The American Spectator

Reader Mail

(Page 8 of 20)

The two men mentioned who were killed in action in Somalia, MSGs Shughart and Gordon, were included in passing because, as I said in the article, they were the last pre-GWOT recipients of the Medal of Honor. That they gave their lives in defense of another, rather than charging a mass of Somali fighters, does not mean that the "measure of valor" has been defined down or made more politically correct; on the contrary, the fact that the men of our military would knowingly sacrifice themselves to give another a chance at survival shows just how valorous our servicemen and women really are, and I urge those who may look on the rewarding and celebrating of such sacrifices as a sign of American weakness to reconsider their notions of valor and of heroism entirely.

Mr. Fallert's third and fourth paragraphs, on the other hand, reflect an unfortunate reality that our soldiers in Iraq and elsewhere are facing, as the "unwillingness of our political leaders to authorize our military to do what it takes to subdue a hostile force" is a very real fact. During my recent stint as an embedded journalist in Iraq, the most common complaint that I heard from the soldiers on the front lines in this war was that their hands were being tied via overly restrictive Rules of Engagement.

While the Iraqi populace as a whole is not overtly hostile to our forces (in fact, the vast majority is not), the fact is that, until the average man, woman, and child living in Iraq makes the decision that people in Anbar Province, and in Abu Dischir in Baghdad, have made -- the decision to stand up to al Qaeda, to the hardline Sadrists, and to the other groups and individuals who would sacrifice Iraq's future for a bit of power or a victory against the West, and to take control of their own lives and destiny -- then we will be fighting a losing battle on the ground in that country. Allowing our military -- the best fighting force in the world, which would never lose a battle were our enemies foolhardy enough to fight in the open -- to take the gloves off, so to speak, and to respond to force with force, without being handicapped by a debilitating concern for "world opinion," is a step in the right direction not only in making a larger impact in the battle against our enemies, but also in convincing the Iraqi people that we are serious about pacifying and securing their country -- something of which they must be convinced before they fully "buy into" what we are offering, and really begin to do their part.

In closing, while I disagree with Mr. Fallert's characterization of the lionizing of those who give their lives to save others as being a "pacifist" message, I believe that one of his points is unquestionably accurate: that "half-measures don't win wars."

p> SOUTHERN EXPOSURE br> Re: Lawrence Henry's The New Me : /p>

Good for you and I will watch for you over NASCAR races, give me a wave. Life is terminal and you need to go out happy.

p>I pray that I never have to go to the end of my life being miserable. I figure I am not going to get out of life alive, so don't want to stop eating the foods I enjoy. Will not let my doctor test my cholesterol, I am almost 69 and just don't want to know. My mom was 89, died in her bed, just went to sleep and did not wake up, she lived alone and had bacon and eggs almost everyday. Enjoy life. Everyone dies of something. br> -- Elaine Kyle /p>

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