There are certain photos that I find on the internet that really just pull at my heartstrings, and this snapshot of two military moms breastfeeding their babies in public
is certainly one of them. This amazing set of photos has been
circulating the internet and causing a huge uproar, and surprisingly
some of the responses haven’t been that great! Personally, I don’t
understand the negative feedback because I’ve always had such a huge
appreciation for women in uniform and to see these moms breastfeeding
their babies was a beautiful image for me.
Breastfeeding military moms: positive or negative image?
Terran
Echegoyen-McCabe and Christina Luna were photographed as part of a
breastfeeding awareness campaign by a military man for a local Mom2Mom
support group. The photo was greeted with a wide variety of feedback,
both negative and positive. One person, feeling so strongly opposed to
the picture, compared the picture to defecation (which is absurd in my
opinion, for lack of better words). As for my own vote? I totally salute
them. I can’t think of anything more lovely than the image of two women
in uniform breastfeeding their babies in between drills.
Photos: Brynja Sigurdardottir Photography
I’ve always had a deep admiration for military families. To be a breastfeeding mom is
tough enough on its own, but to be in uniform and to be breastfeeding
is just unreal and I think it’s shameful for anyone to frown upon that.
If anything, this photo made me even more proud to be an American and I
think it truly exemplifies what it means to be an American. Have
you ever gotten ugly stares for breastfeeding in public? I know I sure
have! Are you a military mom and have you received criticism for it?
Watch my video for more feedback about the photograph, and share your own thoughts about the picture below!
Women in high-stress career fields such as firefighters, doctors and
members of the military have sat for Tara Ruby's breastfeeding
photography collection. Her latest inspiration includes a female airman
in her flight suit, breastfeeding two children. "I'm so glad the
Air Force is a part of [this collection] now," Ruby told Air Force Times
on Thursday. "There have been so many active-duty moms who've wanted to
capture this," Ruby said, describing how more female military members
have come forward to document the natural moment. The airman
and her rank are not identifiable in the photo. Her patch represents
the 49th Wing, assigned to Air Combat Command. The unit is stationed at
Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico. In September, Ruby photographed 10 female soldiers in uniform at Fort Bliss, Texas, breastfeeding their children.
The photo unexpectedly went viral.
"Today
I believe we made history," Ruby said at the time. "To my knowledge, a
group photo to show support of active-duty military mommies nursing
their littles has never been done. It is so nice to see support for this
here at Fort Bliss." Ruby and her team worked with Fort Bliss
public affairs to capture the image because some soldiers had
reservations it would violate Army regulations.
"There’s no
regulation against it, but we still wanted to make sure public affairs
knew because I knew, once this goes online, we’d get some feedback," she
said. A Fort Bliss spokesman, who talked to Army Times, told Army
Times that "mothers in uniform volunteered to participate in the photo,
which was taken with the intent to be enlarged and posted as a wall
decoration in facilities with breastfeeding rooms." Ruby, who
joined the Air Force in 1997 and was assigned to Space Command "a little
over four years," also said her work capturing uniformed women "should
never be looked at in a sexual nature."
An active duty mom tandom nurses her two little boys. I'm amazed at the
strength of all of the women that I have been able to work with.
I sincerely hope that the majority of those of you that have seen my work can see the positive aspect of this," Ruby said in a April 16 blog post on her website. "The support networks that we are creating with every new
photo. Breastfeeding is natural. It’s normal. And it’s legal. Every mom
should be able to be able to capture this amazing adventure without the
fear of being disciplined because of it. "Without discussing the the latest photo of the female airman, Air Force
spokeswoman Rose Richeson said the Air Force "is supportive of
breastfeeding mothers and installations are continuously adapting to
offer suitable areas to meet their parenting needs."
"There is no Air Force policy prohibiting breastfeeding in uniform,
however, Airmen should be mindful of their dress and appearance and
present a professional image at all times while wearing the uniform,"
she said in an email Thursday. In 2012, two airmen came under fire for donning their uniforms for a
photo session in support of Breastfeeding Awareness Month. The women,
from Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington, violated a policy that
forbids military members from using the uniform to further a cause,
promote a product or imply an endorsement, a spokesman said at the time. In
the photo, the women were breastfeeding their children in unbuttoned
airman battle uniforms. One of the airmen, the mother of
then-10-month-old twin girls, was pictured with her T-shirt pushed above
her bared chest. Ruby said the airman who pulled up her T-shirt probably realized it was "the only way to do this." "It is a challenge, and I've seen it from every military mom," Ruby
said. "It is not easy to breastfeed while in these uniforms. I would
have never dreamed of doing these photos. The mentality back then was to
just go breastfeed in a dark room, but now [the culture] of the
military is much more family friendly. But uniforms for women are just
not made for this."
