Wednesday, June 24, 2009

My Tour's Up

For those few of you who may still visit from time to time, I'm sure you've noticed that I haven't been posting lately. I'll be honest. Frankly, it's no fun anymore. When Obama took over the White House, I tried to keep going, but I just can't bring myself to do it...

When I started this blog, George W. Bush was fighting a Global War On Terror. The mainstream media paid little attention to his successes, but never missed an opportunity to point out his failures. The MSM painted the GWOT as a grotesque portrait of abject failure while rarely mentioning any of the good things that were happening. In Afghanistan and Iraq schools and hospitals were repaired, electricity and water services were upgraded, health care was provided, emergency assistance programs were conducted, and locals were taking responsibility for their own governance, etc.

The only news the MSM seemed to report was about U.S. military fatalities, accidental civilian deaths at the hands of coalition forces, the cost of the war, death tolls from roadside bombs, suicide attacks, military personnel who disagreed with the administration, and anything that besmirched the integrity of the U.S. military. The MSM repeatedly bemoaned our entrance into Iraq, and our failure to find WMDs. They relentlessly accused the Bush administration of lying to the American people and manipulating intelligence data to justify the Iraq invasion. They constantly mocked GWB about his failure to capture or kill Osama bin Laden. They said Iraq was a distraction from the "real" war on terrorism in Afghanistan. They even released classified information about successful top-secret, anti-terror programs, despite the urging of the Bush administration against doing so -- acts which in my opinion, were treasonable offenses.

The left-wing media bias was clearly obvious, and I was bitterly angry. I wanted to do something to show my support for GWB and for America's finest -- our heroes in the U.S. military who volunteered to put their lives at risk on the front lines. Thus, I started this blog: "Victory Against Terror". It's goal was to highlight the good news in the GWOT that the mainstream media was purposely ignoring for partisan political purposes. Just as they ignored the good news, I ignored the bad news. I tried to stay away from politics in this blog, unless it was incidental to the story. I also tried to stay away from "proposed" anti-terror programs, calls for action, commentary and analysis, etc. My sole purpose was to highlight 'victories' and the good news of accomplishments actually achieved.

When Barack Obama won the election, I was deflated. Obama was one of the GWOT's detractors. He showed little respect for the military before the election, as he does to this day. He campaigned on a promise to unilaterally disarm America. He accused the U.S. military of indiscriminately "air raiding villages and killing civilians". He insulted the Medal Of Honor recipients by failing to attend their inaugural ball -- the first President to do so since Dwight Eisenhower. He refuses to use the word "terrorism". He changed the name "Global War on Terror" to "Overseas Contingency Operations". He changed the name "act of terror" to "man-caused disaster". He has directed the focus of Homeland Security away from potential terror threats to the threat of "right-wing extremists" like veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, and everyday conservatives like myself.

Obama has cut our missile defense system at a time when North Korea is threatening to launch missiles at Hawaii. He ordered the closing of Gitmo without a plan for how to handle the unrepentant terrorists there. He wants to try foreign enemy combatants in U.S. courts, affording them Constitutional privileges reserved for American citizens. He failed to denounce Russia when they invaded the country of Georgia until well after most other countries had already done so. He failed to denounce the Iranian government for electoral fraud in the recent elections there. He failed to denounce Iran for their bloody crackdown on thousands of legitimate freedom-seeking protesters until well after most other countries had already done so. And he is ready and willing to meet with America's enemies without preconditions, including Iran -- whose support of Shi'ite militias in Iraq has killed or wounded hundreds of Americans.

How can I in good conscience continue to promote our victories in the war on terror, when our President won't even acknowledge that we are at war? How can I promote our victories for which such a vile man would only take undeserved credit? How can I promote our victories when, by the definition of the DHS, a run-of-the-mill conservative like myself is defined as a "right-wing extremist"? Yes, I could do it for the troops. Yes, I could do it for the brave men and women who continue to put their lives on the line every day. But, like I said above, it's just no fun any more. So, I'm packin' it in. My tour's up.

To the brave men and women of the armed forces and our various security agencies... I salute you. Thank you for doing your jobs every day whether at home or abroad. Whether you participate in our "Overseas Contingency Operations" or you guard our cities, transportation networks, ports, or infrastructure... I salute you. Thank you for protecting us from "man-caused disasters" and may God be with you in the performance of your duties. God Bless the United States of America.