A War We Can Win

Yup, it's time for some war stuff. I feel like the blog has been mostly fluff for awhile so here is a little bit of current events. This link here is an article by a guy that I've posted previously on my blog, Michael Yon. He is an embedded journalist in Iraq who gives us the clearest picture to what's actually occurring on the ground level in the war. Here is an excerpt from the article:

I may well have spent more time embedded with combat units in Iraq than any other journalist alive. I have seen this war – and our part in it – at its brutal worst. And I say the transformation over the last 14 months is little short of miraculous.

The change goes far beyond the statistical decline in casualties or incidents of violence. A young Iraqi translator, wounded in battle and fearing death, asked an American commander to bury his heart in America. Iraqi special forces units took to the streets to track down terrorists who killed American soldiers. The U.S. military is the most respected institution in Iraq, and many Iraqi boys dream of becoming American soldiers. Yes, young Iraqi boys know about "GoArmy.com."

As the outrages of Abu Ghraib faded in memory – and paled in comparison to al Qaeda's brutalities – and our soldiers under the Petraeus strategy got off their big bases and out of their tanks and deeper into the neighborhoods, American values began to win the war.

Iraqis came to respect American soldiers as warriors who would protect them from terror gangs. But Iraqis also discovered that these great warriors are even happier helping rebuild a clinic, school or a neighborhood. They learned that the American soldier is not only the most dangerous enemy in the world, but one of the best friends a neighborhood can have.

It's a brief article, so please read it. We are at a perilous point in the war and this should greatly affect who you end up voting for in November. We have two positions that are in direct opposition to one another, with a representative from each political party that will either take us into defeat, or carry us into victory. This is another blog post for another day, but it's important to care about this stuff because while it may not feel like it affects you or myself at a personal level, it soon will if we don't take the right steps. Please don't plead apathy or indifference. That is such a poor excuse - I would that thou wert cold or hot.

Want to know of something simple that you can do to help the cause? Visit this online store. Currently there is a push to get packages out to the troops that carry some basic food items for the blistering summer that is fast approaching, just things like gatorade, beef jerky, coffee and cookies. You just pay through the online store and it can be as little as a $14 contribution. This website here gives updates on support for the war here in the states. Please put your dollars toward a worthy cause and help mobilize the efforts to support our troops.