thedrifter
01-13-07, 09:37 AM
Even Oliver North is against Iraq 'surge'
George Tsirimokos
January 13, 2007
Virginia is home to three gallant, patriotic men with much in common. They are all three ex-Marines. They are all three highly decorated Vietnam veterans. They all sought at one time or another to be our junior senator. One lost his bid, another won his, and the third both won and lost. Our state can be proud of all three, and grateful for their service to our country.
I refer, of course, to Chuck Robb, Jim Webb and Oliver North. Strange bedfellows, nicht wahr? One may challenge any suggestion that the similarities I cited can withstand the drastically divergent political paths they have trodden since Vietnam. Before Wednesday night, I would agree, they had nothing in common. Now, it appears, George Bush has given them common cause.
Despite all the many senior military officers, congressional leaders and senior statesmen who strongly urged that more troops not be sent to Iraq, and in the face of American public opinion which does not support escalation of our involvement, Bush has decreed he will send more young Americans there. One can only pray that we, Republicans and Democrats alike, we, in our millions, we, the vast majority, are wrong, and that George W. Bush is right.
I am certain that our three Virginian ex-Marine Vietnam heroes would join me in hoping they, too, were mistaken and Bush is correct. Are you surprised at this point that I say all three were mistaken? Of course, we know Webb's position: He was against the war from the start. Robb has signed his name to a document that advises against troop increases. The Iraq Study Group Report states clearly "sustained increases in U.S. troop levels would not solve the fundamental cause of violence in Iraq, which is the absence of national reconciliation."
But Oliver North? He of Fox News? In agreement with Robb and Webb? Oh yes, even he indeed. On Jan. 5, his essay "More Targets," on Townhall.com, takes issue with both Sen. Joe Lieberman and Sen. John McCain who promoted and encouraged sending more troops to Iraq.
North writes, "Not one of the soldiers, sailors, airmen, Guardsmen or Marines I interviewed told me that they wanted more U.S. boots on the ground. In fact, nearly all expressed just the opposite: 'We don't need more American troops, we need more Iraqi troops,' was a common refrain. They are right."
He makes two additional points: 1) A gradual escalation "sounds eerily like Lyndon Johnson's plan to save Vietnam in the mid 1960s," which, of course, didn't work, and 2) more American troops will be counterproductive in that they will restrain the motivation for the Iraqis to take on the fight themselves. North ends his piece thus, "Sending more U.S. combat troops is simply sending more targets."
It is unlikely that Shakespearean volumes grace the presidential bookshelves, and even less probable that they should rest on his nearby nightstand to offer relief, solace and fleeting escape from his cares and burdens.
If they did, I doubt not that this loud sigh would be heard throughout the presidential manse: Et tu, Oliver?
Tsirimokos, a Newport News resident, is retired from the Air Force and is an educator and a member of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers. Send e-mail to gxt@cox.net.
Ellie
George Tsirimokos
January 13, 2007
Virginia is home to three gallant, patriotic men with much in common. They are all three ex-Marines. They are all three highly decorated Vietnam veterans. They all sought at one time or another to be our junior senator. One lost his bid, another won his, and the third both won and lost. Our state can be proud of all three, and grateful for their service to our country.
I refer, of course, to Chuck Robb, Jim Webb and Oliver North. Strange bedfellows, nicht wahr? One may challenge any suggestion that the similarities I cited can withstand the drastically divergent political paths they have trodden since Vietnam. Before Wednesday night, I would agree, they had nothing in common. Now, it appears, George Bush has given them common cause.
Despite all the many senior military officers, congressional leaders and senior statesmen who strongly urged that more troops not be sent to Iraq, and in the face of American public opinion which does not support escalation of our involvement, Bush has decreed he will send more young Americans there. One can only pray that we, Republicans and Democrats alike, we, in our millions, we, the vast majority, are wrong, and that George W. Bush is right.
I am certain that our three Virginian ex-Marine Vietnam heroes would join me in hoping they, too, were mistaken and Bush is correct. Are you surprised at this point that I say all three were mistaken? Of course, we know Webb's position: He was against the war from the start. Robb has signed his name to a document that advises against troop increases. The Iraq Study Group Report states clearly "sustained increases in U.S. troop levels would not solve the fundamental cause of violence in Iraq, which is the absence of national reconciliation."
But Oliver North? He of Fox News? In agreement with Robb and Webb? Oh yes, even he indeed. On Jan. 5, his essay "More Targets," on Townhall.com, takes issue with both Sen. Joe Lieberman and Sen. John McCain who promoted and encouraged sending more troops to Iraq.
North writes, "Not one of the soldiers, sailors, airmen, Guardsmen or Marines I interviewed told me that they wanted more U.S. boots on the ground. In fact, nearly all expressed just the opposite: 'We don't need more American troops, we need more Iraqi troops,' was a common refrain. They are right."
He makes two additional points: 1) A gradual escalation "sounds eerily like Lyndon Johnson's plan to save Vietnam in the mid 1960s," which, of course, didn't work, and 2) more American troops will be counterproductive in that they will restrain the motivation for the Iraqis to take on the fight themselves. North ends his piece thus, "Sending more U.S. combat troops is simply sending more targets."
It is unlikely that Shakespearean volumes grace the presidential bookshelves, and even less probable that they should rest on his nearby nightstand to offer relief, solace and fleeting escape from his cares and burdens.
If they did, I doubt not that this loud sigh would be heard throughout the presidential manse: Et tu, Oliver?
Tsirimokos, a Newport News resident, is retired from the Air Force and is an educator and a member of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers. Send e-mail to gxt@cox.net.
Ellie