The Election: A Letter from a Marine

Remember the poignant letters  here and here I received from the Marine  who served two tours in Iraq? Well he wrote today and it's one for this books;

Dear Pamela,

I am the the Marine that wrote to you about the news media selling out the troops in Iraq. I also put in the Marines' two cents about the Israel-Lebanon War. Well, I'm back. This time about the elections. And they are saying this election was a referendum on Iraq.

I think you hit the nail on the head today when you said:

The Bush Doctrine was a bold, ambitious historic initiative to fight the Global Jihad but was administered to (as opposed to executed) with a half hearted, half assed, pansified plan.

You put it better than I ever could. I came to that conclusion while freezing my ass off in a pillbox last winter. The Bush Doctrine is the best strategy we have to counter the Islamics. And we did the right thing by going into Iraq. But we screwed it up shortly thereafter by not taking it serious enough.

We never had enough troops there, from the start. In Vietnam at the height of American involvement we had over 500,000 troops in country. In the first Gulf War we had about 500,000 troops in the theater. In the current war we have had about 180,000 troops in Iraq at the height. We've been in Iraq for over 3 years and much work is still to be done. As I see it we've defeated the Sunni insurgency and what we are seeing is Iran stirring the pot and telling the Shia to rebel now.

If we'd have committed to Iraq like we committed to Vietnam the campaign in Iraq would be over. it would never have gotten as bad as it did. It really shows me what's happening when we get to Iraq and my company's Area of Operations (AO) is as big as a batallion should have and batallion's is as big as a regiment and regiment's is as big as a division and division has a corps sized AO. Why is that? Because we don't have enough people over there  and we never have. that's why they are planting so many IEDs because we can't be everywhere at once and there are not enough eyes on the ground to stop them. I've been to Iraq twice and I have one more deployment left while I'm in the military and that one is probably going to be Iraq too. And we can't send more troops because we don't have anymore to send. Basically half the military is in Iraq and half is home and we rotate back and forth.

And what are we going to do when It comes time to fight Iran? Iran is not Iraq. It's three times bigger in size, it's mountainous not desert, it's population is huge, they are Shia not Sunni, they are Persians not Arabs. Iran is a whole different beast that requires a whole different taming process. And though we don't want to fight Iran you know as well as I do that they want to fight us. And if we try to do Iran the way we did Iraq, it's not going to work. Granted, we have learned much in Iraq, many hard lessons that will help in Iran, but it will still be tough.

So what am I saying? I'm saying reinstate the draft. Make everyone serve. 2 years, one deployment. 6 months in country, that's it. I guarantee this problem would be fixed. You know as well as I do that this is a world war and Iraq is just a single battle in the war. We can pull off Iraq without the draft, but not the rest of the war. This is a world war and we should treat it as such. We should have reinstated the Draft after 9-11 and stopped building cars and made tanks instead, like WW2. But instead we half-assed it. We're still half assing it and we're going to continue to half ass it.

Look at how we (Condoleeza Rice) stopped Israel from destroying Hizbullah this summer. We Marines felt betrayed by that because that's onr more enemy for us to fight. Don't forget the border situation. When I got back from Iraq this year I came home to people pulling down American flags from public flag poles and running up Mexican flags. That was an Insult.  And the Repubs did nothing. And so I'm glad the Republicans lost. They (we) deserved to lose. They bickered, argued, procrastinated and wasted their time and oppurtunity to make a difference and get something done. I just hope that we can get our acts together for 2008. And I hope we mean business when we do get back together.

Go back the to the fight Pamela, it's an important one. I see you as a fighter on my behalf and I appreciate you.

You go back to your fight and I'll go back to mine. Many Thanks and Best Wishes.

-Name deleted by Atlas

 Related:
A US Marine's Letter on Israel
Marine's letter: "STABBED IN THE BACK BY THE MEDIA" 

 

Comments

[Van Helsing]

Unfortunately given the political climate it will take something bigger than 9/11 to make the draft feasible.

