My First Post

The following is an editorial column I submitted for publication back in November of 2007. It didn't get published... no big surprise.
But I'm using it to give everyone a taste of what I hope this blog will be like.

The Thanksgiving Day editorial asks, “When will our troops come home?” My simple answer? When they are victorious, when the fledgling democracies in Iraq and Afghanistan can stand on their own and stave off the terroristic, oppressive and unstable regimes that seek to undermine and further destabilize the region. Then, and only then, can we bring our troops home and give them the profound hero’s welcome they so richly deserve. In the meantime, let them carry out the missions for which they have voluntarily, dutifully and skillfully trained, allow them the kudos their sacrifices and successes have wrought and illuminate their great work for the public to see.
A shocking idea, isn’t it-- for the mainstream media to be bold enough to support the troops and highlight the successes that occur on a daily basis, both large and small? I know my comments would echo throughout cavernous newsrooms and fall like a rock in university lecture halls across this great land, for such opinions are not generally recognized as so-called “popular notion,” even though they are indeed supported by facts that need to be shared with the public.
What remains unreported are the larger reasons why we are seeing such a decline in violence in Iraq, both against our Armed Forces and against Iraqi civilians, but instead of highlighting this, the public has been duped and manipulated by the fit of apoplectic hand-wringing of both the media and academia. The reason? These same types of strategies and statistics were thoroughly repressed by the mainstream media and academia in the Vietnam era. They would rather continue a campaign of disinformation than admit mistakes that have been shamefully perpetuated for nearly four decades.
The current surge strategy of “Secure and Hold” is the plan in which American forces work in conjunction with the Iraqi military, living side by side with Iraqi civilians and working together to root out violence and secure the various regions, neighborhood by neighborhood. This strategy is an adaptation of the successful counterinsurgency plan initially developed by General Creighton Abrahms that proved extremely effective in Vietnam, a plan that would have led to a South Vietnamese victory had the Nixon Administration not kowtowed to public sentiment; i.e.: the anti-war movement.
And now we, as Americans, stand at those same crossroads. The anti-war marchers having again taken up their dusty signs with their same woefully tired slogans trying to force a withdrawal of American troops (this time from Iraq and Afghanistan), academics are perpetuating myths to protect their own egos, and the mainstream media grudgingly report good news from Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom sparsely, at best.
It is time we stood up for our troops and for their missions, it is time we send a message to the media that we demand balanced journalism, and it’s high time that we, as Americans, realize what is truly at stake. This is not a regional war over oil, it is a global war to root out terrorists who seek to destroy the very freedoms that are held dear by billions of people around the world. Throughout history, brave Americans have been willing to fight and die to secure these freedoms, not just for us, but for all mankind. It is our greatest legacy to the world, and the stakes are simply too high to abandon that legacy, now or ever. As the saying goes, we need to remember that America is the home of the free because of the brave.