The President's Speech on the Afghanistan War Troop Withdrawal, part 2

By Zach Foster

Continued from Part 1

The author would like to remind skeptics about the fates of other countries the U.S. aided militarily during their time of need: South Korea and South Vietnam.  When one aggressor threatened the security and very existence of an allied government in 1950, the United States aided that country, South Korea, and remained with them through thick and thin, even when the Chinese threw massive waves of their best troops at the coalition for years.  The U.S. stayed with the South Koreans until the very end and today South Korea is a free and democratic country with a booming economy.  Then there was South Vietnam, whose aid many Americans did not find to be very important.  The United States was with them for much of the duration and helped maintain South Vietnam’s existence until ALMOST the very end.  Unfortunately, Americans could not summon the fortitude to come to South Vietnam’s help in her final hour of need, and the country fell to the wolves.  Southeast Asia was destabilized as that domino fell and Laos and Cambodia also fell to the wolves, three civil wars resulting in Stalinist governments and a series of wars between Communist countries for fifteen years.  No matter what, the U.S. must be prepared to help the Iraqis and the Afghanis should another time of need arise.

The author is largely anti-war, and believes that there are countless alternatives to war, and that this country’s foreign policy of constant interventionism is not necessarily helping the cause of world peace.  In the future, this country and future presidential administrations ought to choose their battles more cautiously and find alternative methods to solving crises.  After all, if the government shouldn’t be in its own citizens’ “backyards,” it definitely shouldn’t be in the yards of all of America’s neighbors.  However, this is a strategy for the future.  The author also believes in finishing what was started, and also believes strongly in the “you break it you buy it” philosophy.

Whether people agree with the wars or not, one thing can be agreed upon: thousands of American troops, tens of thousands of Iraqi and Afghan troops, and tens of thousands of civilians have lost their lives and spilled their blood in these wars.  There is light at the end of the tunnel and a hope for victory—victory not in the epic vanquishing of a foe, but in preserving the existence of democratic countries—South Koreas—in the middle east.  It should not be forgotten that the Republic of Korea’s transition to democracy was not an overnight phenomenon; it was slow and hard-won by much civil disobedience and clashing between citizens and government.  However, it speaks volumes that the U.S. military was able to simply provide stability and protection against the Northern aggressors so that the South Koreans would simply have a fighting chance to build their democracy.  The people of Iraq are working hard at that right now and the people of Afghanistan deserve that same chance.  These are American issues now because America made them its issues when the invasions began in 2001 and 2003.  The rivers of blood spilled from Basra to Kurdistan, from Helmand to Kunduz, are the painful reminder that wonderful people died so that others may live and have a simple tomorrow.  Their fatal investment, and the painful investment of grief and tears made by their families must not go to waste.

Qadafi Is Ready For a Truce… NOT!

By Zach Foster

Breaking news from last night: the President of South Africa and Libyan despot-in-chief Muammar Qadafi have announced in a joint press conference that the great leader of the Libyan Socialist People’s Republic (the abbreviated name of the republic) is ready for a truce to bring an end to the civil war that has killed thousands (most of them unarmed civilian casualties inflicted by his loyalists).

South African President Jacob Zuma arrived in Tripoli to meet with Qadafi, and emerged from this meeting trying to assure the international community that the Libyan head of state—still unrepentant about slaughtering thousands of his own people for such insolence as speaking their minds—is “ready to implement the road map” [to peace].  According to an MSNBC report that was published to the web last night, “Zuma said Gadhafi insists that ‘all Libyans be given a chance to talk among themselves’ to determine the country's future.  He did not say Gadhafi is ready to step down, which is the central demand of the rebels.”

The same report said “In April... Gadhafi said he would accept the truce but quickly ignored it and resumed his attacks, while the rebels rejected the cease-fire out of hand because it did not include Gadhafi's exit from power. Since then many cease-fire efforts have failed for similar reasons.”

