DÉJÀ VU ALL OVER AGAIN

This morning, I had the honor to welcome home a neighbor who just returned from his sixth or seventh deployment to the Iraq-Afghan theater of operations. After reintroducing him to the concept of “green” as an actual color, we spoke for just a few minutes.

He noted that Afghanistan had changed remarkably since his last deployment. Much of the urban scene is electrified now. (“Urban” is a relative term; he was referring to the cities and major villages, all of which had been at a 19th century level under the Taliban.) The attacks we read about are sporadic and random, rather than a rolling wave of resistance.

When I asked him about troop morale, he replied, “It’s really pretty good. The thing that gets to them is that the American press is ignoring all the good that we are doing and harp only on the bad stuff.”

Now, ask the average Vietnam vet, at least the grunt, about his feelings for the press, and you would get a very similar answer. It is, indeed, "déjà vu all over again". [Lawrence Peter Berra (American philosopher, commentator and Hall of Fame catcher and manager).]

My friend went on to say that the talk of deadlines for withdrawal is unsettling. Our troops are working hard to train a viable Afghan army and national police force, but the recruits they are getting need more work than do their American counterparts arriving at American boot camps. Most cannot read and have little or no concept of what is a law. To think that a four month boot camp can prepare a man to start performing as a police officer is absurd. Given the time, we could field a viable national peace keeping and law enforcement body, but we would need time.

But Congress, which cannot perform its assigned task of, e.g., adopting an annual budget, seems to be sure that it is qualified to direct an army in the field. It didn’t work for the Continental Congress, it was ineptly handled by the Civil war congresses, and the meddling in the details of war-fighting by the congresses of 1968-1975 bordered on criminal negligence.

The problem is that we have barely 300 years of history as a distinct people and just over 200 as a nation. We are incapable, it seems, of taking the long view. For us, ten years is a long time; for our adversaries, something that happened in the 14th Century is yesterday’s news. For so long as that mental historic discipline fails us, it will continue to be déjà vu all over again.

PAYING THE BILLS

On September 11, 2001, the United States was suddenly and deliberately attacked by a foreign quasi-State and its allies. The United States government had failed in the primary responsibility of any Nation: thousands of innocent people were killed for no reason other than that they were Americans.

In response, a united government and Nation responded militarily. “When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace.” Luke 11:22. History reflects that despite repeated attempts to do so, the enemy has failed to carry out another attack on our Country. The primary reason for that is that we have employed our Armed Forces, our strong men armed (a Colonel I once served under referred to ours as “the profession of violence”) professionally, competently, and, when necessary, violently to take the war to the bad guys. That is what a Nation is supposed to do in carrying out its primary duty of “provid[ing] for the common defense.”

If we cannot defend ourselves, nothing else matters. The victor will set the agenda.

Now, the President has decided that we must do more to defend our Nation. The limp-wristed amongst our fellow citizens are aghast.

This President, "their President," was supposed to come in, order our troops and our nation to tuck its national tail between its legs, and slink home to cower in the corner. He was to immediately release all the thugs and brigands captured on the field of battle or in their secret headquarters and let them go.

The limpest wrist of them all, Nancy Pelosi, and her cohorts are dismayed that the President has finally realized that it is easy to coach from the cheap seats. Now that he is on the sidelines with the full responsibility that comes with his position, things look a lot different. Now, if a skyscraper falls, or a dirty bomb pops off inside the Loop or Times Square, or some school district suddenly finds that its inventory of elementary schools has been violently reduced by one, the responsibility is his and his alone. Harry Truman had it just right.

But Nancy and her cohorts have a new way to get their way and to endanger the Country. Her surrogate, Congressman Obey (D. Wis.), wants to “pay for the war” by imposing a new war tax on the American people. That way, he says, the people “will know” the real cost of the war and will demand that we turn tail and run.

Sadly, he may be right. But, if that is the principal that ol’ Nance and her gang want to use, they are a bit late. Where is the tax surcharge to “pay for” the trillion dollar stimulus package? The American people deserve to know the real cost of a "stimulus" that is not working. Where is the surcharge to pay “for the” the two trillion dollar “reform” of health care? The American people deserve to know the real cost of a “reform” that will not work.

Sorry, but those are being “paid for” by the heavy use of smoke, mirrors and outright deceit.

So, until the Congress decides to have one principal for paying for things, let’s not worry about the cost of the troop surge which will be approximately one percent of the cost of the stimulus and health care packages.

And the surge has one other advantage: it has a good chance of working!