TRUST YOUR INSTRUMENTS
It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that things are difficult.
-Seneca
This is the end, my only friend, the end
Of our elaborate plans, the end
Of everything that stands, the end
I'll never look into your eyes again
Is this really the end, (beautiful friend)? Has the Democratic takeover Congress spelled doom for the war? Should we be expecting another embassy airlift on live TV with al-Maliki and his favorite interpreter hanging from the landing wheels as the last Blackhawk leaves the Green Zone? Is Iraq about to jump the shark, or am I about to flip my lid? Um, will this be on the test?
One of the consequences of being in the majority party is that it ultimately entails a measure of seriousness on the holders of the gavel that is rarely expected of the back-benching opposition. Voters expect those holding power to behave accordingly (as we say in the military, "when in charge, be in charge"), rather than succumb to the easy out of continuing to blame everything on the top executive. The Democratic Party has spent the last six years in a death spiral of insanity, seeing as how their most vocal and angry hard left supporters are indeed clinically insane by any definition. You should read the email I get.
Is that you again, Speaker Pelosi?
How dare you mercenaries coast on the government's dime for the privilege of free foreign travel to exotic locales on your very own Air Force transports! What, you can't fly coach like the rest of us?
- Saddam is but a distant memory
- An elected government with a written constitution now stands in his place
- The indigenous security forces are increasingly in the forefront of the fight
- U.S. casualty figures, though unsettling, remain historically low
- Neither al Qaeda nor insurgent forces have ever garnered broad popular support
- The bulk of the daily violence that still plagues the country is concentrated primarily around the capital province
- Middle class Iraqis want nothing more than to raise their families free from fear and care little about the trumped-up "sectarian" divisions
- The majority of the current U.S. mission is primarily defined by routine boredom
Whenever your senses are being overwhelmed by those hyperbolic headlines, cynical soundbites, or calamitous cover-stories...
"...yet another grim milestone for coalition forces in Iraq today as the U.S. death toll climbed significantly after the military reported Sunday that six more troops had died in the deadliest day in two years for American forces since the second to last deadliest day was eclipsed only by the one-day death toll that came after the third highest daily casualty count for U.S. forces since the war began when the deadliest most deadly day of death among U.S. forces who have died while braving death rose to a level never before witnessed since the day before yesterday when three more soldiers died..." (Any of this sounding familiar?)
...you must develop the discipline required to ignore the pack mentality of the journa-list o' grievances peanut gallery...
"...sectarian-fueled insurgent death squads of masked gunmen dressed in military uniforms, still inflamed over the public execution of Saddam Hussein, the humiliation of Abu Ghraib, and the lack of universal health insurance for unemployed ex-Baathists unceremoniously laid off over three years ago by Bush administration officials..."
...ignore your instincts...
"...candidates announced today that had they been President in 2003 they would not have made the decision to go to war despite voting to authorize it in 2002 and reaffirming support in 2005..."
...and trust your instruments.
Altitude: Identify the facts that apply and those that distract.
Check.
Airspeed: Pay less heed to media hype and hyperbole.
Check.
Heading: Apply common sense backed with grounded perspective.
Check.
Attitude: Keep a steady hand and a level head on the horizon.
Check, please...
Hemingway defined courage as grace under pressure, meaning that when the going gets tough, the tough don't argue endlessly about how best to retreat. They leave that to the Spartisan 300 whose only resolve is to continue gorging themselves at the public trough while insisting that war is but an anachronism. Here's to the losers.
"Spartisans! There is where they fight! Here is where we lie!"
No retreat.
No surrender.
¿No comprende?
Fortunately however, the average voter tends not to be as excitable and expects at least a bare modicum of statesmanship from their elected representatives rather than simply another stepped-up level of brinkmanship. That's what I like to tell myself, anyway.
You see, regardless of how many times Cindy Lou "Who?" Sheehan gets herself arrested for public indoctrination, or what manner of nonsense Keith Olberman's Bush Tourette's Syndrome causes to fly out of his mouth during his nightly Three Minutes Hate on PMSNBC/OMGSTFU... there was no -- rush -- to -- war. The U.S. dithered so long over whether or not to invade that it began to appear as if we were waiting for Uncle Saddam to succumb to secondhand smoke and mirrors.
So we didn't rush into war but we've spent the last few years inadvertently trying like hell to rush out of one, and all the while the Iraqi chariots of (trial by) fire simply haven't been ready to accept the baton. (Remember, we're talking about a people who own Beemers and beepers but lack toilets; their priorities are about as straight as a Hollywood hairdresser.) So up to this point they've been left little choice but to do what anyone (or at least, anyone with a [D] after their name) would do in a similar situation: go soft on terrorism while trying to make nice with the enemy. Because let's face it, it was either that or die. And despite the suicidal tendencies of the jihadists in their midst, native-born Iraqi Muslims are not real big on dying.