Yet. Oriana Pawlyk covers deployments, cyber, Guard/Reserve,
uniforms, physical training, crime and operations in the Middle East
and Europe for Air Force Times. She was the Early Bird Brief editor in
2015. Email her at opawlyk@airforcetimes.com.
Breastfeeding Photos Of Terran Echegoyen McCabe And Christina Luna, Military Moms In Uniform, Spark Controversy [UPDATE]
Another photo has been added to the growing gallery of attention grabbing breastfeeding images
— one of two women nursing their children. They are both wearing their
Air Force uniforms, and that has caused more than a little controversy. Scroll down for an update. There are a lot of things you are not allowed to do in military
uniform — including eating or talking on a cell phone while walking
(these are okay while standing still), keeping your hands in your
pockets, chewing gum, holding hands, kissing and hugging (except during
homecomings and deployments) — according to a list of 11 such
restrictions on the website of Veterans United. Technically, service members are also expected to always have their right hand free so they may salute at any moment. But breastfeeding? There apparently are no official rules. And the
photographs, which are part of a breastfeeding awareness campaign
launched by the Mom2Mom support group on the Fairchild Air Force Base, in the state of Washington, are being seen by some as a challenge to unwritten ones. In an interview with the website of the “Today Show”,
Air National Guard member Terran Echegoyen McCabe, who is shown hiking
her khaki t-shirt to nurse her 10-month-old twin daughters, said that
the act of breastfeeding in uniform was not new — she does it all the
time, she said, “in our lobby, in my car, in the park.” What was new was
the public nature of the photo, which was the point. “I’m proud to be
wearing a uniform while breastfeeding. I’m proud of the photo and I hope
it encourages other women to know they can breastfeed whether they’re
active duty, guard or civilian.” She and the other mom in the photo, Christina Luna, have been criticized and applauded since the photos started circulating online
last week. “I breastfed and it didn’t matter where or when,” veteran
Tish Karhoff wrote on the Mom2Mom website. “If any of my children were
hungry I fed them, with my breast, but I didn’t take pictures of me
doing it and I wasn’t trying to prove a point... There is a certain
level of responsibilitiy that comes with wearing that uniform... Cover
up if you are going to be partly naked in a military uniform out of
respect for your country and uniform...” On the same site, veteran Eric Hobard disagrees: “I salute them both,
as soldiers and free American mothers,” he writes. “I’ve fought for
people that I do not know, in countries that have nothing in common with
me, and for reasons that our politicians can not justify. Considering
this fact, I’d fight to defend the rights of these two Americans every
day of the week.” The attention has taken Mom2Mom by surprise, but they welcome it if
it brings awareness and change. On their website they wrote: “We have
done nothing wrong and we hope this will make changes to protect ALL
women to breastfeed in public, in uniform or out.” Will it? Here’s a place to start: It wasn’t until the 1980s that it became the norm for women to remain in the military through and after their pregnancies
and maternity uniforms were added to the line. Might it be time to
create a regulation nursing-friendly t-shirt, and maybe a camo print
drape to make it easier to breastfeed in uniform? Then the mothers who
wear them could stop fighting battles that should have been won long
ago.
UPDATE: According to the AP,
The Washington National Guard and Fairchild Air Force Base say the two
mothers were “wrong to be photographed in uniform.” National Guard Capt.
Keith Kosik said that it’s a violation of regulations to use the
uniform to promote a cause but the women will likely not be punished.
Clarification:The headline above has been edited
for length and clarity. The last paragraph has been changed to reflect
more clearly the rules and expectations about women remaining on active
duty during and after pregnancy. LOOK: Women Breastfeeding By Brynja Sigurdardottir Photography For Mom2Mom
'We've come a long way': Photo of military moms breastfeeding goes viral
by A. Pawlowski / / Source: TODAY
A
tender photo of active duty military moms breastfeeding their babies
while in uniform at Fort Bliss in El Paso is getting a Texas-sized
reaction across the country.
