Letter to the Editor: What are we seeking to win?

By Sun Advocate

Editor:
All Americans worthy of the name support our troops and pray for their success-but what are we seeking to win in Iraq?
Though we knew it was coming, the spectacle of American soldiers dying and being held captive by the enemy was all but unendurable. One of war’s cruelest ironies is that it takes the brave and noble, while sparing those of lesser character-a bitter reality we tasted anew as the first American blood was shed in Gulf War II.
Contemplating the sacrifices made by our troops on the battlefield, our minds are irresistibly filled with memories of Black Tuesday. We recall images of police, firemen, and rescue workers, after stopping just long enough to receive absolution, dashing into the stricken towers as others fled. We remember the passengers of United Flight 93 saying good-bye to their loved ones by cell phone before prayerfully staging a counterattack against the beasts in human form who had commandeered their plane. We might also remember the account of a naval officer who had lost both of his hands in the Pentagon attack: He told rescue workers to ignore his “trivial” wounds and treat people who were “really hurt.”
These are just a few of the myriad acts of courage and selflessness performed on that terrible day, many of which are known only to God. This same courage and strength of character has been displayed by our fighting men in Iraq, and those who have enlisted to fight our country’s wars are worthy of respect, gratitude, and prayers on their behalf.
Even as we celebrate the valor and skill of our fighting men, however, we must call to account the political leaders who sent those men into battle. “If these men do not die well,” warns a soldier in Shakespeare’s Henry V, “it will be a black matter for the king that led them to it.” That our men who have fallen in Iraq died bravely, no decent American can doubt. But did they die “well”? Was the objective for which they died worthy of that sacrifice?
As we pray for our valiant troops, and mourn for our honored dead, it is proper and necessary to examine our national leaders’ policies and objectives. It is also our duty to seek changes in policies incompatible with our national interest, or unworthy of spilling the blood of our sons.
For most Americans,, “Operation Iraqi Freedom” is simply payback for the 9-11 attack. According to an opinion poll published shortly after “Operation Iraqi Freedom” began, a slender majority of Americans believed that Saddam Hussein was somehow responsible for that atrocity.
The New World Oligarchy and its media allies have done everything possible to create impressions without documenting the facts. Yet we are told their War, against terrorism will last a long time.
Disreali once said: “The world is governed by different personages from what is imagined by those who are not behind the scenes.”
An investigation of the new world oligarchy is in order.