THE FEDERALIST® BRIEF
The Internet's Conservative Journal of Record
Date: 18 May 1999
Federalist Brief # 99-20
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"The world has no room for cowards. We must all be ready somehow to toil, to suffer, to die. And yours is not the less noble because no drum beats before you when you go out into your daily battlefields, and no crowds shout about your coming when you return from your daily victory or defeat." --Robert Louis Stevenson
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This week, SecDef William Cohen delivered a message to Bill Clinton from the chiefs across the river at the Pentagon. It seems they are pressing Mr. Clinton to stop "cutting bait," and deploy ground troops to secure U.S. objectives, whatever they may be, in Kosovo.
Because no "vital national interests" sufficient to place U.S. forces in harms way have been identified, and our intervention there amounts to little more than a monumental strategic blunder, we must find an exit strategy that does not further diminish our degraded standing as the world's remaining superpower. We would hope that means blinking hard while the Russians devise a suitable "peace plan." But, if Mr. Clinton's exposed-hand promise that he will not send U.S. troops to Kosovo is as good as his oath of office, many of our uniformed colleagues will be saying farewell to their wives and children – some for the last time.
As Mr. Clinton ponders whether or not to commit ground forces and impose "peace" amid the cluster-dumb he helped create, all of America should ponder these questions from Vietnam vets and their families. We have selected a few from a long list provided by Col. David Hackworth, America's most highly decorated living veteran.
"Bill, where were you when my best friend triggered a landmine and died in my arms...? Where were you when we arrived back on American soil, only to be cursed and have rotten eggs thrown at us?" --Gordon
"Where were you in 1967, when I was in a war-torn land doing what my government asked me to do and what my fellow Americans expected me to do? Where were you when young men were laying down their lives for a freedom which you now enjoy?" --Doc
"Where were you Mr. Clinton, while I, a Canadian, who volunteered in the USMC, was serving in Vietnam and affording you the luxury of 'not inhaling'?" --Vic
"Bill: Where were you when the rest of us were doing our patriot service to 'our' country? ... But more importantly where are you now?" --Chuck
"Where were you, Mr. Clinton, when I was attempting -- with actions, not hollow rhetoric, and having voluntarily put myself in harm's way -- to help an allied people secure the blessings of liberty for themselves and their posterity?" -Benjamin
"Where were you when I celebrated my 22nd birthday (and Christmas) in a rain soaked, mud-filled sandbag bunker, peering over a perimeter of barbed wire and claymore mines at the end of the Dong Ha air strip, wondering if I was going to see my next birthday?" --Buzz
"Where were you, Mr. Clinton, when I was listening to President John F. Kennedy: 'Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country?' Where were you while brave men died in the field? Smoking dope and protesting the war on foreign soil like so many other COWARDS! ... Where were you when my platoon was cut to pieces on Operation Allen Brook in May of 1968? You are a disgrace to everything they died for and the rest of us fought for. Our God, Country and Corps; and we did it with HONOR!!" --GySgt. Jack
"Where were you, Mr. Clinton, in September of 1968, when my company raced an enemy battalion to the top of a hill, sustaining 55 casualties (11 KIA, 44 wounded) along the way? But that's history! The real question is what are you doing NOW to ensure the strength of our military and proper treatment of our veterans of all conflicts. I pray
that we never have to endure another Vietnam. I pray for you, sir, and may God grant you knowledge of His will as you make decisions affecting the lives of so many." --AJ
"Where were you...when I arrived at Bien Hoa in Dec. 1968, when my unit, the 25th Infantry Division at Cu Chi was hit in Feb. 1969? Where were you when in the midst of this attack I was calming down someone who was more afraid than I? Where were you when I was sent to the summit of Nui Ba Den in April 1969? Where were you in June 1969 when we were visited by sappers? ... Where are you now? Getting us into another Vietnam? Heading the most corrupt administration since Richard Nixon? .... I was scared too, but when I was called I went! And, unlike you, I will never wonder about what happened to the guy who took my place." --Jim
"Where were you back when it really counted, Clinton? How about Da Nang, Namo, Chu Lai, Tam Ky, Hiep Duc, Marble Mountain, Mon Khe, Khe Lon Sohn, Phu Bai, Hue, Qung Tri, Dong Ha, Cam Lo, Con Thien, Khe Sahn, Au Shau valley, Laos and the DMZ? Well, as hard as it may be to believe, I was there. As well as all points between. .... I have always been and am now a patriot who believes in our Constitution, Bill of Rights and my country. What about you?" --Robert
"Where were you, Bill Clinton, when I was trying to give the 'Nam veterans the respect we Korean War veterans were given? Where were you in your golden youth, Bill Clinton, when your youthful fellow socialist-junkie liberals partied, protested, and sought relevance in the streets, gutters, and legislatures of this great country? Where were you when tens of thousands of differently committed youngsters became men and women through the fire and fury of combat, tens of thousands of whom became one with the earth, their bleeding a sacred act of selflessness... Those youngsters gave up their youth while you enjoyed yours." --Charles
"Where were you when Ellis E. Austin was shot down over North Vietnam, 21 April 1966, two weeks before he was to retire? This three-war veteran didn't have to serve in Vietnam but he did because he felt it was his duty. He left behind three children and a wife." --Kelly Jo
"I know where you were, Bill! You were writing letters to tell how you hated the military. You were overseas telling Europeans how you disliked America. ... You were carousing with known Communists. ... In spite of the fact that you have tried your best to staff the government with the biggest assortment of socialists, misfits, incompetents, idiots, perverts, thieves, and liars, I don't think you will succeed. I firmly believe your second term is only due to an
inability of the American people to believe that someone who aspired to be President of the United States could be so shallow and unprincipled as you." --Dave
The Internet's Conservative Journal of Record
Date: 18 May 1999
Federalist Brief # 99-20
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"The world has no room for cowards. We must all be ready somehow to toil, to suffer, to die. And yours is not the less noble because no drum beats before you when you go out into your daily battlefields, and no crowds shout about your coming when you return from your daily victory or defeat." --Robert Louis Stevenson
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This week, SecDef William Cohen delivered a message to Bill Clinton from the chiefs across the river at the Pentagon. It seems they are pressing Mr. Clinton to stop "cutting bait," and deploy ground troops to secure U.S. objectives, whatever they may be, in Kosovo.
