Entry #21: December 19, 2005

Camp Buehring, Kuwait (somewhere near the Iraq border)

In my free time here, I read a lot. Books, magazines, newspapers, bathroom graffiti, everything. I came across an article in the December 1st issue of Rolling Stone that disturbed me. Titled “Getting Out of Iraq”, of course I read it. I just read the beginning of the sub-headline and thought to myself “well, that’s news to me.”

It began with “The war is lost.” Lost, man, I didn’t know that. Who defeated us? It sure wasn’t the insurgents. I’m pretty sure we’re in the process of setting up a very workable democracy, the Iraqis are putting on trial a man who persecuted 70% of their population, and the people are beginning to see some light at the end of a very dark tunnel. The December 15th elections saw a great turnout, not just among the Shiites and Kurds, but particularly among the Sunnis as well. The only war I can think of that we lost was the war to win the hearts and minds of … our fellow Americans.

I’m a young man, 24 years old, well-educated and versed in history. Americans are becoming some of the softest and weakest people of character I’ve ever seen, heard, or read about. The whole culture is beginning to show its lack of cojones (it’s a Spanish word, look it up). Especially in these leftist magazines, I see a trend of legalize drugs and let the world go to crap. At least we’ll be flying high when it all ends.

Example A, I put forth the Romans in the 5th and 6th centuries A.D. The Roman Empire was split into two and Rome itself was the capital of decadence. That left them wide open to be ravaged and pillaged by the Huns, Visigoths, and other quasi-nomadic tribes who squashed their beautiful capital and destroyed the incredible progress made by that civilization in the centuries before.

Here and now, our incredible progress is the spread of democracy and ideals of freedom and hope. I’m not yet willing to succumb to the decadence and lack of moral fiber our country seems to be breeding. If we’ve lost this war, it’s because the majority of my country has abandoned the principles it was founded on and refuse to acknowledge its inherent goodness.

Peace is on the horizon in Iraq. The American military has done a terrific job in defeating Saddam’s Army and training a new one to police its own country. To say we’ve lost this war is profanity against the men and women (civilian and military alike) who still hold dear the values that made our country great in the first place. So go on, speak and write your mind and opinions freely. Just know that there are 25 million Iraqis who can now do the same thing because of this “lost” war. And so the Soldier’s life continues…