The goal of the project is to help normalize breastfeeding, photographer Tara Ruby says.Courtesy Tara Ruby Photography“The response is just overwhelming,” Tara Ruby, a local photographer
and military veteran who took the picture, told TODAY Parents. “We kind
of had a feeling that this would take off… but we never dreamed it
would be at this level.”The idea for the photo, shared and liked thousands of times since Ruby posted it on her Facebook page
last week, emerged out of a simple need. When Fort Bliss announced a
brand new room dedicated for nursing mothers to pump milk, Ruby and
members of the U.S. Army post’s Pregnancy Postpartum Physical Training (P3T) program began looking for a way to make it more warm and personal. “It’s
kind of plain so we were talking about decorating it with some of my
newborn pictures,” Ruby said. “We started talking about how it would be
really nice to have a picture of a mom in uniform nursing.” The
call went out on social media to find an active duty mom or two who
would be willing to pose for the photo. To Ruby’s surprise, 10 women
volunteered so instead of individual portraits, she prepared for a
striking group photo. Fort Bliss has been very supportive of the
project, giving all the necessary permissions, she noted. The photo was
taken on one of the main parade fields at the post after the women’s
duty hours. “Since
they had been working all day long, they went and picked up the babies
and brought them straight to the shoot. So everybody was very hungry,
very cooperative,” Ruby recalled. “It was a great time to do it because
they hadn’t seen mommy all day.”
Ruby
knew the unusual photo would get positive and negative feedback, but
none of the moms felt hesitant about taking part, she said. All are
aware of the picture going viral and have given her permission to share
it.“They just think it’s amazing. They’re very supportive of it going as far and wide as we can get it,” Ruby said. Read more: Military mom 'proud' of breast-feeding in uniform, despite criticism
The
photographer had a very different experience when she was a military
mom. Ruby gave birth to her first son when was on active duty in the
U.S. Air Force from 1997 to 2001. Back then, she never had a dedicated
room for pumping breast milk and she believes she’d never have support
or approval to take a picture of moms breastfeeding in their uniforms.“We’ve definitely come a very long way,” Ruby noted. She
has now posted the photo on Facebook twice. It abruptly disappeared
from her feed after the first time, which she can’t explain. The photo
doesn’t show anything that would go against Facebook guidelines, Ruby
said, and she received no notifications that it was reported. She’s
had no problems after posting it again. Some comments have been
negative, but Ruby chooses to focus on the overwhelmingly supportive
reaction. “(We
want) to promote the message that you can do whatever you want and work
wherever you want and be whatever you want and still be able to take
care of your baby,” she said. Ruby is getting so many requests for
a copy of the photo that she is now trying to figure out if anyone can
help with the printing costs. Follow A. Pawlowski on Google+ and Twitter.
obama cutting off our military funds works great see a helicopter crash
An
Army investigation has found that potentially hundreds of remains at
Arlington National Cemetery have been misidentified or misplaced, in a
scandal marring the reputation of the nation's pre-eminent burial ground
for its honored dead. (June 10)
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, July 26, 2010
From the graves of Supreme Court justices to a section for freed slaves,
Arlington National Cemetery seems to have been egalitarian in its
mistakes.
Although the cemetery is best known as a final resting place for
military veterans, Section 27 holds the graves of thousands of former
slaves, black Civil War soldiers and others whose tombstones read only
"citizen" or "civilian" or "unknown." Where a village of freed slaves
once stood, the cemetery's master map shows a strip where 70 such graves
are tightly packed in three rows. But a visitor there would find not a
single tombstone -- only a walkway and rock-strewn drainage ditch.
Less than half a mile away, at the busy heart of the cemetery, tour
guides point out "Justice Hill," where eight Supreme Court justices are
buried. But the earthly success of its occupants has not immunized the
hill from years of poor record-keeping.
In many cases -- including the plot where former Chief Justice William
H. Rehnquist and a Vietnam War veteran are buried -- two of the VIPs are
buried where the map notes just one. Another grave that appears
occupied on the map has no headstone. And seven graves that appear empty
on the map are filled.
Six weeks after the Army ousted Arlington's top two officials in a sweeping probe
of the nation's most hallowed cemetery, The Washington Post found
problems with more than 130 graves between one of its most high-profile
sections and one of its least known.
In addition, an examination of thousands of pages of internal records
and interviews with dozens of current and former Army employees reveal
that the Army has launched multiple investigations into Arlington over
the years.
