Letter From A Soldier

From the Anchoress (hat tip: Curt at Flopping Aces):

I also got an email from a member of the military, D.R., and I am reprinting most of his email, because we can never hear too much from our soldiers:

Many of us in the military know about the political chatter swirling about. We just shrug and say, “what else is new.” The stakes in Iraq, Afghanistan, HOA, and elsewhere are enormous. We would rather fight here than in our own streets. And, this is the point many Americans do not believe will happen if we leave this fight early. They see this as an abstraction, or more as fear-mongering. It is not. The assumption that a “Minuteman” response would occur is like believing that a snowball won’t melt in 100-deg weather. The “Minuteman” response would not happen simply because of fear and the terrible loss of life we’ll see.

The terrorists we face over here are stone-cold killers. They would kill their own if it means they get to propagate their hate and evil. And, they are evil in every sense of the word. They are not misunderstood, they are not the misforgotten, etc. They do know who they are. Many terrorists come from a world of privilege, more privilege than many of their kinfolk.

President Bush has done his absolute best. He’s the right man for the time. This is not an easy war by any means a stretch of the imagination. We do put in very long days and very, very short nights. Sometimes we see very good results, sometimes the results aren’t so good. War by nature is very messy. While we do our best to plan for contingencies, we adjust accordingly. With regard to the Vice President and former SecDef Rumsfeld, they’ve been the best to us. They understand the stakes, and this is most important … not the political usefulness. You want people in leadership positions who understand the stakes, willing to make the hard decisions, and take responsibility regardless of the situation. The Vice President and Rumsfeld are such people. But, this is a point that can be argued at another time and by others.

For your son, keep him close. If he wants to join, encourage and support him. Military life can be difficult at times, but there’s no other experience that is better. If he wants to go another route, encourage and support him. Not everyone should see the face of war.