The rebel government and rebel forces are not at fault for the lack of a truce in Libya.  They have made it clear that they want Qadafi to step down.  They will most likely allow him to live in exile abroad without bringing him back to be tried for crimes against humanity, as long as it brings an end to the war.  Furthermore, every time Qadafi has announced ceasefires on his own, without attempting to reach the rebel leadership, he has promptly violated them, simply having lied in order to buy time to rearm, regroup, and move men and supplies in his fight to hold onto power.

The author never thought he’d write this, but Qadafi’s aggressive violations of ceasefires make the North Vietnamese look like rookies and pacifists.  Not only has Qadafi denied his citizens their most basic human rights, but he has delivered one lie after another to his people and the world.  Such lies include: 1) February, when he claimed that he was not the one ordering troops, police, and mercenaries to fire on the civilians, since he is only a figurehead leader; 2) February, when he said the riots that were turning into gun battles were being provoked by Al Qaeda; 3) March, when he threatened to join Al Qaeda if NATO got involved in the new civil war; 4) when he claimed that rebel forces were slaughtering civilians, not his loyalist troops.  The list goes on.

The rebel forces must continue to fight on.  Even though the initial NATO intervention was a necessary evil, simply for the sake of keeping the rebellion from being erased from existence by Qadafi’s loyalists, neither the U.S., the U.K., nor NATO can continue to hold the rebellion’s hand from a distance.  NATO either needs to get involved and commit combat troops, the way the United Nations intervened on behalf of South Korea in 1950, or NATO needs to allow the rebels to fight it out on their own.  It is one thing to make an advisory commitment by sending a handful of Special Forces troops to train their allies—the rebel forces, governed by the Interim National Council—but making this halfway no-fly-zone commitment that seems to have no end can only rob the rebel government of its sovereignty.

Furthermore, the rebel government needs to provide stability and rule of law in the areas it controls.  This means swearing the local police in allegiance to the new government, having the local police patrol peaceful areas while rebel soldiers patrol hazardous areas, and letting the citizenry rebuild their infrastructure and resume life as usual.  Furthermore, the old Constitution—dissolved by the “great leader” himself after the 1969 coup—needs to be re-evaluated and adapted to modern situations, and a new Constitution and Bill of Rights need to be brought into existence and enforced.  The current law of the land in Libya is the Green Book, Qadafi’s attempt at imitating Mao’s Little Red Book by drafting a pocket-sized guide that dictates public policy based on Arab nationalist socialism and his own personality cult.  This obviously no longer applies to the rebel-controlled areas.

The rebel government will be best off if it models its Constitution and Bill of Rights after the American counterparts.  Whatever the new law of the land will be in rebel territory, it must be all-inclusive, protective of civil rights and individual rights, and it must be put into effect quickly so that Libyans in territory held by Qadafi loyalists can draw hope from the freedom and prosperity the rebels have erected in spite of tyranny and death.

Memorial Day and This Republic: From WWII to the War On Terror

By Zach Foster

Continued from Part 1: From the Revolution to WWI

World War II was a war the country tried to stay out of, but was provoked into.  Four long hard years and four hundred thousand deaths later, the United States brought an end to the wars in Europe and Asia with the help of its allies, and singlehandedly ended the war in the Pacific islands.  The survivors of the holocaust were freed, nations’ independence was restored, and a new weapon emerged which had the power to destroy the world several times over.  Despite growing fears, this weapon has yet to be used again since Nagasaki.  Despite many problems occurring as a result of the war, such as divisions of countries between north and south, east and west, arms races, and a series of “limited wars,” most survivors of the war have been better off since the rubble was cleared and civilizations rebuilt.  Despite the need to occupy and pacify Germany and Japan, these countries have advanced and flourished more beautifully than they could have under their old martial regimes, and those countries liberated by the U.S. military remember their rape and subjugation by the Nazi German and Japanese Empires, and to this day continue to erect monuments to their American liberators.  For this alone, all the men and women—the infantry troops, tank drivers, bomber pilots, sappers, medics, doctors, nurses, artillery troops, sharpshooters, and all others—who died at Pearl Harbor, Guadalcanal, New Guinea, Tarawa, Tinian, Tripoli, Algiers, Casablanca, Cairo, Baghdad, Anzio, Tuscany, Rome, Normandy, Brussels, Amsterdam, Saipan, Iwo Jima, Luxemburg City, in the Pacific or Atlantic Oceans, Berlin, and Okinawa, did not die in vain, and their legacy lives on.