Not only did they turn up chronic problems with record-keeping, but they
also revealed a dysfunctional management structure that operated with
limited and fractured oversight and a contracting system that appeared
to operate outside the normal structure for the federal government.
Again and again, attempts to correct the situation fell short.
Congressional investigators are examining how far up the chain of
command responsibility should rest as well as why, among other issues,
cemetery officials frittered away at least $5 million for computer
upgrades with little to show for it.
And yet again, the Army is trying to fix the problems that it has known about for almost 20 years but has been unable to solve.
Personal feud
For most of that time, behind the scenes of crisp ceremony and manicured
expanse, an ugly personal feud simmered between the superintendent,
John C. Metzler Jr., and his chief deputy, Thurman Higginbotham.
It began almost as soon as Metzler was hired in 1991 and continued to
this year, Army investigators found. Twice, in 1992 and 1997, the two
men were chastised like schoolboys by Army generals and told to get
along.
Both men were ambitious Army veterans. But their backgrounds differed vastly.
When Metzler moved into the white-washed, slate-roofed superintendent's
cottage near the cemetery's historic Arlington House, he was coming
home.
He had grown up in the cottage while his father, John Sr., was
superintendent from 1951 to 1972. The younger Metzler sledded down the
cemetery's hills as a child and often rode on the ceremonial horse-drawn
caissons on their way back from important funerals, he said in a 1991
interview.
And when he returned with his wife and three sons at age 39, it was to a
cemetery where his father had just been buried. In May the previous
year, the elder Metzler, depressed over his poor health, had taken his
life at his home in Florida, according to state records. A sergeant
during World War II, he was buried near war hero Gen. Jimmy Doolittle,
not far from the Tomb of the Unknowns.
Higginbotham had been hired as a security guard under the elder Metzler in 1965.
He worked his way up to a position as cemetery representative, handling
funerals, and was interim superintendent before Metzler was hired,
preparing the cemetery budget and appearing before Congress.
He later told the Army that he did not initially apply for the top job
because of concerns about his race. "I just kind of rationalized with
myself and said, 'I don't know if the system is ready for a black man to
be superintendent of Arlington Cemetery.' " He finally did apply, was
not selected and filed a complaint that he was passed over because of
discrimination.
In 1992, Metzler and Higginbotham were "counseled" by the commander of the Military District of Washington to "work together."
Four years later, Army inspectors were back, looking into reports of
discrimination, continuing bad morale and "gross mismanagement and
failed leadership," according to the Army's 1997 report.
Some employees thought racial motivations were to blame for the lack of
heating and air conditioning in a maintenance facility staffed mostly by
blacks. Others said their request to hold a Christmas party in the
visitors center had been denied because alcohol would be served, only to
learn that Army brass were allowed to hold a celebration there and
serve wine.
Army inspectors thought that little had changed since 1992 because there
was frequent turnover among the Army officers who supervised the
cemetery and because "Mr. Metzler has been able to 'wait out' changes in
military leadership." And at least one employee suggested that the
military leaders were content to go along until their "shift" was over.
Quick-approval contracts
With the number of burials increasing because of two wars and the aging
of the World War II generation, cemetery officials realized -- years
after other military cemeteries -- that they needed to computerize their
work. Many records were still kept on index cards. The cemetery used
hand-drawn maps on six-foot-wide sheets of paper.
As the work increased, the cemetery's budget more than doubled, from
less than $18 million in 2001 to nearly $40 million this year. An
increasing portion was spent on outside contractors, but few of the
Army's traditional safeguards for monitoring spending were employed. No
contracting officer was stationed at the cemetery. And contracting
officers and superiors in the Army's Contracting Center of Excellence
and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers usually approved whichever company
cemetery officials recommended, according to interviews and documents. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs' subcommittee on
contracting oversight has been investigating contracting at the cemetery
and has scheduled a hearing for Thursday.
"We know that nearly every possible problem in contracting occurred, and
consequences are appalling," said Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), head
of the subcommittee. "I'm looking forward to talking with those
responsible."
Hundreds of contracts were awarded under Section 8a, the federal code
allowing agencies to sign noncompetitive contracts with small,
minority-owned businesses.
According to federal contracting data, Arlington had landscaping
contracts with more than 25 companies. From 2003 to 2007, more than $17
million was spent on such work.
