comments (3) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

At the heart of America's constitutional military lies a core conceit: Civilians will always exercise the final say over military action. The elected President, with funds authorized by the elected Congress, directs and controls the military. That is our Constitutional order. The idea that we should cede final military policy authority to our armed services is a species of madness.

That has not stopped the mad 25% of our country from advocating precisely that policy (as long as some component of the military opposes a war they oppose, as well). So, let's give them what they want: What do they troops on the ground in Iraq think of the Democrats' cut-and-run policy?

With a potentially historic U.S. midterm election on Tuesday and the war in Iraq a major issue at the polls, many soldiers said the United States should not abandon its effort here. Such a move, enlisted soldiers and officers said, would set Iraq on a path to civil war, give new life to the insurgency and create the possibility of a failed state after nearly four years of fighting to implant democracy.

"Take us out of that vacuum -- and it's on the edge now -- and boom, it would become a free-for-all," said Lt. Col. Mark Suich, who commands the 1st Squadron, 89th Cavalry Regiment just south of Baghdad. "It would be a raw contention for power. That would be the bloodiest piece of this war."

The soldiers declined to discuss the political jousting back home, but they expressed support for the Bush administration's approach to the war, which they described as sticking with a tumultuous situation to give Iraq a chance to stand on its own.

Leading Democrats have argued for a timeline to bring U.S. troops home, because obvious progress has been elusive, especially in Baghdad, and even some Republican lawmakers have recently called for a change in strategy. But soldiers criticized the idea of a precipitate withdrawal, largely because they believe their hard work would go for naught.

Capt. Jim Modlin, 26, of Oceanport, N.J., said he thought the situation in Iraq had improved between his deployment in 2003 and his return this year as a liaison officer to Iraqi security forces with the 3rd Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment, based here on FOB Sykes outside Tall Afar. Modlin described himself as more liberal than conservative and said he had already cast his absentee ballot in Texas. He said he believed that U.S. elected officials would lead the military in the right direction, regardless of what happens Tuesday.

"Pulling out now would be as bad or worse than going forward with no changes," Modlin said. "Sectarian violence would be rampant, democracy would cease to exist, and the rule of law would be decimated. It's not 'stay the course,' and it's not 'cut and run' or other political catchphrases. There are people's lives here. There are so many different dynamics that go on here that a simple solution just isn't possible."

That's a long excerpt; wander over and read the whole thing.

And remember: The alternative to allowing our uneducated derelicts to stay the course is to run, and leave disaster in our wake. And the way that happens is to put the Democrats in charge of the purse in the House.

So get out the vote. And vote. No race is lost until the polls close tomorrow (in Democrat precincts, that means "the polls close early Wednesday"). And the beginning of losing the Iraq War isn't until the Democrats take the majority seats in January.