- 1777 - The Flag of the United States flies in battle for the first time, at Cooch's Bridge in Maryland.
- 1783 - The Revolutionary War between the United States and Great Britain ended with the Treaty of Paris.
- 1950 - U.S. Military Assistance Advisory Group arrives in Saigon, Vietnam.
- 2002 - U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, an old friend of Saddam* cum leading proponent of the Iraq invasion, proclaimed that the White House believed Iraq was close to developing nuclear weapons.
He subsequently stated, "Any country on the face of the earth with an active intelligence program knows that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction." - November 2002
Rumsfeld even crowed that he knew where the WMD's were stashed -- a trifling detail he never revealed to weapons inspectors either before or after the invasion: "The area... that coalition forces control... happens not to be the area where weapons of mass destruction were dispersed. We know where they are. They're in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south and north somewhat." - March 2003
The leaders of the American Revolution witnessed the sacrifices made by their fellow countrymen to achieve independence from a foreign power. They understood the feelings of nationalism that emboldened Americans to seize the reins of their own destiny.
I wonder how those founding fathers, having won this country's independence through tremendous hardships, would react to our country's invasion and ongoing occupation of a sovereign country that posed no direct or immediate threat to our national security.
I wonder what price the people of Iraq are willing to pay for their independence - and how the continued dying of American troops in Iraq's internal struggle is good for Iraq or for the United States.
I wonder where George W. Bush finds the brass to compare himself to George Washington. Perhaps it's time for "the decider" to stop casting himself as the great liberator of the 21st century, and to donate his histories of George Washington and his bust of Winston Churchill to the leaders of Iraq.
The people of Iraq will determine that country's future, just as the people of this country determined ours. That's the wisdom our forefathers demonstrated -- the lesson George W. Bush will never comprehend.
* See Revisiting Rumsfeld's Neville Chamberlain Moments, by Frank Rich.
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5 comments:
Tried to post a comment here, but my browser locked up. -_-
Let's see if this one works. ^.^
It is without a doubt the most bizarre stretch of language to imagine our current administration as anything even bearing a passing similarity to mediocre, let alone heroic.
The fact that they can cast themselves in this light (with a straight face, no less) is even more terrifying.
I'm afraid you're right. I can imagine, in their private moments, George asking Laura how it feels to sleep with "the world's most powerful man... commander-in-chief of the most fearsome military of all time."
This man sees nothing on the horizon to block whatever "security" actions, at home or abroad, he wishes to take under the guise of "fighting terrorism." And why should he -- so long as he has a rubber stamp Congress, an ideologically supportive Supreme Court, and a weak and compliant press?
It seems to me that the Iraqi's are going to fight and sacrifice longer than the US will be able to occupy that country.
Blondesense Liz, I'm waiting for the final flourish -- blaming "dem damned cut-&-run Defeatocrats" for losing the war. Shades of Vietnam, even many of the same players (some who never got the chance to cut-and-run from Vietnam, 'cause they just couln't find the way over there, what with all the other obligations that true patriots have).
Indierik, thanks for the visit. Happy to meet the "I-4 matador!" I added you to my Florida blogroll.
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