"THE TRUTH"

BY: FOREST LEWIS Ph.D.

Back in 1967, I was wrapping up my tour of duty in South Vietnam, when I encountered some friends who were stationed with me at the Earl Ammunition Depot near Asbury Park, New Jersey. I was on the "Rock," Okinawa, at the time of our chance meeting.

They were on their way down south, South Vietnam that is. When my battalion of Marines were shipped to Vietnam in 1966, we were ferried over by ship. My friends were flown over. See, Lydon B. Johnson wanted my friends to get into that meat grinder fast. And boy did they ever.

Prior to going to Vietnam, we were given three months of rugged training in the mountains at Camp Pendleton, California. We were up humping (walking)  sheep s..t mountain every morning. That steep climb burned the hell out of the lungs of young Marines. We swore and called Johnson's mother, wife, his kids all kind of names. However, we got into the best shape of our lives.

You needed to be in shape, if you planned to survive in the jungles of Vietnam. We had to fight off leeches, scorpions, and the "Baddest" mosquitoes on the planet. The perennial elephant grass was also a son of a gun to negotiate. When you emerged from a crop of elephant grass, your arms were cut up, and bleeding profusely. Elephant grass was akin to being cut by a straight razor.

The trainning at Pendleton sure came in handy. My friends that I mentioned at the beginning of this column didn't receive the type of intense training my Marines and I were fortunate enough to have received.

I can recall hearing on Armed Forces Radio reports of entire Marine companies being virtually wiped out, by Viet Cong, and North Vietnamese Regulars. 

Yeah, old LBJ felt that more troops were the ticket. The truth of the matter is, that the only thing that an increasement in troop levels did was to provide the enemy with more targets to shoot at.

Fast forward to the waning year of 2006. George W. Bush has announced that he will increase the number of troops on the ground in Iraq. It is deja vu all over again for this writer.

I can imagine that for a number of my fellow Marines who served in Vietnam during the middle 1960's and toward the end of that infamous decade, what Bush is about to do is bringing back memories for them also: bad memories.

I wrote in a piece two weeks ago, that if Bush increased the troop level in Iraq--he should un-tie the hands of the men fighting there--and let them go in and kick the insurgent's asses.

Forget what the New York Times and CNN will say. These idiots couldn't find their rear ends with both hands. And I doubt very seriously if any of the cowards working at either the Times or CNN ever served in the U.S. Military: so, nuts to what they have to say.

I will stand four square behind the President if he unleashes the finest fighting force in the world, the United States Marine Corps on Al Qaeda. He will have my support if these men are allowed to go in and raze an entire city if they have to. Bush calls this a war. Then damn it, let our men "FIGHT A REAL WAR".

In fighting a real war, there will "Always" be collateral damage. That is the cost of war, pure and simple. There has "Never" been a war that did not include civilian casualities. I am in no way "Pro-War," however, the IslamoFascists are. And if you think that our leaving Iraq with our tails tucked neatly between our legs will stop these savages from coming to a city near you, boy, are you  in another dimension.

We are fighting an enemy who heretofore has enjoyed the support of the democratic party, and the socialist news media.

Now, if the President orders our men to get down and dirty with the scum killing our men and women, you will hear no complaints from me. But, if the additional troops that will be sent to Iraq will be there to continue the status quo, I will be a vocal critic of this President, until he leaves office.

Colin Powell recently stated, "we were losing the war in Iraq". Powell, the eternal optimist added that more troops would not be helpful. Powell then tried to extract his big foot from his mouth by saying, "we haven't lost". Now, let me see, we are losing the war, but we haven't lost. Sounds like Colin Powell has been attending the John Kohn-Kerry school for flip floppers.

Powell does not believe that our men can kill every insurgent in Iraq. I agree with him on that point. However, if our men are allowed to fight with both hands, we will see a huge decrease in the mayhem that is currently taking place in Iraq.

Bush has not said how many troops he would add on the ground in Iraq. In some circles, there is talk of an additional  20,000, or even more.

The President will reportedly make a decision on additional troop levels after the new Defense Secretary, Robert Gates returns from his impromtu trip to Iraq.

Bush will then have to go to congress and ask for more money to spend on the additional troops. "Cut And Run" incoming democratic majority leader, Harry Reid stated that he would support increasing the troop level in Iraq. However, Reid issued a caveat. He said he would sign off on an increase in troop level "Only" if it meant, "An Untimate Troop Withdrawal By Early 2008". In other words, "CUT AND RUN".

People like Reid and Pelosi just don't get it. Withdrawing from Iraq is admitting defeat. I just don't get people like Reid and Pelosi. They simply have no pride, not to mention "Confidence" in our military. One other thing these two dunderheads lack, is what my drill instructor used to call, indomitable spirit.

They also lack the vision for what will happen to the Iraqis if America "Cuts And Run" the way the dems would like to see us end our involvement there. Maybe, they just don't care about the millions of people who will die.

Maybe, they just don't care that Al Qaeda would have a strategic position in Iraq--not to mention a permanent base for carrying out all types of nefarious operations.

I'm praying that Mr. Bush will let our men do the job the right way this time. Otherwise, maybe it is time to "Cut And Run".

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