The fact that South Korea still exists as a nation independent of Stalinism and the Kim Dynasty is testimony enough to the worthiness of the sacrifices made by Americans and their South Korean and United Nations allies at Incheon, the Chosin Reservoir, Seoul, Pyongyang, and Pork Chop Hill.  South Korea is free because of American service members.  They are free to travel where they please, free to read what books they want, free to love and hate whomever they will, free to pick any religion to practice, and free to vote for any candidate in any party.

The same mission applied to South Vietnam, who was being invaded by the North.  Despite the tragedy of April 1975, Americans fought tooth and nail to free Vietnam of the North Vietnamese and their Vietcong guerrilla faction, with the South Vietnamese, South Koreans, Australians, and New Zealanders at our side.  The war was won—by 1973 the North Vietnamese army was broken and crippled, Vietcong was all but wiped off the planet, and North Vietnam signed the Paris Peace Accords recognizing South Vietnam’s right to exist.  Furthermore, the sacrifices made by American troops in Laos and Cambodia helped keep those countries free of being Hanoi’s puppets.  It was an anti-war and anti-South Vietnam Congress that walked out on their commitment to South Vietnam which lost the victory.  However, to this very day, there are thousands of proud South Vietnamese patriots who have nothing but gratitude to the two million soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, and coast guardsmen who fought for their freedom.

In the Persian Gulf, Iraq under Saddam had literally occupied and annexed Kuwait.  It was a coalition with a majority of American troops that freed Kuwait, and to this day, Liberation Day is celebrated throughout the small country.

This country was attacked and over three thousand civilians were slaughtered by Al Qaeda on September 11, 2001, leading the nation’s cream of the crop to the desert once again, this time to fight Al Qaeda and their Taliban supporters.  Nearly ten years later, Americans are still at war in Afghanistan, though there is more stability there now than there ever was during the Soviet War and the reigns of terror from 1992-2001.  Ahmed Shah Massoud was the last holdout against the Taliban, Al Qaeda, and their Pakistani Army allies.  Massoud led the Northern Alliance against these jihadist armies, and under his administration, children were educated, women’s rights were upheld, and everyone’s human rights were upheld.  At the same time, bodies were regularly hanging from windowsills and light poles in Kabul where the Taliban ruled.  Massoud was killed one month before the U.S. invasion, but the spirit and traditions of the Northern Alliance continue.  Its civil leaders today hold many positions in the Afghan government, despite the corruption introduced by various ex-warlords.  Most of its guerrillas are proud members of the Afghan National Army.

In 2003 the, bad intelligence and poor Executive Branch leadership spawned the Iraq War.  The toppling of Saddam’s regime was easy.  Nation building was a nightmare, as an angry Al Qaeda ousted from Afghanistan and envious jihadists from around the Middle East now found a new battleground on which to wage their perverted holy war against America.  The war initially was a mistake, but Americans realized that they could not create chaos and then abandon an entire population; something had to come out of the Iraq War in order to stop April 1975 from ever happening again.  Eight years later, the United States and Iraq have paid a heavy price for freedom.  The rate of casualties dwindles as the Iraqi Army and Police are able to crush the dying insurgency on their own.

The Taliban are not yet defeated, though more desert and return home every day.  Someday the war will be over, and decades from now Iraq and Afghanistan will be to the Middle East what South Korea is today in East Asia: prosperous and democratic, all at a heavy price.

