1pm in the Stillson Lot (corner of Hwy 22 & Village Road)
Sam Petri of the
Planet headlined a recent article, "Jackson Hole Rally for Peace or Cheney Protest?" in which he raises some legitimate points about the motives of the rally.
Jim Stanford, one of the organizers of the rally told Petri, “It’s an anti war protest but we’re trying to stay positive.” Just by the tones of the ads they've run and the roster of speakers they have lined up my guess is that this "peace rally" will quickly turn into a Cheney bash fest.
The organizers are quick to claim the Iraq War as "Cheney's War," pointing the blame at our Vice President but perhaps they've forgotten what
leading Democrats were saying (and voting) just 4 years ago.
The fact of the matter is that we all want this war to end, but a fundamental difference between most Republicans and Democrats today is exactly "how" and on what terms do we "end" this war.
First and foremost wars don't just end... there's a winner and a loser. To simply pull out of Iraq is to surrender to the radical Islamists and make one of the greatest militaristic mistakes of all time.
To understand the consequences of our Troop's withdrawl from Iraq one must understand the enemy which we're facing. Herein lies the major problem with my friends and neighbors such as Jim Stanford. Whether you agree going into Iraq was the right decision or not, where we stand today, withdrawl would be the worst maneuver and blunder our military ever made. Let's just clarify, it wouldn't be a "withdrawl", it would be an embarassing and pitiful surrender.
We've heard it time and time again, "we can either fight them over there or fight them here in our backyard." The fact of the matter is that an American withdrawl would only be temporary, because to the enemy, withdrawl = victory (for them) and anytime you can claim that you've defeated the greatest military in the world you can bet that recruiting skyrockets. And let me reassure you, al-Qaeda isn't the type to sit around patting themselves on the back... it'll only be a matter of time before we're confronting them on our own soil.
So, simply put, we withdrawl, Al-Qaeda and other radical Islamist factions notch a decisive victory under their belt, new, fresh militant recruits come flooding in the front door and the next time our military deploys, we're looking at an enemy significantly bulstered and stronger than we could ever imagine.
One of the scariest things about our potential withdrawl is the theological implications it would bear across the Islamist world... An al-Qaeda victory (American withdrawl) is clearly seen that Allah is on their side... in essense, our withdrawl only strengthens the enemy.
I commend my friends who will be marching in the peace rally today, but I also ask them to take a long hard look at the big picture and really grasp an undestanding of what we're up against. We're a nation of fast food and T3 internet connections... everything has to be done instanteously... and the same is true of our view on war...
Stu Bykofsky put it best when he said, "we want wars shorter than the World Series."
And for all the true peace activists out there, just remember one thing... you and I wouldn't be here today had it not been for another very unpopular war... the Revolutionary War.
March on!
Attention laaaaaaaadays!! That's right, National Men's Grooming Day is this Friday, August 17th.