Arlington's critical need was for new computer technology. But Army
investigators found that the multimillion-dollar effort proceeded even
though the cemetery lacked an IT acquisition strategy, which is required
to justify any technology investment of more than $500,000.
Higginbotham served as the "de facto" contracting officer for the
technology revamp, even though he had no training to do so,
investigators said. He was listed as the government's primary point of
contact on 35 contracts that Army investigators say ultimately wasted
more than $5.5 million and produced no usable database to track grave
sites.
'I had other priorities'
Metzler and Higginbotham are gone from Arlington. Metzler, 62, was harshly reprimanded by the Army and retired
July 2. Higginbotham, 68, had been placed on paid administrative leave
and has also retired, effective July 3. Through intermediaries, both men
declined to comment for this article.
Last week, as throngs of tourists rode Tourmobiles among the pink crape
myrtle trees and rolling hills of tombstones, the superintendent's house
sat behind its green hedges with rooms empty and most shades drawn.
At a June 30 hearing of the House Armed Services Committee,
legislators wanted to know why it had taken so long. Earlier last
month, the Army had released yet another inspector general's report,
this one after Salon.com articles had detailed long-term problems at the
cemetery.
The Army report also found discrepancies in three of the cemetery's 70
sections -- different from ones examined by The Post -- and determined
that at least four funeral urns had been inadvertently dug up and dumped
in an excess-dirt pile.
Officials say Army policy was to blame for the continuing problems.
"By placing everyone in charge," Secretary of the Army John McHugh said, "no one was in charge."
In 2004, the Army revised its structure for oversight of cemetery
operations, replacing a system in which the cemetery was overseen by the
Military District of Washington and the assistant secretary of the Army
for civil works. The new structure divided cemetery control four ways
instead of two.
Responsibility was now shared by the Military District of Washington,
the assistant secretary of the Army for civil works, the assistant
secretary of the Army for manpower and reserve affairs, and the cemetery
superintendent.
It was "fractured, unmanageable oversight," McHugh told the House
committee, a "governing structure that . . . did just about everything
but govern."
John Paul Woodley Jr. served as assistant secretary of the Army for
civil works from August 2003 until December 2004 and again from May 2005
until last year.
Asked who was ultimately responsible for the cemetery at that time, he replied: "It was me."
"I am profoundly saddened by this," he said in a recent interview. "I
have thought and thought what I could have done and how I could have
seen things that were hidden from view."
Woodley said he had been aware of the cemetery's antiquated
record-keeping, its budget pressures, the pace of its work and its need
for more space. But he said he was unaware of the management problems
Army inspectors found.
From 2003 to 2005, the commander of the Military District of Washington
was Major Gen. Galen B. Jackman, perhaps best known publicly as the Army
officer who escorted Nancy Reagan during President Ronald Reagan's
funeral services in Washington.
Jackman said he, too, "was not aware of anything that was a serious problem."
He did say that in the years after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist
attacks, the cemetery was not his top priority. His concern was
protecting Washington.
He noted that a regulation directs the military district's inspector
general to conduct regular inspections at the cemetery. "Frankly, I had
other priorities," Jackman said, "and I had other priorities for the
IG."
Jackman was not alone. The last IG inspection had been in 1997.
Asked last week about the three rows of freed slaves' graves and the
more than 60 discrepancies in the records for Justice Hill, cemetery
spokeswoman Kaitlin Horst said the cemetery's new leaders plan to review
each of the cemetery's 70 sections and establish a base line of
accountability.
"This is going to take a yet undetermined but likely extensive amount of
time and the team feels very strongly that the mission must be done
right and not hastily," she said.
Staff writer Christian Davenport and staff researchers Meg Smith and Magda Jean-Louis contributed to this report.
