Leftists irrationally condemn selfless soldiers
By Chris Beddow
I have quickly begun to observe a slew of unsupported opinions concerning U.S. military involvement in the Middle East -- that our soldiers are dying for an unidentifiable cause, that soldiers are risking their lives for the price of oil and other beliefs that simply are not true.
Seeing that years have passed since American and coalition troops invaded both Afghanistan and Iraq, I am utterly appalled to encounter such uninformed ideas.
The price of oil hasn't dropped, despite our influence in Iraq.
Bullets are propelled at our soldiers and explosives are ignited amidst innocent crowds daily.
Yet those who disagree with the war refuse to justify retaliation by our soldiers, who act in defense of themselves and of citizens of an allied nation.
President Bush concretely laid out our goals in Iraq in September: "Our moral and strategic imperatives are one: We must help Iraq defeat those who threaten its future and also threaten ours."
The U.S. has a responsibility to both Iraq and Afghanistan. Dissenters seem to have no concept of this responsibility.
Withdrawal would be an extreme loss for these two nations -- our presence means safety for these people; our absence, chaos.
"You know education ... if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq," said John Kerry.
Like-minded leftists in the press, in Congress and in Hollywood see it as fashionable to criticize the war and even our soldiers who are carrying it out.
It seems that in many universities, which tend to foster liberalism, students consistently forego logic and attempt to follow trends.
Thus the selfless soldiers of our society, who give their time and lives in service of the military, have now been condemned.
The goals they fight and die for have been called nonexistent.
I recently read an article from a dissenter who suggested that we should simultaneously empower the citizens while eliminating the Taliban.
This statement immediately strikes me as humorous, seeing as our government thought of this years ago, and has been succeeding in it ever since.
I suggest we place more trust in those whose profession is to defend democracy, pursue peace and secure the lives of ourselves and others.
We should lessen our questioning of the war and our leaders, and start questioning those who speak against them; we should ask ourselves why they really do so.
As Newt Gingrich said, "The American left fears the U.S. military. They fear the CIA. They fear the American government. They never fear our enemies."
This is not only a war on terror, but internally a war on ignorance.
Former French Premier Dominique de Villepin stated clearly what we all must realize: "The option of war can appear initially to be the most rapid. But let us not forget that after winning the war, peace must be built."
The war on terror has brought liberty to these nations, and our military is still our only hope of achieving one final goal that the world desires: peace.
Chris Beddow is a freshman political science major.