I read this in a Bulletin (sometime ago) & just had to Repost it.
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Some information about Iraq.
Our soldiers deployed to Iraq to topple a ruthless dictator who used nerve gas on his own people.
Our soldiers completed that mission!
Our soldiers deployed to Iraq to help set up a constitutionally directed government.
Our soldiers completed that mission!
Our soldiers deployed to Iraq to support the people of Iraq, democratically elect its own government,
Our soldiers completed that mission!
Our soldier were not deployed to force the Iraqi people to get along.
Our soldiers have completed their initial mission and so much more;
But our soldiers are the highest trained most professional military in the world and they know that if they turn their back and walk out of Iraq now, it will become a killing field that will make Darfur look like a sunny afternoon in central park.
My friends, no matter what you may feel about the President's policy in dealing with Iraq, please remember, the soldiers are only following orders as required by their oath of enlistment which states,
"I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God."
(Title 10, US Code; Act of 5 May 1960 replacing the wording first adopted in 1789, with amendment effective 5 October 1962).
"I, _____ (SSAN), having been appointed an officer in the (Branch of Service) of the United States, as indicated above in the grade of _____ do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign or domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservations or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon which I am about to enter; So help me God."
(DA Form 71, 1 August 1959, for officers.)
You cannot blame the soldiers for a country that is hell bent on destroying itself.
You cannot say the soldiers have not completed their mission because they have.
The only thing that you can say is that history has shown us that our military is a mighty military force, not a police department and until the people of Iraq decide to stand up for themselves, we are there at a cost of our own soldiers lives, to prevent the mass genocide and worse, the acts of world wide terrorism, that will occur if we leave.
I know that this may not be a popular "war" but to be honest, the war is done and over with, the problem now is an insurgency that is hell bent on killing and destroying everyone they can. This is not the war our soldiers went over to fight, they won that war!!!!
But this is also not the peaceful democratic state that the Iraqi people chose to live under, because of the insurgency that is spilling in from all over the middle east and all over the world for that matter. They want to continue to cause instability in the region because what it does is turn public sentiment against the deployment of our troops and they hope to break our resolve.
By doing this, they hope to institute and Islamic state that only practices Sharia law. FYI, Sharia law is basically the opposite of a constitutional democracy except for that if you choose not to accept it, you will be killed, in the radical view, there is not room for compromise.
But it doesn't end their, they also hope to bring forward a world wide Islamic state that all will be subject to, they hope to do this by crippling the worlds resolve for democracy. Now if you don't believe what I have written here, look it up. Its all right there on the Internet.
Start with the speeches given by the President of Iran. He believes his mission in life is to bring forth the Islamic equivalent of the Messiah and that Iraq is the place where he will rule from.
So again before you jump on the bandwagon condemning the war in Iraq, remember we won the war, the fight now is to prevent a Holy War that threatens to encompass the entire world.
If you need more proof, check this out, New York Times, Feb. 4, 2007 Page 1, Headline, "Iraq's Shadow Widens Sunni-Shiite Split in U.S."
Its a front page article about the conflict occurring in Dearborn, Michigan. Like I said, its all out there already, its just a matter of people like us pulling our head out of the sand and standing up against radicals, no matter what their faith. That's right this is not a condemnation of Muslims, its a condemnation of radicals who want to bring terror to our front doors. And the lines have been drawn in the Middle East, but make no mistake, if we pull out that line moves back to our doorsteps.
In case we need a reminder, think of these dates:
The 1993 World Trade Center bombing
The 1993 Mumbai bombings
The 1995 Sarin gas attacks in Tokyo, Japan
The Oklahoma City bombing by Timothy McVeigh on April 19, 1995
The Centennial Olympic Park bombing in 1996
The US embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania on August 7, 1998
The Omagh bombing in Northern Ireland (August 15, 1998)
The August 31 – September 22: Russian Apartment Bombings kills about 300 people, leading Russia into Second Chechen War
The September 11, 2001 attacks in New York, and Washington D.C.[41][42]
The 2001 Indian Parliament attack on December 13, 2001
The Passover Massacre on March 27, 2002 in Netanya, Israel
The Moscow theatre siege and the Beslan school siege in Russia
The Bali bombing in October 2002
The March 11, 2004 attacks in Madrid
The July 7, 2005 bombings in London
The second Bali bombing on October 1, 2005
The Mumbai train bombings on 11 July 2006.
Of course these are only for the last 14 years, and do not include all of the attacks that occur daily in Iraq and other middle eastern countries.
It also does not speak to the North Korean threat, since they have successfully tested a nuclear weapon.
China's successful launch of a missile system that can destroy satellites.
And Iran's installation of centrifuges for enriching nuclear materials.
The threat of nuclear terror has never been more real than it is today.
At least during the years of the cold war, the super powers did not want to use the weapons, We just felt it was safer to have them!
These terrorist groups around the world want to use nuclear weapons and will if given the chance.
So I hope this reminds you to support our troops, pray for their safety, and think before you elect someone in 2008 who says they will end the war immediately, because the war does not end, it will just move back from the streets of Baghdad to the streets of the United States, and every other country in the world.
Anthony Hahn, BS, BSW
any questions or comments are welcome however, I may not be able to respond to them all.
Please send questions or comments to AnthonyHahn@aol.com