Let's Start Winning and Stop Whining

Posted/Published May 28, 2004

Historically, when a nation enters into war, or when a commander engages his troops in battle, envisioning every conceivable twist and turn from the outset is patently impossible. And while commanders can hope that the lessons learned along the way will be as bloodless as possible, hard lessons are inevitable. The challenge is to rapidly accommodate the need for course corrections and to relentlessly move forward toward victory.

In the case of Iraq, when nation-building, the defeat of terrorism, acute cultural differences, European weakness, and a highly charged stateside presidential election are added to the equation, is it any wonder that getting from point A to point B is anything but smooth and unencumbered?

And despite the whimpering doomsayers, brilliant Monday morning quarterbacks, and pitifully sefl-serving political barrages from within, I remain impressed by the Administration's handling of the this complex and difficult conflict--an undertaking unlike any the civilized world ahs ever before witnessed or experienced.

It is my belief that our continuing to wallow in self-reproach, opportunistic & demoralizing political rhetoric and sophomoric wishful thinking will inevitablly weaken our resolve, obscure our purpose, and, ultimately, render us completely defenseless against one of the most insidious and determined enemies in our nation's history.

If we believe our enemy's murderous declarations and mind-numbing ruthlessness, then isn't it time for us all to place our political palaver on the back burner, and to throw our collective weight behind our nation's war effort?

For the sake of our loved ones, from this point on let's commit ourselves to winning and not to whining.

(Link up with Michael Yon who provides very objective and informative on-the-ground reports from Iraq. Michael has been embedded there since o/a 2006)

Education or Indoctrination

Editorial Published March 3, 2006

Educating our youth, our future leaders, is a sacred responsibility which, I believe, most teachers take very seriously. Unfortunately for us all, some teachers in this country regard the classroom as their bully pulpit.

A teacher's advancing his or her personal political agenda in a classroom setting, whether at the public school or college level, is flagrant pedagogic tyranny.

Politically indoctrinating captive, vulnerable and impressionable students is not only self-serving and infantile, it is also intellectually dishonest and, therefore, bereft of any real educational value.

A teacher's purpose is not to create intellectual widgets or clones, but to encourage students to develop their opinions based upon an honest and objective exposure to competing viewpoints. It's a challenging educational goal, but one worth pusuing with diligence and integrity.

Jim Delaney
Greece, NY

Iraq: Solutions or Political Gamemanship

Posted/Published on January 15, 2007

The choice in Iraq is starkly simple: withdrawal and defeat or commitment and victory.

Unsulled by blind ideology or complacency, thoughtful Americans understand there is never a straight line to success on the battlefield; that to win, tactics and strategies must continually evolve.

If the Prez's current or future strategy is flawed, it is incumbent upon patriotic detractors to clearly lay out their plans, their tactics, their strategy for success with as much specificity as they demand of the Prez.

And if withdrawal/"redeployment" is espoused, adherents to that strategy must specifically explain to Americans its implementation as well as its likely consequences. So far, the Prez's detractors, forever caught up in the insufferable tedium of worn-out talking points and political sniping, have been stunningly negligent and irresponsible on that score.

Hobbled by giddy idealism or knee-jerk anti-Americanism, other detractors simply want out at any price--surely a myopic formula for certain disaster.

When it comes to national security, neither detractors nor supporters of the Prez's policy should be given a free pass. Indeed, we should demand of them all substantive solutions which clearly advance America's national security interests and not merely their parochial political agendas.