“Fat Chance”
Former soldier Ralph Peters has a few simple requests to make of our political leaders:
* From President Bush, a straightforward, no-excuses apology for his administration’s arrogance and earlier mistakes in this war.
* From Sen. Clinton, a public denunciation of her Hollywood pals (who keep funding movies portraying our soldiers as atrocity-addicted psychotics) and a commitment to listen to our leading generals before making any decisions regarding troop withdrawals.
* From Sen. Obama, a two-week visit to dirty-boots Army and Marine units in Iraq (not the Green Zone and no photo ops) and a pledge to give a fair hearing to military advice before surrendering to al Qaeda in Iraq.
* From both parties in Congress, a return to the policy that, in wartime, politics stops at the water’s edge.
Peters doesn’t express any hope, however.
As a soldier, Peters makes a lousy politician…
I have never understood this demand for an apology everyone is always so keen for, same with public denunciation, pledges and policy announcements. How can you tell when a politician is lying – the lips are moving, apology denunciation, pledges all involve politician’s lips moving.
I disagree with Peters’ assertion that President Bush hasn’t lost any sleep over the loss of US troops’ lives. It just can’t be true. He’s an emotional man that has spent time at Walter Reed and Bethesda and other military hospitals visiting wounded soldiers and has met with the families of hundreds of dead soldiers, Marines, etc. To me, there’s no way he hasn’t been impacted by it personally.
As for the call for an apology for arrogance, etc., I just don’t get it. What is to be gained by anyone (other than the Democrats) with an apology? The families of the dead troops won’t be comforted by it. The left will just be emboldened by it. It won’t change history’s views of Bush at all. The only thing it will do is convince Ralph Peters that he was right all along about Bush’s arrogance.