Not every anti-war protester is a leftist, Marxist
rabble-rouser. That person in the crowd might be a neighbor or
friend whom you know to be a wonderful, caring individual. The
tendency to affix harsh labels to those with opposing views is
tempting but unfair. It was during an interview with a nun that I
realized the only thing we agreed on about the war in Iraq is
that war is hell. When a country should go to war is an age-old
quandary made more difficult because there are those who believe
the answer is - never.
I was writing a story about St. Rose's Home, an extraordinary
facility in Lower Manhattan for indigent terminal cancer patients
founded by Nathaniel Hawthorne's daughter, Rose. Every religious
person with whom I had previously discussed the upcoming
presidential election had indicated to me that they were voting
for President Bush because of his pro-life position; I was
therefore surprised when the nun who had taken me on the tour of
the facility said she wasn't sure - "because of the
war."
When Vice President Cheney was visiting Staten Island for a Vito
Fossella fund raiser, I recognized a few of the protesters across
the street from the Excelsior, where the event was taking place.
While those making the most noise were the ubiquitous, and
graying, baby boomer protesters, standing silently next to them
were what I call the good-hearted do-gooders. These are the
people I've seen manning the soup kitchens and running the drives
to help Katrina victims. They volunteer to help others whenever
they can. All they see in the war in Iraq is our dead and wounded
soldiers and the collateral damage that claims the lives of
innocent Iraqi women and children. What they may not recognize is
how they have contributed to the slaughter by encouraging our
enemy with their protests.
It has taken decades for the truth about the Vietnam War to be
uncovered, and that message has still not penetrated the public
conscience, because those responsible for the cover-up refuse to
admit their guilt. In fact, with their selective and deceitful
coverage of the war on terrorism, the mainstream press and some
broadcast journalists are attempting to repeat what they consider
their coup over the American military establishment.
It was after the most trusted man in America - Walter Cronkite -
declared the Vietnam War a "stalemate" in his February
27, 1968, broadcast that support for the war began to erode. He
completely misled the public about the Tet Offensive, during
which the Vietcong suffered considerable damage. In his memoir,
"Following Ho Chi Minh: Memoirs of a North Vietnamese
Colonel," Bui Tin confirms that the North Vietnamese
suffered a devastating defeat in the Tet Offensive in 1968. Their
forces in the South were nearly wiped out, but they had achieved
a political advantage because support for the war in America was
waning. "Every day our leadership would listen to world news
over the radio at 9 a.m. to follow the growth of the anti-war
movement," he wrote. The North Vietnamese were elated by
visits from Jane Fonda, Ramsey Clark, and others, because it gave
them the confidence to hold on during battlefield losses, he
wrote.
The Tet Offensive took place in 1968, but the war dragged on
until 1973, taking the lives of thousands of American soldiers.
It's highly unlikely that the protesters back then will now admit
any responsibility for prolonging a conflict that might have had
different results if America had been a nation undivided in its
mission. The author of "Radical Son: A Generational
Odyssey," David Horowitz, is one of the very few.
What is happening today in Iraq is nothing short of phenomenal,
but that's not the impression being relayed by the press. Yes,
brave soldiers are dying every day, and it really doesn't help to
insist that these numbers are much smaller than in any other war.
It doesn't stop the pain of the Cindy Sheehans and other families
who've lost loved ones. I would only ask that they consider the
increase in the so-called insurgents since their protests began.
How much easier has it become to recruit and import
"insurgents" to an Islamic jihad buoyed by the protests
of Americans at home?
In 1968, there was no Internet and news could be filtered and
distorted. In 2005, we hear the good news straight from the
horses' mouths on our computers. Our soldiers can blog the truth
from all over the Middle East, as can Iraqis who are overjoyed to
be rid of one of the cruelest despots in history.
Ignorance of the truth is no longer an excuse for either the
rabble-rouser or the do-gooder.