Memorial Day is about those who fought and died for America’s freedom, and so that other oppressed people around the world may know a similar freedom.  Remember that those who came home missing arms, legs, and eyes, and those who never made it home at all, were somebody’s loved ones.  They were OUR loved ones.  They were our fathers, sons, brothers, husbands, sisters, mothers, and daughters.  They are still loved by those they left behind, and it is the responsibility of every American, as well as every person whose freedom came from America, that some nineteen year old kid enlisted and fought, and died in a mud hole so that we wouldn’t get drafted; so that we could spend Memorial Day barbequing hamburgers and hot dogs with our families instead of spending every day in a labor camp, or dead under six feet of earth.

Most Americans have read the following poem, but have usually taken it for granted.

It is the VETERAN,

Not the preacher,

Who has given us freedom of religion.

It is the VETERAN,

Not the reporter,

Who has given us freedom of the press.

It is the VETERAN,

Not the poet,

Who has given us freedom of speech.

It is the VETERAN,

Not the campus organizer,

Who has given us freedom to assemble.

It is the

VETERAN,

Not the lawyer,

Who has given us the right to a fair trial.

It is the VETERAN,

Not the politician,

Who has given us the right to vote.

It is the VETERAN

Who salutes the Flag.

It is the VETERAN

Who serves under the Flag,

ETERNAL REST GRANT THEM O LORD,

AND LET PERPETUAL LIGHT SHINE UPON THEM.

--Anonymous

“If you are able,

save them a place

inside of you

and save one backward glance

when you are leaving

for the places they can

no longer go.

Be not ashamed to say

you loved them,

though you may

or may not have always.

Take what they have left

and what they have taught you

with their dying

and keep it with your own.

And in that time

when men decide and feel safe

to call the war insane,

take one moment to embrace

those gentle heroes

you left behind.”

--MAJ Michael Davis O’Donnell, KIA 24 MAR 1970, Cambodia

It is time to bring this Memorial Day message to a close so that this author may spend the afternoon with his family.  To all those who fought and died so that others may simply have a chance… thank you.

Why I Don’t Celebrate Cinco de Mayo

By Zach Foster

I fail to see how and why any self-respecting Mexican-American would feel pride in celebrating a “holiday” that has little or no symbolic value and absolutely no cultural or social value as it is celebrated in the United States.  Cinco de Mayo—or Drinko de Mayo, as it is known by police departments throughout the U.S. and by their annual overnight guests—is more of an insult to our culture than words can express.

Contrary to popular belief, May 5^th is NOT the Mexican Independence Day (that’s the 16^th of September), but rather the date of the Battle of Puebla, in which the Mexican Army defeated the invading French Army.  As cool as this may sound (mostly because the French violated the Monroe Doctrine and deserved the 1866 uprising they got), this victory, which was of little strategic importance, is belittled by the fact that the Mexican army LOST THE WAR.  The loss of the war to the French led to the formation of the Second Mexican Empire with Austrian Archduke Maximilian established as Emperor of Mexico.  Celebrating one victorious battle in a lost war is akin so Southerners throwing a party to commemorate the First Battle of Bull Run despite a certain indiscretion that occurred in April of 1865, or of Americans celebrating how much Viet Cong tail was kicked during the Tet Offensive, despite the fall of South Vietnam seven years later.  Clearly this fake holiday, which has little to commemorate, is simply an excuse to party.  This is nothing special, since my friends and I party all the time anyway.

