Protesting the Protesters

Columnist : L. Henry

The debate is over, its time to support our troops!

There is much in the media’s coverage of the War to Liberate Iraq that is upsetting and objectionable. The incessant second-guessing of U.S. military strategy, the efforts of the cowardly French and Germans to cash in on post-war reconstruction, and Peter Arnett’s traitorous interview on Iraqi state television, come quickly to mind.

But what upsets me the most is coverage of the so-called peace protesters, especially those in this country. For some reason most media outlets have attempted to “balance” their war coverage by giving a disproportionate share of time and space to the anti-war crowd.

Actually, they aren’t the anti-war crowd – they are the anti-American crowd. And that includes the “blame America first” types who have taken to the streets here in this nation, condemning their own country in a time of war.

In the weeks and months leading up to the start of the liberation of Iraq, debate and discussion was not only appropriate, it was healthy. A nation should never take such a momentous step as launching military action without significant and serious introspection.

Once the fighting began, however, the rules of civil discourse changed. For weeks now our sons, daughters, husbands, wives, brothers and sisters have been in harm’s way. Far too many have already returned home, having given “the last full measure of devotion” in the cause of freedom. It is an act of incredible disrespect to take to the streets in protest while our countrymen are fighting and dying in a foreign land.

The protesters are a small minority of our population to be sure. One recent poll found eight out of ten Americans are fully aware of the reasons why we are fighting in Iraq. They know this war actually began on September 11, 2001 when over 3,000 people, of many nationalities, died at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and in Somerset County, Pennsylvania. That is why Americans from sea to shining sea support our troops, our President, and his decision to take the latest battle in the war against terrorism literally to the very doorstep of Saddam Hussein.

Those opposing the war continue to come up with new and innovative ways of embarrassing themselves. Peter Arnett’s Iraqi television interview bordered on sedition and he was justly fired by NBC News. The intellectually-challenged Mayor of Fieldsboro, New Jersey, one Edward Tyler, actually banned the placing of yellow ribbons on town property. That incited a national uproar. Even Presidential candidates have stuck a foot or two in their mouths. Senator John Kerry, from Massachusetts of course, said we needed “regime change” not only in Iraq, “but we need a regime change in the United States.” His equating of the American President with the brutal dictator of Iraq brought him well-earned, universal condemnation.

The protesters claim to be exercising their right to free speech. A right the people they are protesting are fighting and dying to protect. But apparently free speech ends when you criticize them.

At a pro-America rally on the steps of the state capitol building recently, Harrisburg radio talk show host Bob Durgin referred to the anti-war crowd as “appeasing, U.N.-loving, pro-abortion, poetry-reading, socialist, egg-sucking elitists”. His comments inflamed the “appeasing, U.N.-loving, pro-abortion, poetry-reading, socialist, egg-sucking, elitists” so much they deluged the newspaper with anti-Durgin hate letters. So much for respecting his freedom of speech.

Upset by the protesters, my wife Carol sent a letter to our local newspaper decrying their antics. As a mother whose U.S. Marine Corps son was in harm’s way just miles from Baghdad, her concern was not ideological it was personal. One nutcase peacenik had the nerve to call our house and leave a lengthy telephone message telling her she was wrong to support the war. The “egg-sucking” coward, of course, did not leave her telephone number.

The protesters claim to be “the real patriots,” as the woman who called our home billed herself. But they are wrong. Our nation is at war and no real patriot would do anything other than support our troops, support our President, and support our country. When the shooting stops, the debate can resume, but until then their protest only gives aid and comfort to a brutal dictator.

Oceans no longer protect America from the evil intentions of foreign regimes. The terror unleashed on the United States two Septembers ago will continue until our actions in Afghanistan, Iraq, and other terror-sponsoring states, meet with success. The weapons of mass destruction they harbor must be found and destroyed. And the fresh breeze of freedom must be allowed to blow into the lives of the long-suffering people of Iraq and other nations.

And that, my friends, is what this is all about. It is about freedom. Our freedom to live free from the fear of another terrorist attack upon our soil. The Iraqi people’s freedom to live free of fear from the “butcher of Baghdad” and his evil henchmen.

It has often been said that freedom is purchased by the blood of each generation. America’s youngest generation is now paying that price. Those who protest against America in the streets today should heed the voice of a great statesman from a generation past. Winston Churchill reprimanded the great appeaser Neville Chamberlain saying: “Your choice was between shame and war; you chose shame and you will have war.”

American protesters should hang their heads in shame. They will be judged as harshly by history as was Chamberlain. Yes, today America is at war. But it is a just war to secure our homeland, and to bring liberty to an oppressed people. Our troops honor us with their service. We owe them our support, and our gratitude. Because of these true patriots America continues to be a shining city on a hill, and a beacon of hope in a weary world.