A Bold Move is Needed

What if our leaders in Congress decided to put the nation first and follow the founders plan for getting America moving again.  We have been in neutral for too long.   The Speaker and Senate Leader could do a great service for our nation  Harry Reid could agree to bring all the house bills he has in his desk to a vote, and the Speaker agrees to do the same with Senate bills.  That is the way our government is supposed to work, let the people's representatives vote on all passed legislation, and use the conference system for resolving differences.  The polls show the frustration of the people.  I am a Vietnam Vet, and an active conservative voter all my life, but I am getting fed up with no action.  I challenge to Speaker Boehner and Leader Reid to put America first.

Iraq and Vietnam

I was in Thailand when Vietnam went south, do you remember the sequence of events and how close it comes to what we are seeing in Iraq the last few days.   The Vietnam story went something like this; peace talks, agreement to get POWs back and disengage; Hanoi cheats and invades, President in the middle of Watergate so no American help, not even supplies; the result South Vietnam is overrun after we expended 57,000 lives and untold billions.   Fast forward to Iraq; new President can't negotiate a status of forces agreement, pulls out all troops, we lose influence and ability to help, bad guys begin their push, we provide no support, and today the enemy is within a few miles of Baghdad.  Consider Germany, Japan and Korea, we left troops (still have them) and the end result was positive.  America needs to lead and use military force when needed; a failure to do that results in losing countries that we have fought for even though we  never lost  a battle.  I can't help but believe President Reagan would be increasing our military and sending in American air power to demonstrate some more shock and awe in Iraq. 

America Declining

As veterans who served our great country, have we considered the current condition of America?  I hope  that, as citizens, we are taking  note of the decline of our cultural values, of our inability to lead in the world, and the movement away from the free enterprise system and the worth of the individual.    There is an uneasiness in the land, a frustration with our government in Washington DC, a "waking up" to the fact that actions are not being taken that are in the best interests of the people.  Americans are displaying their concerns in both political parties and in a number of different ways.   Multiple streams of political movements and opinions but all come from the prevailing thought that America needs help, fresh leadership, and a return to the founding principles.  Veterans can play a part in this most critical period in history by being involved in the political process and demanding accountability from our leaders and those who want to replace them.   Veterans have paid the price to be able to express their views on why a new direction is needed, and soon.

Aid and Comfort to the Enemy

All veterans should sit up and take notice of our Commander in Chief's recent actions.  He made a trade for one US soldier, held hostage as a deserter from his unit five years ago, for five Taliban leaders, all dangerous individuals we had captured and put in prison.  We have seen proof that this soldier left his unit and was a deserter or worse (as stated by those in his unit).   The president took unilateral action outside of the law for informing congress, and aided the enemy by releasing high value prisoners.   How can that not be a failure and dereliction of duty on his part.  It is hard to believe that our President would be involved in such a blatant act against his country in a time of war and not be held accountable by the people.   As veterans, we understand this situation better than most, and we need to sound the alarm before this country continues to decline on the world stage from what America has always been.

Finally a Select Committee

Finally we have a select committee formed which has been called for by a majority of the House of Representatives.   Representative Wolf, who introduced the resolution for a select committee has a list of questions that need answers.   As a former military officer, I would add some questions on the status of our forces that night.
1. Did we have an AC-130 in theater that could have been deployed?
2. Why did local commanders when the attack became known not take action to arm F-16 fighters with internal ammunition and place them on standby.
3. Local commanders have authority to contingency plan their assets without taking specific action; getting aircraft ready in the early hours of the attack would have made engagement and perhaps rescue possible.  Why was no action taken or ordered by senior commanders?

Benghazi

Today's release of further testimony on the Benghazi attack cries out for a select committee to demand answers to what is a cover up by senior government officials and agencies.  There are three issues that need to be addressed:  first, lack of security and preparation at our consulate (people should be fired), second a failure to define what had occured and a false narrative given to the American people about a video, and third why no rescue was attempted.  The rescue failure should be of concern to all veterans, too many conflicting stories as to resources available and forces being delayed.  A Select Committee needs to trace the actions or lack of action from the notification of the attack to the National Command Authority within fifteen minutes up the chain of command.  Someone failed to make a decision and that caused lives to be lost.   We must keep the pressure on our leaders to uncover the truth about Benghazi, no matter how  high up it goes.

A Mission in 2014

2014 could well be an historical year for America, we either change direction or we will see further decline of our Republic.  Veterans understand a few facts; our military is being reduced in size, degraded in capability, and seeing an erosion of benefits that were promised.  There is an ideology in our nation that says we have no enemy in radical Islam, we can negotiate and appease others to "leave us alone".   History is full of examples of why anything less than a strong and powerful military and the will to use it brings failures to a nation.  In America, elections determine direction, so in this coming election year veterans must have their voices heard at the polls and in  those candidates we decide to support.   It us never too late to recover because we have millions who ove this country and understand the dangerous road we are on.