Political Pawns

Some Soldier’s Mom directed me to a post by Crazy Politico about Mike Stokley and his father’s response to an editorial entitled A Life, Wasted in the Washington Post written by Paul E. Schroeder. I wrote about Mike Stokley here and was honored to have been contacted by his father the other day thanking me for my comments.

To Mr. Schroeder, my condolences and regrets go out to you. To loose a child is the hardest thing a parent can do, to question his death is your right and moral obligation. Mr. Schroeder raises a valid question, are our current policies dooming us to loose the war that so many have valiantly given their lives for, and if they are whose fault is it?

Mr. Schroeder, your anger is in my opinion misplaced it is not the President that is at fault for your belief that the loss of your son’s life will be for naught, it is the cut and run politicians that would use your son’s death as another building block in their war against America. Daily they use your anger and grief as tools in their fight to gain back the office of the Presidency and take control of American’s lives. Your son and his commander’s felt angry not at the mission but at the politicians that place unreasonable rules of engagement upon them. They are angry at political appointments in the Department of Defense that have so embraced the beliefs of the left that they have become so risk adverse that they fear their own morning cup of coffee for the millions of possible harmful side effects it might have upon them. Are the Mike’s, Augie’s, Ronnies’ and Dupe’s lives all to be for naught when we allow politicians to take the easy road?

Mr. Schroeder your son did not die in vain and it is our responsibility, yours, mine and everyone else that has someone in uniform to stand up and let our leaders know that the only victory we will accept is Total Victory. We must not let any fears of the danger stand in our way of doing what is right. The news that fewer soldiers will be needed in Iraq next year is good news to those of us who wait, but the truth is, we should be flooding the country with soldiers and forcing the insurgency across the country into smaller and smaller places in which it can hide.

Redirect your anger Mr. Schroeder and I believe you will find out that Augie did not die in vain, he will have died a hero and you will have helped him to achieve that status. Continue down your current path and I believe you will find that your son’s death will have been nothing more than a pawn in a greater political game, a game that all of America will loose if your wish for a total pull out is requested.