11/07/2003 Entry: ""
Posted by Maynard @ 04:00 PM MST
Knowing when to not quit
In 1862, according to my This Day in the Civil War calendar,
... the failure of Union general George McClellan to pursue General Lee's army in retreat from Antietam results in McClellan's final removal from command of the Army of the Potomac.
Abraham Lincoln, like George W. Bush, knew the value of dogged pursuit of a desired outcome. Lincoln knew that in order to restore the Union he had to completely destroy the Southern armies. McClellan would not deliver that to him, so Lincoln fired the Virginia Creeper, as he was called. Bush knows that in order to make Iraq a democratic republic he needs to stay until the job is done. His opponents in Congress are like the Copperheads that Lincoln faced: advocating that we cut and run, instead of finishing the job and creating what we all know to be the right and best thing.
Lincoln faced incredible casualties in his army, far worse than the worst bloodbath we ever faced in World War 2. Iraq is no Germany, nor is it led by General Lee. There were Civil War skirmishes that had more dead and wounded than we have had in Iraq, and those barely lasted a morning. Those who would advocate us cutting and running have an unprecedented aversion for bloodshed. That being the case, they should be the foremost advocates of staying in Iraq, because if we cut and run now the bloodshed in the future could be in our own heartland.
Unfortunately for Mr. Bush, he cannot fire those who are opposed his plan. He has to quietly ignore their complaints and show them that progress really is being made in the land of the 2 great rivers. Whether or not they recognize the truth laid bare before them is up to them.
Lincoln understood that the best thing that could come of the War would be the survival of the United States and the abolition of slavery. Bush understands that the best thing that can come out of Iraq is the birth of a democratic republic and the reversal of thousands of years of tyranny in the region. The rebirth of the United States after the Civil War proved to be one of the greatest things to ever happen to the world, and it is most likely that the rebirth of Iraq will do the same for the entire Middle East.
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