The online version of the December 21, 2012 edition of the
Wall Street Journal carries an opinion piece by Congressman-elect Tom Cotton
that ought to be assessed by comparison with a report which appears on the
front page of that same publication. The Cotton piece has the title: “A
Soldier's-Eye View of Chuck Hagel” and the subtitle: “His record on Iraq alone should disqualify the former senator
from leading U.S.
troops in time of war.” As to the report on the front page, it is written by
Michael M. Phillips and has the title: “War Tragedies Strike Families Twice”.
To get a sense of what is really involved here, my friend,
you ask yourself this question: What does it all boil down to? To answer the
question, you read the Cotton piece again and find that it boils down to this
view:
“...in
2006 ... Mr. Hagel penned a column ... entitled "Leaving Iraq,
Honorably." He asserted that ... "the time for more U.S. troops in Iraq has passed … [we] must begin
planning for a phased troop withdrawal." Imagine my surprise at the
senator's assertions, having just returned that week from combat in Baghdad .
Yes, you imagine that surprise, dear reader, and keep it
fresh in your mind because you will soon have to recall it. You now read the Michael
Phillips report again, and find that it boils down to this view:
One night in March
2008, William and Christine Koch opened their front door to see two soldiers in
green dress uniforms bearing news that their son ... had been killed ... in
Afghanistan … Two years later, Mr. and Mrs. Koch opened the door to see two
police officers in blue. This time, they learned their daughter, Lynne,
brokenhearted over her brother's death, had killed herself … "She is a
casualty of this war, and I don't care what anybody says," Mrs. Koch said.
"If my son was not killed, my daughter would be here" … anecdotal
evidence from military families, support groups and suicide survivors suggests
that … the U.S.
has experienced a little-recognized suicide outbreak among the bereaved. This
second round of tragedy often takes place years after a loved one's death, when
the finality of the loss becomes inescapable.
And so, my friend, when you compare those two views – the
surprise of Tom Cotton against the series of surprises experienced by the Koch
family – you cannot escape the conclusion that Chuck Hagel is the kind of
political saint America
needs at this time to start the process of healing the long festering wounds.
By contrast, the newly elected Congressman Tom Cotton is the kind of political
animal who will turn the congressional zoo into a place even more loathsome
than it is already.
This man, Tom Cotton, wants you to believe that the pain he
felt when reading an article advocating the end of the war surpasses the pain that
the Koch family must have felt upon learning their son had been killed in the
war; then learning that their brokenhearted daughter had committed suicide to
end the pain she felt at the death of her brother. No, Tom Cotton is not a
political animal. He is an animal, period.
So you want to know what happens to an animal after it gets
surprised? It gets astonished; that's what happens to it. Look what Tom Cotton
goes on to say: “...most astonishing, Mr. Hagel voted in 2007 against
designating Iran 's
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organization.” What's that all
about, you want to know. And he tells you that these people invented a weapon
called “explosive formed projectile,” used in Iraq to kill American soldiers.
Given that these were soldiers dying in a war to which they
were sent by their American leaders, you realize that the words encapsulate the
whole philosophy of governance Tom Cotton will be taking to the Congress. It
boils down to this: You get into a war you have no business getting into but
that the Jewish lobby has forced you into it. When you lose – as it will most
certainly happen – you label the enemy a terrorist, and keep on fighting till
you bankrupt the country.
Then what? Then nothing more because there is no plan B and
no exit strategy. Too bad, the God of the Old Testament did not come to the
rescue as promised. Maybe next time if there is going to be a next time. In the
meantime, there should be no room for someone like Chuck Hagel who might just
bring sanity back to America ,
and spoil everything towards which the Jewish lobby (now renamed Israeli lobby
by Jewish decree) is working so diligently.
Whether Tom Cotton is a thinking animal or a dumb animal, he
does not deserve the medal he was awarded because he is a cowardly opportunist
who will lunge at any bone, even if it is that of a dead comrade, and chew on
it.
Horror, cannibalism or ghoulishness – all this has to stop
if America
is to remain a civilized society among the nations of the world.