someone was paying attention
Jun. 26th, 2006 04:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
maidenjedi posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
therightfangirlA follow-up to my last entry, about PFCs Tucker and Menchaca.
Newt Gingrich's "Winning the Future" email today features the following:
"I am often asked what it is that drives me to speak out about the challenges facing our nation. My answer always comes quickly: It is the same desire previous generations have had for their children and grandchildren -- to leave to the next generation the healthiest, safest, freest and most prosperous America that we can.
This is my motivation, and at times, while communicating what I think has to be accomplished to meet that challenge, I have been accused of being too outspoken because of it. That is the risk I am now going to take, again.
If there were ever a time when the American people needed clarity from their national leaders about the war in Iraq, it was last week. But that need went unfilled."
"On Tuesday, we learned about the savage deaths of two U.S. soldiers who had been missing since the previous Friday. Pfc. Kristian Menchaca and Pfc. Thomas Tucker were kidnapped while manning a traffic checkpoint 12 miles south of Baghdad. When their bodies were found four days later, it was clear that these two American soldiers had been tortured to death. They had been beheaded and their bodies desecrated. The horror was such that positive identification could only be made by using DNA. And not only had the barbarians who killed them booby-trapped their bodies, they had surrounded them with bombs in an effort to kill more Americans.
Where's the Outrage?
Our hearts go out to the families of Privates Menchaca and Tucker. But as we grieve, we must soberly confront two challenges that arise in the wake of their murders. The first is that the kidnapping of U.S. soldiers represents a new and dangerous tactic for the anti-Iraqi terrorists. They hope to intimidate our servicemen and women by making them believe that they, too, are at risk of kidnapping and death by torture. Not only that, but they hope to create a climate of fear and suspicion between our troops and the Iraqi people -- and they may well succeed if their tactics go unanswered.
The second challenge is the correct response -- or lack thereof -- by our national leaders to these barbaric killings. To put it plainly: Where is the outrage? The passionless response to the torture, mutilation and beheading of two young Americans is one of the most disheartening things I have seen in a long time. The fact that the President was traveling throughout the nations of Europe, most of which have been notably unhelpful with the war effort, as the details of the killings unfolded only intensified the American people's desire for leadership and clarity.
The Iraq War is a winnable war. But what frustrates me and is surely frustrating to the American people is to learn that the brutality of our enemies is not matched by our own anger and outrage."
Newt Gingrich's "Winning the Future" email today features the following:
"I am often asked what it is that drives me to speak out about the challenges facing our nation. My answer always comes quickly: It is the same desire previous generations have had for their children and grandchildren -- to leave to the next generation the healthiest, safest, freest and most prosperous America that we can.
This is my motivation, and at times, while communicating what I think has to be accomplished to meet that challenge, I have been accused of being too outspoken because of it. That is the risk I am now going to take, again.
If there were ever a time when the American people needed clarity from their national leaders about the war in Iraq, it was last week. But that need went unfilled."
"On Tuesday, we learned about the savage deaths of two U.S. soldiers who had been missing since the previous Friday. Pfc. Kristian Menchaca and Pfc. Thomas Tucker were kidnapped while manning a traffic checkpoint 12 miles south of Baghdad. When their bodies were found four days later, it was clear that these two American soldiers had been tortured to death. They had been beheaded and their bodies desecrated. The horror was such that positive identification could only be made by using DNA. And not only had the barbarians who killed them booby-trapped their bodies, they had surrounded them with bombs in an effort to kill more Americans.
Where's the Outrage?
Our hearts go out to the families of Privates Menchaca and Tucker. But as we grieve, we must soberly confront two challenges that arise in the wake of their murders. The first is that the kidnapping of U.S. soldiers represents a new and dangerous tactic for the anti-Iraqi terrorists. They hope to intimidate our servicemen and women by making them believe that they, too, are at risk of kidnapping and death by torture. Not only that, but they hope to create a climate of fear and suspicion between our troops and the Iraqi people -- and they may well succeed if their tactics go unanswered.
The second challenge is the correct response -- or lack thereof -- by our national leaders to these barbaric killings. To put it plainly: Where is the outrage? The passionless response to the torture, mutilation and beheading of two young Americans is one of the most disheartening things I have seen in a long time. The fact that the President was traveling throughout the nations of Europe, most of which have been notably unhelpful with the war effort, as the details of the killings unfolded only intensified the American people's desire for leadership and clarity.
The Iraq War is a winnable war. But what frustrates me and is surely frustrating to the American people is to learn that the brutality of our enemies is not matched by our own anger and outrage."