Politics Should Stop At The Water’s Edge

To the Editor:

The Newtown Bee is a great community paper. Each week I look forward to catching up on local events, people, and news by reading The Bee. Occasionally, however, a front page story in The Bee reflects larger issues that we face as a nation. That was the case with last week’s coverage of the antiwar rally held on the steps of Edmund Town Hall. As I understand it this event was sponsored by MoveOn.org. and some other less notable groups.

The war in Iraq is of more than passing interest to me. I served in Gulf War I. Three of our five children have served in the armed forces. Our son Bill is a major in the Army and as a Ranger faces special hazards. I can assure any reader that the men and women who wear the uniforms of this country do not want war since it falls on their shoulders to take the battle to the enemy. Alternatively, they want to count on support from the home front.

Recently the national news has reported on Ms Sheehan’s efforts to protest the war and meet President Bush on a personal level. My heart goes out to her for the loss of her son. As Lincoln said to a mother who lost a son during the Civil War, “…having laid so costly a sacrifice on the alter of freedom.” But grief does not grant anyone instant lucidity or moral authority though some would have us believe it does.

I recognize reasonable people have differing views on the current strategy in Iraq. Likewise I am not questioning the patriotism of anyone who opposes the war so spare me the letters. The question is how does MoveOn claim a legitimate antiwar position? Likewise how does the Democrat Party claim the same? In the last presidential election John Kerry was very clear in his support of Bush’s Iraq policy.

What I see unfolding is an anti-Bush anti-Republican agenda that is driven by Democrats seeking to undermine President Bush and set the stage for the next national election. These groups seem willing to use any tactic to disrupt a presidency they see as illegitimate. The problem is that they are trying to gain political advantage at potential expense to national policy and troop safety.

As Thomas Sowell noted, “The next time someone demands a time table for the war in Iraq, ask them to name just one war — any where — that followed a schedule.” Every military operation is planned in detail with an Operation Order…as anyone who has served in the military knows, the plan never survives the first shot.

Thanks to 24-hour news cycles, millions of Americans know all the details about a runaway bride, the Michael Jackson trial, or a young woman missing in Aruba. But many of these same people know almost nothing of an adversary that is actively seeking to slaughter us by the thousands. Going back to Gulf War I our military intelligence documented support for anti-American activities by the government of Iraq. That government has been overthrown and thanks to the efforts of our armed forces a new democracy is being created. For the first time in hundreds of years Iraq will be governed by her people, not some dictator.

Some of us are old enough to recall a time when politics stopped at the water’s edge. President Eisenhower said in an article in the Saturday Evening Post on August 11, 1962, entitled “Are We Headed in the Wrong Direction?” discussing President Kennedy’s Vietnam policy, “In the field of foreign affairs I have stated repeatedly my conviction that all good citizens should support the administration in its objectives and programs…I know from my own experience in the White House that the President and his closest advisors are in the possession of all the information in a given international situation. Only they can assess the problem completely. Consequently, even if there are doubts, I prefer to keep my own counsel, I shall stand definitely behind the President.”

I think the analogy in The Bee article to Vietnam is completely off base. Likewise MoveOn is off base. I think a better name is Can’t Move On!

Yours truly,

R.P. Gottmeier

Antler Pine Road, Sandy Hook                                  August 20, 2005