Because no "vital national interests" sufficient to place U.S. forces in harms way have been identified, and our intervention there amounts to little more than a monumental strategic blunder, we must find an exit strategy that does not further diminish our degraded standing as the world's remaining superpower. We would hope that means blinking hard while the Russians devise a suitable "peace plan." But, if Mr. Clinton's exposed-hand promise that he will not send U.S. troops to Kosovo is as good as his oath of office, many of our uniformed colleagues will be saying farewell to their wives and children – some for the last time.
As Mr. Clinton ponders whether or not to commit ground forces and impose "peace" amid the cluster-dumb he helped create, all of America should ponder these questions from Vietnam vets and their families. We have selected a few from a long list provided by Col. David Hackworth, America's most highly decorated living veteran.
"Bill, where were you when my best friend triggered a landmine and died in my arms...? Where were you when we arrived back on American soil, only to be cursed and have rotten eggs thrown at us?" --Gordon
"Where were you in 1967, when I was in a war-torn land doing what my government asked me to do and what my fellow Americans expected me to do? Where were you when young men were laying down their lives for a freedom which you now enjoy?" --Doc
"Where were you Mr. Clinton, while I, a Canadian, who volunteered in the USMC, was serving in Vietnam and affording you the luxury of 'not inhaling'?" --Vic
"Bill: Where were you when the rest of us were doing our patriot service to 'our' country? ... But more importantly where are you now?" --Chuck
"Where were you, Mr. Clinton, when I was attempting -- with actions, not hollow rhetoric, and having voluntarily put myself in harm's way -- to help an allied people secure the blessings of liberty for themselves and their posterity?" -Benjamin
"Where were you when I celebrated my 22nd birthday (and Christmas) in a rain soaked, mud-filled sandbag bunker, peering over a perimeter of barbed wire and claymore mines at the end of the Dong Ha air strip, wondering if I was going to see my next birthday?" --Buzz
"Where were you, Mr. Clinton, when I was listening to President John F. Kennedy: 'Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country?' Where were you while brave men died in the field? Smoking dope and protesting the war on foreign soil like so many other COWARDS! ... Where were you when my platoon was cut to pieces on Operation Allen Brook in May of 1968? You are a disgrace to everything they died for and the rest of us fought for. Our God, Country and Corps; and we did it with HONOR!!" --GySgt. Jack
"Where were you, Mr. Clinton, in September of 1968, when my company raced an enemy battalion to the top of a hill, sustaining 55 casualties (11 KIA, 44 wounded) along the way? But that's history! The real question is what are you doing NOW to ensure the strength of our military and proper treatment of our veterans of all conflicts. I pray
that we never have to endure another Vietnam. I pray for you, sir, and may God grant you knowledge of His will as you make decisions affecting the lives of so many." --AJ
"Where were you...when I arrived at Bien Hoa in Dec. 1968, when my unit, the 25th Infantry Division at Cu Chi was hit in Feb. 1969? Where were you when in the midst of this attack I was calming down someone who was more afraid than I? Where were you when I was sent to the summit of Nui Ba Den in April 1969? Where were you in June 1969 when we were visited by sappers? ... Where are you now? Getting us into another Vietnam? Heading the most corrupt administration since Richard Nixon? .... I was scared too, but when I was called I went! And, unlike you, I will never wonder about what happened to the guy who took my place." --Jim
"Where were you back when it really counted, Clinton? How about Da Nang, Namo, Chu Lai, Tam Ky, Hiep Duc, Marble Mountain, Mon Khe, Khe Lon Sohn, Phu Bai, Hue, Qung Tri, Dong Ha, Cam Lo, Con Thien, Khe Sahn, Au Shau valley, Laos and the DMZ? Well, as hard as it may be to believe, I was there. As well as all points between. .... I have always been and am now a patriot who believes in our Constitution, Bill of Rights and my country. What about you?" --Robert
"Where were you, Bill Clinton, when I was trying to give the 'Nam veterans the respect we Korean War veterans were given? Where were you in your golden youth, Bill Clinton, when your youthful fellow socialist-junkie liberals partied, protested, and sought relevance in the streets, gutters, and legislatures of this great country? Where were you when tens of thousands of differently committed youngsters became men and women through the fire and fury of combat, tens of thousands of whom became one with the earth, their bleeding a sacred act of selflessness... Those youngsters gave up their youth while you enjoyed yours." --Charles
"Where were you when Ellis E. Austin was shot down over North Vietnam, 21 April 1966, two weeks before he was to retire? This three-war veteran didn't have to serve in Vietnam but he did because he felt it was his duty. He left behind three children and a wife." --Kelly Jo
"I know where you were, Bill! You were writing letters to tell how you hated the military. You were overseas telling Europeans how you disliked America. ... You were carousing with known Communists. ... In spite of the fact that you have tried your best to staff the government with the biggest assortment of socialists, misfits, incompetents, idiots, perverts, thieves, and liars, I don't think you will succeed. I firmly believe your second term is only due to an
inability of the American people to believe that someone who aspired to be President of the United States could be so shallow and unprincipled as you." --Dave