There Is No Place Like September 10th, There Is No Place Like September 10th

The 3rd Infantry Division did what it was trained to do in amazing fashion. "The Rock of the Marne" crossed the border into Iraq and drove directly on the enemy capital pushing aside all resistance in the most horrendous weather conditions imaginable. Upon reaching the Iraqi capital in record time it pierced the fortified ring around the city and drove to its heart. The 3rd Infantry Division and supporting forces accomplished one of the most incredible and awe-inspiring displays of military prowess in world history. Unfortunately, that's a distant memory.

They won an astounding victory in that battle. But somehow we have managed to lose the war. Notice I said WE have managed to lose the war. The 3rd Infantry Division, and the forces that followed them, did not. No matter how WE screw up this war....the soldiers of the 3rd Infantry Division, the Marines of the 1st MEF, and others at least will have a page in history saying that they held up their end of the deal in grand fashion.

These days the primary focus of the Democrats is a pull-out from Iraq. There is little discussion of what this means for the overall war on terrorism.....just that we have to pull out. In recent days John Edwards has stated that the war on terror is just a bumper sticker slogan. That means it's not really real.....that it's made up. We have an imaginary war on our hands and we can end it just by no longer believing in the illusion. There is no need for Democrats to discuss that hard stuff or take any firm stand on the future........there is no need to consider anything beyond the immediate need to withdraw because the war is not real anyway.

In other words, if we withdraw from Iraq it will September 10th again.

Americans want to believe this. Casualties suck. Occupation without pre-planning sucks. IED's suck. Nation-building sucks. War sucks. That is fertile ground for wishful thinking and wishful thinking is fertile ground for Democrat's to sow.

I personally agree that we must pull out now. Not because I think the War on Terror is an illusion. Not at all. I think we must pull out because we have our armed forces fighting in a war that half of the American people are adamantly opposed to fighting. We have troops dying in a war where their deaths are becoming partisan political fodder. We have troops coming home from a war without proper medical care and support AGAIN. We have troops dying and our main concern is how The Soprano's ended or who got kicked off of American Idol. Those are reasons to bring the troops home.

Pulling the troops out will indeed strengthen the terrorist cause and encourage them. That's what happens when the people behind an army lose the will to fight, are internally divided, or fail to take a war seriously. So for now we have to think of the troops.

We can go back to September 10th for a little while. We can give our troops time with their families, we can get the wounded proper medical care, our planners can study where we went wrong, we can repair our equipment, we can develop better weapons, and we can improve our training and methods. This can go on in the background while we watch American Idol and enjoy our new iPhones. We can live in September 10th until a strengthened Al-Qaeda proves to us again that September 10th is gone, as they surely will do.

Then, maybe on the next September 11 we will be ready to take this war as seriously as General Sherman took his war. Maybe next September 11 the politicians will really mean it when they sing the national anthem together on the steps of the capitol. Maybe next September 11 we will be ready to ration our gasoline and meat like our Greatest Generation so ably did. Maybe next September 11 we will be ready to conduct our war with unity of purpose and tenacity as they did theirs. Maybe next September 11 our politicians will pay for the war and not just more pork. Maybe next September 11 we will plan for the occupation before we send in the troops. Maybe next September 11 victory will be more important than political-correctness and shared sacrifice more important than Sanjaya. Maybe next September 11 we have a national vote to decide if we fight this war all out, or just sit back and take punches. Maybe next time the American people will be ready to take the hard road and in their righteous might win through to absolute victory.

But for now, come on Americans, put on your ruby-colored glasses and say "There is no place like September 10th, there is no place like September 10th, there is no place like September 10th". John Edwards can take us there if we only believe.