[BillBowen]

Just wait - the Islamofascists will misread the results of this election and do something really stupid to try and force us out of Iraq.

Read the history of the run up to WWII - we're right now about in mid-1937 (and the American people just got really stupid and put the Democrat (Labor) party in power).

As Santana said "Those that don't learn from history will repeat it" (I wonder, do they even teach REAL history in school now days or is it all this "PC" crap and pap?)

[Richard Davis]

I feel for this Marine. He (and all the ones I've met) are ready, willing, and able to kick ass and win. We need to let them fight without forcing them to keep both hands on their cocks. Liberals and their PC drumbeat is a recipe for losing, not winning. It gets our troops killed and wounded.

I totally agree with the Marine. He calls it a Draft, I call it Mandatory Service.

EVERYONE should have to serve in the Military after high school. Even if just for 18 months. That's long enough for bootcamp and a basic "A" school and a deployement.
(Spain does it and so does Israel).

But that will never happen, so the more realistic answer is to "use what we got, to get what we want"

- let our Troops fight with all the Superior Firepower they deserve. Forget PC, Forget World Opinion, it's all BULLSHIT anyway...

The fuckin jihadist assassins don't deserve the compassionate side of our Marines.

Marine, I'm so mad that you can't fight they way you've been trained! I'm so mad that the press and the media, our media, is your enemy - they are lying to the civilians and they are making your victory impossible.

Thank you for your outstanding report (letter). It should be required reading by every elected official, newspaper, and civilian.

Thank you for killing the jihadists for us.

THANK YOU MARINE!!

[clyde]

Actually, the United States HAS enough military personnel to do the job in Iraq. All we have to do is pull them out of places they're not wanted or needed (South Korea, Japan, Germany, Bosnia, et al) and send them to Iraq. A large part of our active armed forces is sitting on their butts in places we don't need them, all due to politics. TIme to put them to good use, if Charles Rangel doesn't get his way and institute a draft. Which, in the end, would be funny as hell when the leftards started getting their draft notices. Wow. Make my day.

[DoctorDentons]

SEMPER FI !!

[WARCHICK]

Pamela, I love this guy! He says exactly what I keep hearing from so many warriors over there. I would love to email him and tell him how great he is...could you shoot me his email addy?
--
SO SAYS WARCHICK, Resa LaRu Kirkland
Columnist/Writer/Speaker/Military Historian/The Anti-Feminist!
Agree with RESA at: http://www.warchick.com
Hippies, commies, and femmies opinions altered here!!
STAND WITH ISRAEL! FREE NORTH KOREA!!
POW/MIA: Bring them home or send us back!

[CottShop]

Wow, powerful letter- thaks for posting it- I think part of the problem was that we thought the awe and shock was going to be enough to demoralize the enemy & when it looked like they had been, the commanders kinda let their guard down, but the terrorists dug in their heels and started hitting from behind the skirts of women and children- I don't think the commanders were quite prepared for that given the intense scrutiny from the U.N and anti-American Main Stream Media (who should be tried and convicted of giving aid and comfort to the enemy as far as I'm concerned- especially CNN!)

Christian news and commentary at: sacredscoop.com ...

[Eg]

As I looked around the blogosphere yesterday and today, I’ve yet to see anyone speak the God awful truth, the ‘Will of the People’ has spoken and what they’ve said is, ‘Surrender and Submit!’ and that is exactly what the Administration is in the process of negotiating - our surrender. The details remaining are the speed of our extrication, the cost of reparations, who will be tried and who will fall on their swords. More importantly, the speed at which the Nation can be absorbed into the ’New World Order’ without shocking the people into an awakening of the horrible reality and definitely without awakening that awful ‘sleeping giant‘ - despite our military technical capabilities, our economic prowess and strength‘s, as a people we’re hopelessly spoiled, weak and without moral resolve.