PALM BEACH GARDENS, FLA, January 6, 2014 – The new year is the time when we share our hopes for Happy New Year, wishing our friends and family health and prosperity. It is also the time we share reflections and I would like to share
with you not only my best wishes, but also my experience in Iraq and
the dangerous course President Obama has taken there. In January 2003 I was the Commander of the 2d Battalion, 20th Field Artillery Regiment (Multiple Launch Rocket System) in the 4th
Infantry Division. We had already received our deployment orders and
were preparing our equipment and load plans for what would become
Operation Iraqi Freedom. Our mission was to receive equipment in ports of entry in Turkey,
move to our respective tactical assembly areas, and then conduct
offensive operations into northern Iraq. As with all plans, the enemy has a vote, but at that time it was a
perceived ally casting its vote. Turkey rescinded permission and our
ships had to shift, transit through the Suez Canal and then marry up in
Kuwait late February - early March 2003. Our Division, under then-Major General Ray Odierno, conducted follow and support operations after the 101st Airborne (Air Assault) and the 3d Infantry Division. Thus began a lengthy combat operation for the United States. On May 1st, 2003, President George W. Bush landed
aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln and gave an address under a banner that
said “Mission Accomplished.” We were of course very far from having a mission accomplished in
Iraq, but thanks to operational adjustments and tactical perseverance,
we surged and turned the tide against the Islamic terrorist enemy,
al-Qaida. You can argue with the intention, but never disrespect the men and
women who gave their all – particularly those who gave their lives. At the time, the liberal progressive media did everything in their
power to defeat America at home– but it’s funny how you hardly hear
anything about Afghanistan today. As President Bush departed office, he showed a resolve to live up
to that banner and accomplish the mission. As President Obama entered
office, he was committed to doing everything possible to unravel what
had been accomplished when we had deployed into the heart of the Middle
East, taken on jihadists and beaten them back. For President Obama, campaign promises and politics were more
important than strategic decision-making. Then-Commander in Iraq, US
Army General Lloyd J Austin III (who was an Infantry Regiment Commander
in the 82d Airborne when I was a Major at Ft. Bragg) recommended a
residual force, but that request was denied. In August 2011, when I was part of a Congressional delegation
visiting Israel, we met with Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu who gave
us a very direct message, “do not zero out your troop presence in Iraq,
lest you create a vacuum to be filled.” Netanyahu words have come to fruition as we witness al-Qaida’s
efforts to re-take the cities of Ramadi and Fallujah in the Anbar
Province. How did that happen? In 2012, President Barack Obama had his own “mission accomplished”
moment when he repeatedly stated, “al-Qaida is decimated and on the
run.” However, unlike the nefarious scrutiny cast upon the Bush
administration by the media, the fawning propagandists hailed this as a
great strategic success. History will recount this as one of the
greatest strategic blunders. President Obama’s mission accomplished moment has resulted in the
degradation of American credibility in the Middle East. The void left by
our precipitous departure means not just al-Qaida returning to the
western Iraqi province, they are establishing themselves in Syria, the
Maghreb, the Arabian Peninsula, and reestablishing bonds with the Muslim
Brotherhood and providing support to them in Egypt – another Obama
foreign policy failure. If President Obama had listened to generals on the ground, rather
than Valerie Jarrett, we would have maintained a residual force. My
recommended mission for that force would have been to establish an
external cordon in Iraq along the Syria-Iraq and Iran-Iraq borders, and
establish military-to-military security relations with the Kurds in
northern Iraq and their Peshmerga force. The lack of effort to create a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA)
by the Obama administration with Iraq is rather telling. It is of great
concern as we draw down forces in Afghanistan as well. Let me be clear,
there are only two ways to end a combat operation: win or lose. Packing
up and saying you are leaving only serves to embolden the enemy,
regardless of how you try to spin it as “mission accomplished” or a
political talking point. Imagine how painful it must be for those of us who served in Iraq,
were wounded, and lost brothers and sisters there to see how those
hard-won accomplishments are being lost. The missions we accomplished
and the relationships we built are being decimated, unlike al-Qaida. Apparently President Obama doesn’t see the harm and why should he
as long as he has “journalists” like David Kirkpatrick who will
promulgate any lie for this administration? Consider this fact: 70 percent of all casualties in Afghanistan
have occurred under President Obama, but we do not hear about that count
like we did with President Bush and Iraq. President Bush’s mission accomplished banner was premature, but at
least he demonstrated the resiliency to seek victory. President Obama’s
mission accomplished moment was self-serving, purely political, and
will have long lasting ramifications for America, the Middle East, and
those men and women who will be called once again to accomplish the
mission of defeating Islamic totalitarianism. And don’t tell me it can’t be done. After all, America once took
on the greatest military power at the time in order to establish the
independence of this Constitutional Republic. All it takes is
leadership, a 21st Century George Washington, and a strategic vision to win.
Photo: AP Photo/Laura Rauch
No comments:
Post a Comment