Monday, December 12, 2005

Are We the Enemy?


I am disgusted. I am disheartened. I am ashamed. I am angry. According to Senator John Kerry, I am a terrorist. According to him, I bust into Iraqi houses in the middle of the night and terrorize women and children. I am not making this up. So as not to be accused of misquoting or misrepresenting his words, I will include them:

KERRY: "And there is no reason, Bob, that young American soldiers need to be going into the homes of Iraqis in the dead of night , terrorizing kids and children, you know women, breaking sort of the customs of the -- of historical customs, religious customs, whether you like it or not."
(read the full transcript)

So apparently now to some, we are the bad guys here. Are we now the infidels Mr. Kerry? The defenders of your freedoms...are we now no better than those who would kill you and your family were it not for us? Let us not forget who the enemy is here, Mr. Kerry. Our enemy is the the radical Islamic militants. And their customs which you seem determined to defend, are killing your countrymen.

We do in fact raid houses. We raid houses with the intent of capturing, killing or otherwise neutralizing insurgents and confiscating any anti-coalition materials. During these raids, we often encounter women, children and innocents who are in no way involved with the insurgency. When they see us and the tools of our trade, they are understandably afraid which is exactly what we want. Because you see, it's that split second of fear that may save my life or the life of another Patriot. As soon as it is determined that there is no terroristic activity being conducted in these houses, we leave. It's that simple. We do not desecrate their homes, cause them undue hardship or otherwise harm them. This is pathetic...I am having to defend myself and my brothers against an elected official of our nation who would have Americans believe that we are warmongers. Disgusting. Some people, Mr. Kerry included, are so far removed from the realities of war that their voice has become irrevelant. Sure, there isn't a single Marine over here who would not rather knock on the door of these houses and sit down for tea and a biscuit and talk about religious customs and courtesies. But as I have written in an earlier post, wars are violent and are won by violent men. This is just the way it is. We are compassionate to those who mean us no harm, and are devastating to those who choose to fight. We are your military force Mr. Kerry, and whether you choose to admit it or not, we are conducting ourselves with the utmost professionalism, proficiency and when it is required of us, compassion. Terrorists? No Mr. Kerry, my brothers and I are not terrorists. We are compassionate warriors, patriots and Americans. I challenge you Mr. Kerry, to take a short walk down the street to Arlington and visit the graves of those warriors who have died during this war. Were they terrorists as well? Were they the enemy?

9 comments:

Barb said...

Disgust is appropriate, and so is anger. But don't lost heart or allow any shame to reside in your soul. There are too many of us who know you, and men and women like you. Who know the truth of Iraq, and the progress being made. We should feel ashamed for not completely shouting Kerry down every time he speaks this kind of trash.

Add to that list of Our Enemies - any person (in Congress or elsewhere) who talks trash about our military, and tries to sully the awesome work you're doing there.

We are proud of you every day, hold your head high!

Proud Marine Dad said...

America's Son,

Thank you for your blog - it gives us a glimpse into the heart of a Marine serving us all. We are humbled by the view.

My son is a LCpl due to deploy to Al-Taqaddum early next year. As our family comes to grip with this we take pride that there are men like you in the Corps.

We are keeping faith with you, and all of our sons (and daughters) in harm's way.

Proud Marine Dad

Barb said...

Oorah, John! My best to your son, and thank you both for his service.

David Carson said...

America's Son,

That is so well-said and perfectly articulate of the situation in America today. Not only are our soldiers and Marines having to fight terrorists in places like Iraq, but having to do it with one hand figuratively behind their back just makes me furious.

The world will be a better place once we've finished the mission in Iraq and Afghanistan and left when the national forces are able to control the terrorist activity for themselves. Prematurely removing our forces from the equation is going to lead to instability and possibly civil war. That's not the legacy America should want for those who've given the ultimate sacrifice to make us safer.

Thank you for serving in the USMC. My father was briefly a Marine and I have two buddies that have seen action in Iraq, so I have a Marine Corps banner on my car to let everyone know that I love and respect the USMC. The USMC has always been faithful to America and I pray that America will always be faithful to her.

DunnerMeister

Anonymous said...

You are the heart and soul of America. God bless you and all your brothers and sisters in arms.

Anonymous said...

Son,
You keep doing what you're doing.
Kerry and his ilk are on a sinking ship and they know it.
What is it, 70, 80% of Iraqis DO NOT WANT us leaving yet until it's good to go? That's what you need to remember.
10 to 20,000 punks with appointments with death out of 27,000,000 is what you're dealing with-and most of them aren't even Iraqis! But you already know that.
Hell, I can't even find anyone around here where I live who thinks we should leave. It's the old "The empty can rattles the most" syndrome. Kerry, Dean, Boxer, Pelosi, and sorry to say, Murtha have lost their cookies.
Keep your head down and shoot straight.
God Bless

DangerGirl said...

John Kerry is a liar, a hypocrit, a coward and a traitor.

On the eve of yet another monumentous step in Iraq, you and your fellow Marines deserve our praise, our thanks, and our deepest gratitude, and I have no doubt that the majority of Iraqi's agree.

LET FREEDOM RING!

Stay safe!

Anonymous said...

I have pictures of my son in Iraq sitting with kids and all are smiling and clowning around. One photo of his unit shows them on patrol with teddy bears sticking out - they handed them out to kids in Haditha. My son was one of the 14 Marines in Lima Company 3/25 killed in a large IED explosion on 3 August, 2005. I take those commments very personally, though in reality I understand it is just a blatant and inept political play.

My son is your brother. Do your job and come home safe.

David M said...

America's Son

It never ceases to amaze me that there can people in this country, to include our elected leaders that actually think our Soldiers are terrorists. Yes I’m talking about you Mr. John Kerry, disgrace to the uniform you wore and the country you now “serve.” Well look no further for irrefutable proof that our Soldiers, Marines, Sailors and Airmen are not terrorists but rather saviors! If there are any among us that has any doubt or a moment of question if what the US is doing in Iraq is good, all one ever need do is look at the recent post by Thunder 6 and the millions of similar posts by hundreds of Soldiers in and now out of country to realize that YES, yes, we are doing the right thing.

Keep up the good work Marine and Thank you for your service to our country!