Every post-mortem I’ve read is nothing more than some rationalization - scandals, corruption, this didn’t happen right, wrong people, bad advice, too few, too many troops, not soon or fast enough. Everyone has their own idea on this shift but they all remain rationalizations - all avoid that God awful truth. The people have spoken and they've not the will the continue further, the price is too high. 4 years is/was too long. You/we all know damned well Pelosi and Reid(the eff'in IC, the left, the Dems and Iranian's) demand a pull-out, call it anything you want - another change in strategy and tactic's but it still remains a pull-out leaving Iraq an Islamic land under a theological governance unchallanged, unhinged and unchanged.

As for myself, I believe we'd be better without the sugar-coating and I’ll protect my loved-one’s, my friends and those who seek help for as long and as best as I can but in the end, it comes down to an old saying:

'It's all the same to me, war or peace,
I'm killed in the war or hung in the peace.'

[Adam Stanhope]

Draft: Not gonna happen.

Nobody is mentioning the obvious, something millions and millions of Americans are realizing as each nightmarish day in Iraq passes: We never should have gone there in the first place!

When the reasons for being and staying there collapse to the point where the most coherent is a vague idea about "fighting them there instead of on Main Street" or "finishing the job," we're in trouble. We've been in trouble for a long time.

[CottShop]

Adam- millions of Innocent Iraqi civilians who were being murdered and tortured in the most horrific manners possible would absolutely dissagree with you- We had a moral obligation to help them (and other countries who face similiar situations) That reason has and will never 'break down' As the email from the Marine clearly states, we ARE in a owrld war against a very reral enemy and threat- that fact isn't 'breaking down' either- that threat will face us whether soldiers are confronting it there or here- that is fact- I just posted a map on my site showing the growing Islamic fascist organizations in our country- they are ALL over the United States- groups like al Qaeda, al Aqsa (sp?) Brigade, Hizbollah, al Islamiyya, on and on it goes- this is real man- the threati s real- and if we don't hit them and hit them hard, we WILL be facing multiple 9/11 attacks all over again. If you need more confirmation on how dire the threat is, a good site (in addition to this one of course) is Jihadwatch (I think it's .org- might be .com though)Thier site gives clear truth about the threat of radical Islam and it is a problem we can no longer afford to ignore or negotiate with.

Christian news and commentary at: sacredscoop.com ...

[majdvmphd]

Adam, I've enumerated numerous times on other threads the reasons for going to Iraq, as well as the reasons for staying. None of these are reasons, given your lack of purview in these areas and knowledge/experience, that you can contest. I'd be happy to locate those listings for you or list them here again, but you're not listening anyway. Just ranting about things you feel powerless to change, and you're right...you are powerless.

[jay]

"Of all the statist violations of individual rights, the military draft is the worst. It is an abrogation of rights. It negates man's fundamental right-the right to life- and establishes the fundamental principle that man's life belongs to the state...

The most immoral contradiction-is that of the so-called "conservatives" who posture as defenders of individual rights, and yet uphold the draft. By what infernal evasion can they hope to justify the proposition that creatures who have no right to life have the right to a bank account?

Politically, the draft is clearly unconstitutional No ammount of rationalization, can alter the fact that it represents involuntary servitude."

All due respect Pamela, but you named your blog Atlas Shrugs which is a book written by the person who also said the quote I wrote above. Please speak out against the draft.There is no need for a draft, the problem does not lie with not enough people but with the wrong plan. If you decide to go to war, you should understand what it means-that there is a threat and that threat has to be dealt with by killing people. CottShop gives a clue to the problem, he acknowledges quite sincerely that there is a threat BUT also says we have a moral obligation to help countries we are at war with and thus we sacrifice american lives not for victory, but only so we can continue helping others. This policy guaraties defeat and discredits future wars that may need to be fought. You can't fight a war and pretend a war is not war.If you can't stomach the idea that war means killing people-ON PURPOSE- then it is better not to go to war at all and that is why the dems took control of congress.

