Commentary by H.G. Listiak

Tuesday 10/28/2003

Welcome to my world, where it bothers me how few of my fellow Americans realize that we are at war. The Veterans do, that's why I feel compelled to share their comments with you. Jeff, an 8 year Navy Veteran writes:

I was fortunate to serve from '82 to '90 under Reagan and Bush, a time of fantastic morale, when even the most cynical service member felt some pride at being part of something larger than himself. Obviously Americans dying in Iraq or anywhere else is sad and tragic, but to make matters worse, we have to listen to uninformed politicians and pundits and journalists attempting to make the case that this is wrong, that we are getting bogged down in a quagmire ala Vietnam. It's interesting to note that most of these folks would agree that World War Two and it's aftermath, was a just war, even though what we are seeing in Iraq and Afghanistan today bears a striking resemblance to Germany and Japan after W.W.Two. Germany, especially, had organized sapper teams of terrorists known as Werewolves, Nazis who would not give up, kind of like the Baathists in Iraq today. With suicide attacks and guerilla attacks, small arms, mortars and explosives, many American servicemen died long after the official end of major combat. In fact it was not until the 1950s that Germany was considered de-Nazified, much as we are attempting to de-Baath Iraq today. I'm not saying this as a Bush apologist, although I do support the war, I'm just concerned with the truth, and that is, what we are seeing in Iraq is nothing new, nor will it be the last time the world sees attacks like these after major wars. I believe the opponents to war and or Bush, should at least try to argue their point in a truthful, factual manner. At least then I could respect them even if I continued to disagree with them. Signed Jeff Dover.

Thanks for passing me the ammo Jeff. You bring up several excellent points. As I've said before, occupations are always tougher than wars because the liberators always seem to become the bad guys, especially when we've got politicians encouraging the enemy by causing disunity at home, as I see it ... I'm H.G. Listiak.