At the same time, those of us at home must maintain some measure of historical perspective. Think of it this way: Years ago back when I was a student pilot, one of the earliest things my instructor taught me was that if and when you find yourself caught in zero-visibility conditions, you must rely on your instrument gauges to keep the aircraft at the proper attitude and altitude. Flying by the "seat of your pants" or your "gut" will quickly cause you to become disoriented, inverted, and headed straight for the nearest mountain. Despite everything your physical senses or nervous backseat co-pilots are screaming in your ear...
We're drifting left! We're drifting right!
We're spiraling out of control!
We're pitched nose-up!
We're about to stall!
...you must do your level best to ignore them and believe in only what the instrument panel is telling you. Find the gauges that are providing you useful information, and then trust them. Granted, the Iraq War has been piloted through dead reckoning to this point, with our time hacks between waypoints being anything but on target. But even if navigating via prominent landmarks tends not to be the shortest distance between two points, and is often a long and winding course, it will ultimately get you where you're trying to end up:
Terrific, Buck. Now if we could just get patriotic Americans to pay attention to something other than their favorite TV news... and the newsmongers and Congress to pay attention (and speak) to truth rather than hyperbole, we'd have all the support we need to finish what we started.
Posted by
Anonymous |
10 March, 2007
I sure do envy your skills as a writer.You have a no nonsense, right on target style that combines both humor and factually supported arguments that are hard to discount. You also have a very unique way of adding the perfect analogy at the appropriate time. Along with all this work, you add a balanced amount of heartfelt emotion that is clearly distinguishable from the facts. I have missed your posts.
I love your new look. Keep speaking out. What you say makes people listen!
Posted by
devildog6771 |
11 March, 2007
Yes, Yes, Yes - This is awesome! How easy it is to become disoriented with the media hammering away at one's senses.
Posted by
Barb |
11 March, 2007
Keep your eye on the prize. Run with certainty, not as one that beats the air. Don't be hindered by those who watch the race from the sidelines. Keep yourself under control and focus on the goal. All who run, run to win but only one wins. Great Blog and much needed. May we all as individual citizens keep our eyes on the mark and not fall by the wayside. You have great vision, Buck. Please keep it up.
Two citizens in the race
Posted by
Anonymous |
11 March, 2007
This is - just brilliant!
The imagery of the Saigon airlift is the nightmare vision I have everytime I hear the Democrats wailing, and coming up with their ludicrious ideas for retreat.
Americans have never liked losers. They detest it in their sports teams. They are barely tolerant of it in their children. Why, then, are they so willing to accept it in foreign policy and military matters?
Posted by
Anonymous |
11 March, 2007
Good points. I've quoted you and linked to you here: http://consul-at-arms.blogspot.com/2007/03/re-trust-your-instruments.html
Posted by
Consul-At-Arms |
11 March, 2007
I just found your blog, and I love it! you have a terrific writing style, and you make complete sense. You have all my support, and that of my friends.Thank you, and take care.
Posted by
Anonymous |
11 March, 2007
Americans have never liked losers. They detest it in their sports teams. They are barely tolerant of it in their children. Why, then, are they so willing to accept it in foreign policy and military matters?
Because our Best and Brightest have successfully created two levels of confusion in the minds of many:
> They confuse education/knowledge/expertise with wisdom ... which results in an unchecked/unbalanced deference to the perceived "authority" of the Best and Brightest in public matters (where, unlike in athletics, we are "playing for keeps"). (BTW, "Cowboys" threaten that deference when they think and act on their own initiative... that is why they are denigrated so viciously by the Best and Brightest.)
> They equate an active confidence in historical American principles with "arrogance" (in part, because that confidence also erodes the deference described above), substituting a facade of humility that is in itself arrogant in its passive disregard for preventable death and oppression at the hands of totalitarians.
It seems that they only trust America to act when (1) some of the Best and Brightest are in charge and (2) there is NO WAY that ordinary Americans will benefit from such action.
The result: a political bloc that is so enamored of the underdogs who challenge the mighty America, that they are blind to the foam coming from the mouths of some of these hounds ...
... and blind to the need to put them down, for the good of all.
Posted by
Rich Casebolt |
11 March, 2007
You're a bright man and a good writer!
Posted by
Joanne |
12 March, 2007
www.pinr.com
read it...
Posted by
Anonymous |
15 March, 2007
Proof that true wisdom needs few words - BuckSargent.
Posted by
Anonymous |
17 March, 2007
https://www2.blogger.com/captcha?type=IMAGE&captchaKey=1d66oy16ooleo
Visual verification
Buck, I just wanted to say that I am proud to be associated with a unit with men and women like you. You are brilliant and a real credit to the US Army and what the American Citizen Soldier is supposed to be. You need to start writing a column for a news service or a news magazine to get your smarts out there.
God Bless You.
Arctic Legion.
Posted by
Anonymous |
18 March, 2007
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