[Mike H.]

Total war = Draft Not until then.

Part of the way that the Dems sabotaged Vietnam was to talk the college students into resisting the draft.

A popular war effectively fought with progress plainly visible is the only way the draft would be acceptable to the nation. To have people sitting around hating every minute of forced servitude would set it up again and that's what the Dems want.

[jay]

"A popular war effectively fought with progress plainly visible is the only way the draft would be acceptable to the nation"

Hello? If the war was popular, you would not need a draft. If it were effectively fought , you wouldn't need a draft, If the republicans would let us win the damn war instead of playing nicy you wouldn't need a draft. A draft is the wrong solution and it is UNCONSTITUTIONAL and impractical to boot. Can we leave the statism to the democrats. I can't believe I even have to argue this on a blog named after an Ayn Rand novel. What do you guy's want next, socialized medicine? If you argue FOR a draft you have no right to complain when the dems implement socialized medicine because its the same argument, namely forced servitude to the state.

[majdvmphd]

It actually is popular, within the military and patriots in the civilian sector. How do I know this? Recruitment went up after 9-11 and continues to remain elevated. I am one of them. My wife was a Navy recruiter for 5 years and in the Navy for 10 years total. Retention is also at an all time high. We might need a draft because of CLINTON'S DOWNSIZING OF THE MILITARY...duh. You're right about us needing to take off the kid gloves, but that's the Republicans buckling under the pressure from the ACLU driven Democratic left. Why is it "the wrong solution" when you've just left that sentence out there with no substantiation to your claim and, like a true liberal, no alternatives offered. I'm not for socialized medicine, and certainly not free medicine for illegals who don't have health insurance to begin with driving up everyone's costs and timetables for care.

Now the meat of the counter-argument...
The draft is Constitutional. I obtained sufficient information directly from my copy, although it was more eloquently and succinctly stated at http://www.usconstitution.net/consttop_drft.html

"The Constitution does not directly mention the word "draft" or even the older "conscription," but its authorization for the Congress to "raise and support Armies" is a clear indication of the same concept - to use the resources of the nation to create or man an army."
...
"The Constitution did impose one small but key restriction on a conscripted army - any allocation of funds to support the army can only have a life of two years. Any allocation thereafter must be reauthorized by Congress. Since the House of Representatives is elected every two years, this is a safeguard against runaway armies. If the people are not satisfied with the way a draft is being run, they can elect a House that will not authorize further funding."
...
"the courts have ruled that the intent of the 13th was never to abolish the draft, and that serving in the military, even against your will, is not involuntary servitude. These "duties owed to the government" are exempted from 13th Amendment protection. In Butler v Perry (240 US 328 [1916]), the Supreme Court wrote:

[The 13th Amendment] introduced no novel doctrine with respect of services always treated as exceptional, and certainly was not intended to interdict enforcement of those duties which individuals owe to the state, such as services in the army, militia, on the jury, etc. The great purpose in view was liberty under the protection of effective government, not the destruction of the latter by depriving it of essential powers."

So you see, or maybe you don't, that the draft is NOT UNCONSTITUTIONAL, and IN the Constitution, it is further justified and separate from "forced servitude to the state."

Game
Set
Match

Thanks for playing.

[majdvmphd]

P.S. Did you even f'n read the letter from the Marine above and does it count for nothing? BTW Conscription for both sexes has worked extremely well in Israel for 58 years and has instilled a sense of pride, patriotism, and discipline that has overcome overwhelming odds and obstacles time and again. Snot nosed shits like you could use a good drill instructor. It's not forced servitude, even in a vacuum of the Constitution. It's preserving your very life and the lives of your children. I would have felt like a hypocrite expecting someone else to defend MY kids (who didn't even come into my life yet). If you're not going to do it yourself, at least show respect to the people who DID stand up to defend you out of their own sense of obligation.