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Tuesday, March 19, 2024 - 01:51 AM

INDEPENDENT CONSERVATIVE VOICE OF UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA

First Published in 1994

INDEPENDENT CONSERVATIVE VOICE OF
UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA

The attitude of the Obama administration in Washington regarding the war in Afghanistan is causing flashbacks for veterans of the Vietnam War. We know that those who do not learn the lessons of history will live to repeat those lessons. Sadly, Americans have been taught revisionist history and we are already repeating mistakes the second and third times during some of our lifetimes. We were told that our government and the American people had learned from the experience in Vietnam. Our government would never let it happen again. But things have changed. Many of our current national leaders and top bureaucrats were supporting the enemy during the Vietnam War. They or their parents, professors and favorite “news” casters were throwing fire bombs, spitting on Soldiers returning from the battlefield, and taunting the parents and siblings of fallen heroes. They loathed the military then and still do, and they hate the things about America that our ancestors fought and died to preserve.

Whether intentional or unintentional through incompetence, the current administration in Washington is making some of the same fatal mistakes that violate the unchanging principles of warfare and produce unnecessary casualties, prolong warfare, and may ultimately preclude victory for the United States.

The people calling the shots in Washington today were students and followers of the leftists who advised and staffed the administration of Lyndon Johnson during the War in Vietnam. They lied to the American people, eventually betrayed the American military, turned their backs on allies they had promised to support, and abandoned the people of Southeast Asia to a future under Communism.

As in Vietnam, troops are fighting a war with “one hand tied behind their back.” They are not allowed to fire on targets until they have permission from higher command or until fired upon. We know from the old western movies that the man with the “quick draw” wins and the one who hesitates for only a second will die. It is no different in the war in Afghanistan. Troops are afraid to shoot first for fear of facing criminal charges. American soldiers should never be sent into battle restrained by such rules of engagement. People who voted to elect individuals who impose such restrictions have blood on their hands.

With the War in Afghanistan heating up, classified documents have been leaked that reportedly undermine the war effort and endanger the lives of undercover agents as well as uniformed troops. The President has announced that the United States will begin withdrawing troops from the war next summer and the enemy is using that information to delay their major offensive until we depart. The announcement deters full cooperation by local officials who understand warfare and know history better than many Americans do. They know that when US troops leave and the United States abandons our friends as we did in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, and earlier in Iran, those who cooperated with Americans will be killed and their families punished.

In the midst of this war, the Obama Defense Department has a task force looking for ways to cut military compensation, retirement, health care, veteran’s affairs, concurrent receipt, commissaries, dependent education and military family housing. As the public demands accountability and a balanced budget, the administration will attempt to balance the budget on the backs of the people who fought the wars. That alone speaks volumes about the character and priorities of the people running our government.

At 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, the First Lady is leaving for a multi million dollar “mother-daughter-and family friends” vacation trip to the Resort City of Marbella, Spain. Upon their return, the First Family will spend a weekend in Florida and 10 days on the upscale island resort of Martha’s Vineyard.

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