The US Senate: Not Learning from the Past
Posted in Bush, Terrorism, Iraq, war, wordpress, Politics, oil, Afghanistan, United States, Linux, Environment, Congress, Military, Rep Michael Castle, Rep Virgil Goode, Rep Walter B Jones on June 27th, 2007 by Stanford Matthewscrossposted at:
Conservative Thoughts
Why is it that some people have such difficulty understanding the fact that those who refuse to learn the lessons of history are doomed to repeat them? That’s right, this is a commentary on the war in Iraq and other issues facing the United States. It applies to illegal immigration, terrorism, ethics, the rule of law and other critical topics as well. But this commentary is limited to the war in Iraq and Afghanistan in light of another irresponsible statement by a member of the US Senate.
One may be able to forgive such a statement from a freshman politician but that is not the case with a Senator who may have just exposed the fact he has been there too long. That would be an excessively generous appraisal of the reason for this Senator’s improper use of his office. Senator Richard Lugar (R–IN) is the latest in a small group of GOP legislators without the sense to understand what should be said publicly and what should be reserved for private discussions.
No matter how it is dressed up, whether as ‘redeployment’ or ‘changing the course’ or ‘a new strategy’, that is surrender. Any reservations one may have had in regard to war should have been considered before authorizing the US to use military force in Iraq. That most Senators did not even bother to read the intel reports before voting to go to war is a clear indication of their incompetence. But to compound that failure by suggesting surrender is totally irresponsible.
The US reluctance to enter both World Wars early on is one historic fact that should enlighten these same Senators to the folly of poor decision making. What advantage went to the enemy by delaying the inevitable confrontation? How many lives could have been saved if the combined effort of allies were present at the beginning? Why was the late entry to WWI not understood before WWII was underway? Why have we consistently allowed our military readiness to be less than adequate leading up to each worldwide conflict? And why have we not learned the lessons yet in dealing with a world faced by terrorism?
Not providing universal and complete support of the troops once the decision to go to war is made is another huge mistake. It is clear that this fundamental flaw within the US Congress has spread to the general public and may well explain this country’s inability to successfully attend to a daunting list of critical issues. The historic ability of this country to rise to greatness when presented with the long odds of crisis situations has apparently diminished. The need to set aside partisan politics, eliminate public apathy and support what is best for this country without consideration of what may be in our own personal best interests is long overdue. It is time to respond to national issues based on what is best for this country overall and not what addresses the selfish interest of individuals. The dedication and commitment of the United States military in service to this country should be ample proof of that. They have set aside personal preference to honorably provide what is needed. The rest of this country should do the same.
Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com
GOP support for Iraq war slips
June 26, 2007
By ANNE FLAHERTY -AP
Lugar and Voinovich are not the first GOP members to call for U.S. troops to leave Iraq. Sens. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, Olympia Snowe of Maine and Gordon Smith of Oregon made similar remarks earlier this year. But their public break is significant because it raises the possibility that Senate Democrats could muster the 60 votes needed to pass legislation that would call for Bush to bring troops home.
While researching legislative matters and subsequently reviewing bills introduced on May 9th of this year, a little gem was unearthed. We now have another reason to compliment Rep Virgil H. Goode, Jr. (R-VA 5th). On April 11th of this year this blog published a post titled, ‘ Saying No to Amnesty’. In that post, details of some history on Congressman Goode was presented. Here is an additional reason to encourage the efforts of this Congressman:
So far, there is a lot to like about this Republican Congressman. Especially in a time when there are so few Democrats, Independents or Republicans with whom an ordinary citizen can be impressed. We have included a list of current legislative items that he has sponsored as well as his voting record on immigrations issues.