April 8- By minute four, I was up in arms...

The Hot Topics quickly moved to General Petreus talking on the Hill-

Whoopi says this will be an opportunity for the presidential candidates to show where they stand on the war and then the ignorance begins to show itself:

EH: You know I think too that the surge has probably been one of the most effective strategies in this war

BW interrupting: No it hasn’t. I’m sorry but it has not

EH: I disagree- I think it absolutely has

BW: I think a few weeks ago it was considered that but now there has been more violence than there has been in many months and you have had other military men saying that the armed forces are so, um that there are so few and they are so strained that we would not be prepared for other attacks. I think the surge, from what I’ve read- and I’m not an authority and none of us here are- the surge was but the violence has continued and gotten worse and the Iraqis are showing no ability to be able to take over.

EH- They’ve met 12 of the 18 benchmarks. 90,000 of the Sunnis have decided to join with U.S. forces

BW: I think you can get all the statistics you want but you’ve had more violence than you’ve had in months

EH: this surge will be studied for years to come in terms of the genius of it and how it turned this war around

Joy: I have a question- how long does a surge last? A surge- like when you get an electric surge it’s very short.  Why is this going on so long?

EH:  The surge was our initial- remember in 2006 when people like ah, ah you had everyone from Senator Clinton calling for a quick withdrawal- they said the only way we could have any sort of victory was to quickly get our troops out of there in 2006.  Gen Petreus recommended and you have Senator McCain who was right behind him that we went in with this surge

Joy interrupting with BW louder: So how long is the surge going to be?

EH: The surge was the initial push

BW: But how long is the surge going to be?

SS:  She’s not General Petreus, Barbara. I mean you’ve got to give her a break

Joy: But you’re on record saying it’s working.  We want to know how long

EH: The surge has worked. The surge has worked- that initial push of troops into the area has absolutely worked.  No one can deny that

BW: Yes you can if it’s not working now

Do Barbara and Joy read the newspapers or surf the web? Do they ignore reality or do their handlers keep them from it? Does BW understand that, whether she talks honestly about it or not, our troops are engaged in a war against a global threat- Islamic fundamentalism? Iraq is where the war is being fought- it is not a war against the Iraqi people and it is not a war against an enemy only trying to harm Iraq. We are involved in a world war. People like Barbara and Joy like to play on our emotions because EVERY military death is in fact a tragedy.  They hope that we will become lost in our emotions and fail appreciate the long term implications of walking away from a global conflict. (By the way, they may never have considered the consequences of their policy positions. None of the liberals I have spoken with have ever been able to discuss what happens if we abandon those seeking freedom in the Middle East.)

Every soldier or civilian lost in a war represents the price they pay, and we as a society pay, to preserve freedom in the U.S. and to bring freedom to others in the world. 

Talking about the casualties of war focuses on the tragic. It also ignores the gains that sacrifice brings.  The people who have sacrificed their lives represent the cost of freedom.  These lives should not be discounted, they should be praised and respected by our country and by our renewed efforts to ensure the cause for which they fought- Freedom- is not lost.

I am very thankful there was no 24 hour news cycle in 1917 when we entered WWI, or 1941 when we entered WWII. If the media had chosen the path that Barbara and Joy take, then they would have focused on the loss of military personal as a reason to undermine those war efforts. If there had been, it’s likely those wars would have ended differently. (Click here for statistics from the Congressional Research Service)

Using their superficial method of correlating military deaths and soldiers wounded to failure- then we would note that in the less than 2 years the U.S. was involved in WWI, more than 116,000 soldiers died and over 200,000 were wounded.

In the 5 years the U.S. fought in WWII, more than 290,000 soldiers were killed in action and 115,000 died in nontheater situations. 671,846 soldiers were wounded.

The enemy we fight today is more dangerous, more ruthless and more able to inflict harm than we have encountered before.

The Iraqi people are not the problem. Iraqi citizens are being trained in increasing numbers to defend Iraq but Iraq is under siege from countries around it, from insurgents and terrorists tied to countries, like Iran and Syria, who fear freedom taking root because once present it will spread and usurp the power of religious fanatics whose goal is to suppress the free will of the people of the region through fear.   

Elisabeth did go over the top when she referred to the Surge as genius.  The Surge was a move that had been necessary from the beginning.  The truth is that our government has fought this war in a timid manner because there is no way to really fight an effective war in our society. Our military was unable to take the steps necessary from the beginning because of an effort to appease liberals and pacifists who love to live under a Constitution that guarantees their freedom.  These same people want none of the responsibilities that go along with being citizens of the most powerful free nation in the world.

So, to answer Joy’s question about how long- that depends on how long it will take for people like her to support our military’s efforts to move the war effort forward. Every time someone like her publicly criticizes the war effort, the enemy is emboldened.  The enemy knows that many in America cannot stomach the consequences of fighting for a serious cause. 

The terrorists are willing to die for their cause. As we make progress, they regroup to try to send another wave our direction. These waves are becoming weaker, but they still will come.  As we continue our efforts to help the people in the Middle East, these waves will hit our military heroes less frequently and their waves will be weaker.

If Joy and Barbara think the only way the United States can declare progress is through the total elimination of all violence in a war torn region, then there will never be enough success to convince them.