Where Do You Stand?
February 12, 2007
Where Do You Stand?
Dan Abbett
There comes a time when you have to go public with your position on serious and politically charged issues. If you believe the polls, a leap of faith if you ask me, mainstream America wants to see us leave Iraq in the now timeframe, win, lose or draw. The question is rhetorical but the answer is critical. That answer will define our future. On the question of winning or losing in Iraq, where do you stand?
What, you may ask, makes this question key to the future of the West? It depends on who is right in the debate over the true intent and the motivation of what is now referred to as “radical Islam.” To all those who firmly believe that it is our interference in the Middle East that is the cause and fuel of Islamic violence, our departure from the region is deemed the action that will end the jihad that has been pronounced upon us.
To those, including myself, who perceive an enemy determined to achieve our subjugation, only the harshest retribution against such an ideology, inflamed in religious extremism and hatred, can bring a serious end to their plan for global domination. There really is no middle ground to this issue and the position “You” take will determine the consequences. Where do you stand?
The reason for asking this rather straightforward question is in response to a calculated effort, mostly coming from the left, to steep Iraq in failure and defeat. The rationale for their position that we need to end military operations in Iraq is premised on poll results that indicate a majority of Americans now want to see an end to this war.
No doubt, all Americans would like to see this conflict finally end. What is not known are the circumstances that most Americans will accept as satisfactory conditions in Iraq before removing our troops. Where do you stand?
The polls that are sited as indicating that a majority of Americans want us out of Iraq, also indicate by a greater margin that they do not want us to lose. The latter portion of this conflicting response is discarded from the mix, as politicians wax defeatist in their pronouncements for opposing the president’s plan to increase military strength, and his effort to finally bring sectarian violence in Iraq under control. As this information is subjectively framed to qualify their argument, so too does it “frame the president.”
What seems to be a self-serving understanding among politicians and media types, to include both broadcast and print, is that they are the ones who “frame” the debate. This is the essence of this discussion. Who speaks for you, the media or do you speak for yourself? Did you elect your representative to promote his or her personal agenda or to act in your behalf? Where do you stand?
In spite of the rhetorical proclamations of what their vote meant and the circumstances they believed were valid for casting that vote, members of Congress did give the president the power to go to war in Iraq. It is not acceptable for any Congressman to now abdicate that vote for political expediency or to hedge their chances for re-election.
For the second time in just over 30 years, elected representatives of the United States of America are embarking on legislation that will result in our defeat in a military conflict. We are not losing the war in Iraq; it is the United States Congress that is declaring it so. Congress has the power to declare war, they do not have the power to legislate whether we win or lose.
For Bob Dylan, the answer was “Blowin’ in the Wind;” our nation’s leaders need to be more firmly rooted. These are the issues that now require our personal attention. Where do you stand?
Comments: danabbett1@charter.net
Where Do You Stand?
Dan Abbett
There comes a time when you have to go public with your position on serious and politically charged issues. If you believe the polls, a leap of faith if you ask me, mainstream America wants to see us leave Iraq in the now timeframe, win, lose or draw. The question is rhetorical but the answer is critical. That answer will define our future. On the question of winning or losing in Iraq, where do you stand?
What, you may ask, makes this question key to the future of the West? It depends on who is right in the debate over the true intent and the motivation of what is now referred to as “radical Islam.” To all those who firmly believe that it is our interference in the Middle East that is the cause and fuel of Islamic violence, our departure from the region is deemed the action that will end the jihad that has been pronounced upon us.
To those, including myself, who perceive an enemy determined to achieve our subjugation, only the harshest retribution against such an ideology, inflamed in religious extremism and hatred, can bring a serious end to their plan for global domination. There really is no middle ground to this issue and the position “You” take will determine the consequences. Where do you stand?
The reason for asking this rather straightforward question is in response to a calculated effort, mostly coming from the left, to steep Iraq in failure and defeat. The rationale for their position that we need to end military operations in Iraq is premised on poll results that indicate a majority of Americans now want to see an end to this war.
No doubt, all Americans would like to see this conflict finally end. What is not known are the circumstances that most Americans will accept as satisfactory conditions in Iraq before removing our troops. Where do you stand?
The polls that are sited as indicating that a majority of Americans want us out of Iraq, also indicate by a greater margin that they do not want us to lose. The latter portion of this conflicting response is discarded from the mix, as politicians wax defeatist in their pronouncements for opposing the president’s plan to increase military strength, and his effort to finally bring sectarian violence in Iraq under control. As this information is subjectively framed to qualify their argument, so too does it “frame the president.”
What seems to be a self-serving understanding among politicians and media types, to include both broadcast and print, is that they are the ones who “frame” the debate. This is the essence of this discussion. Who speaks for you, the media or do you speak for yourself? Did you elect your representative to promote his or her personal agenda or to act in your behalf? Where do you stand?
In spite of the rhetorical proclamations of what their vote meant and the circumstances they believed were valid for casting that vote, members of Congress did give the president the power to go to war in Iraq. It is not acceptable for any Congressman to now abdicate that vote for political expediency or to hedge their chances for re-election.
For the second time in just over 30 years, elected representatives of the United States of America are embarking on legislation that will result in our defeat in a military conflict. We are not losing the war in Iraq; it is the United States Congress that is declaring it so. Congress has the power to declare war, they do not have the power to legislate whether we win or lose.
For Bob Dylan, the answer was “Blowin’ in the Wind;” our nation’s leaders need to be more firmly rooted. These are the issues that now require our personal attention. Where do you stand?
Comments: danabbett1@charter.net
posted by Gerald A.Firlik | 1:39 PM
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