I have posted several blogs in which I pointed out that Americans have no stomach for the casualties of war. I have pointed out that our military casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan pale when compared to the terrible toll taken by our troops during WWII in just two tiny island battles – Tarawa and Iwo Jima.
This month, in a Veterans Day address at the University of Houston – Clear Lake, former Marine and Astronaut Walt Cunningham lamented the fact that Americans no longer tolerate the casualties that will be suffered by our military. Here are some excerpts from a report in The Citizen on his speech.
AMERICANS SHOULD TOUGHEN UP, CUNNINGHAM TELLS VETERANS DAY CROWD
By Dana Guthrie
The Citizen (Bay Area)
November 19, 2009
Less than 10 percent of Americans now have military experience, he [Cunningham] said, and less than 20 percent of Congressional leaders are veterans.
“Too many military leaders are influenced by politicians and social engineers.”
Cunningham lamented what he identifies as “the American way,” a policy of “zero casualties on our side, zero casualties on the enemy side if we can help it. That leads to some pretty bizarre rules of engagement,” including the philosophy that “we need to do it fast before public opinion collapses at home.”
Throughout history, Americans have made sacrifices and risked their lives in the interest of the nation as a whole, he said. Those who signed the Declaration of Independence knew the penalty was death.
It’s important that Americans be able to accept risk if they are to properly support the military, he said, adding that he believes the most important responsibility of the federal government is to provide for the common defense.
“It was the wretched and oppressed who accepted the risk of a new land,” Cunningham said. “It was the strong, not the weak...those who wanted to live, not simply to exist.”
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