Focusing the Frenzy: What's Best for the Troops

Let's be honest, there is no excuse for what has been exposed at Walter Reed these past few weeks, and there should be no tolerance for less than perfect services to be provided for America's servicemen and women. To that end, our soldiers in Iraq should receive all the necessary (and additional) equipment, armor, and vehicles necessary to ensure their safety. Hearing politicians argue that calls for increased funding of troop equipment are distracting us from the goal of the mission in the GWOT is one of the most misleading claims being tossed around Washington these days. It is our responsibility to react with anger whenever a soldier's death could have prevented with a hundred dollar flak jacket or a Hummer with reinforced armor. The key to continued success in the GWOT is keeping our soldiers alive and in allowing the focus of Baghdad patrols to conern the maintaining or order and security instead of searching for IEDs whose shrapnel could seriously injure or kill an unprotected soldier.

While America's leaders have been ignoring such issues, the Democratic Congress is doing America an almost equally appaling disservice in not getting their act together. The military is a world of composure, resolve, and responsibility. Not being a soldier, I can't tell you what the current political mess appears like, but I can tell you that the Democrats are having some serious trouble getting their act together. It is misleading to exploit the story of Speaker Pelosi's confusing at a recent press conference regarding the specific date of withdrawal for US troops this coming July, but there's a nagging disagreement among Democratic leadership that is hard to look around. A positive discourse in the discussion of plans to correct the situation in Iraq is one thing, but after two months the Democrats have done little but divide up and run to separate corners of the room. Whether you believe in the potential for success in the Iraq war or you believe in an immediate pullout, President Bush is an easy target for criticism or praise, but the Democrats' current strategy (or lack of you) allows for them to work aroung accepting any sort of responsibility.

I'm guessing that in the military, if your name is called and you're asked to step forth, you do. Well, Democrats in Congress, I'd like to talk to you about what your party's position is. Would you mind stepping forward?