The original purpose of inventing the holiday was to introduce Chicano studies into school curriculum—an honorable endeavor, since Mexican-Americans have made great contributions to this country’s history and traditions.  Countless Chicanos in this country are teachers, firefighters, police officers, and statesmen, and countless Chicanos have demonstrated their patriotism to the U.S.A. in combat, from the mountains of Korea and the jungles of Vietnam to the deserts of Afghanistan and Iraq—not to mention the earlier wars in which they aided the Stars and Stripes and even the Stars and Bars (ever heard of Texas and Florida?).  Being one of the largest ethnic groups in the country, it is absolutely beneficial for the sake of cultural and historical understanding that Chicanos are represented in school curriculum.  Unfortunately, celebrating September the 16^th is too much of a pain in the neck because it falls at the beginning of the school year—bad time for a holiday—and is also shadowed by the lingering sadness of September 11^th.

What Chicanos should have gotten and what they actually got is very different and unfortunate.  Even within Mexico, Cinco de Mayo is only regionally celebrated—mostly within the state of Puebla—and not for the purpose of cultural enrichment but more as a reminder of a historical event—akin to having a barbeque following the local Civil War reenactment, though a barbeque less spectacular than those on July 4^th and Labor Day.  Unfortunately, within the United States this has led to foolhardy celebrations of the abstract.  Some are rather tasteful festivals in which dancers, artists, and cooks display the regional art forms and cuisine native to Puebla (which is already done in Puebla and by descendants of Puebla emigrants—and on a greater scale—on September 16^th and Day of the Dead).  Unfortunately, the vast majority of Cinco de Mayo celebrations in the States are foolish efforts at cultural enrichment, spearheaded by Chicano nationalists whose ignorance is matched only by their militancy, in which tacos and burritos are consumed in a Roman fashion, followed by downing as many bottles of Dos Equis, Tecate, and Corona as humanly possible, with the hopes of dodging both law enforcement and alcohol poisoning.

This does a huge disservice to our Mexican-American culture, whose only spokesmen in the United States seem to be: 1) comedian George Lopez—who frequently has me in stitches—whose comedy and cultural jokes I love and appreciate, but whose loudly proclaimed politics do NOT remotely match mine, nor those of most Mexican-Americans; 2) the serial adulterer and crony collector Antonio Villaraigosa; and 3) the ultra-leftist university professors who try their best to resolve their Chicano Nationalism with their fanatical faith in Marxism and international socialism.  I’d rather stay in touch with my ethnic heritage on my own terms, independent of the above vanguards.  I do this whenever I mix my own Jamaica drink, when I agree with some of Rudy Acuña’s theses and disagree with others, and when I keep up with the relatives over Facebook.  Though the drug war has kept me away from the old country for over three years, my family and I make a point to visit the relatives south of the border as often as possible.  This is what it is to be Mexican-American, NOT going out of my way to reinforce every negative stereotype about Mexicans on Drinko de Mayo.

I don’t know about anyone else, but I don’t need a holiday to get drunk or to eat only a small sampling of Mexican food.  When I feel like eating some delicious chile rellenos or quesadillas made with Menonite cheese, I’ll do it simply because I want to.  Though I am technically keeping the culture alive when I drink horchata or watch a Cantinflas film (I recommend El Padrecito), I do them simply because I want to and have the liberty to do so, not because I feel some overwhelming sense of duty to keep the culture alive.

Being an American, I’m a man of many cultures.  My primary culture is the industry-driven, cheeseburger-eating, car driving 9-to-5 Anglo culture.  This is my daily life and the norm for my countrymen.  Then there is my ethnic culture, which I observe around the household, with family members, and with other Mexican-Americans.  When I’m neither eating a Big Mac and discussing the joke that is the contemporary U.S. Congress, I’m enjoying a plate of Pad Thai noodles and Pad Soo Eu, washing them down with either a Thai Ice Tea or a Singha.  When I have the time, I’ll watch some of my favorite Asian films—most of them from South Korea—such as Tae Guk Gi, JSA, and 71: Into the Fire.  Many a Saturday night have I spent enjoying various rolls at the Sushi Bars in Rowland Heights (jokingly called Asian Heights by its proud inhabitants and their neighbors from Hacienda Heights).  When I drink beer with the boys, I prefer a Belgian white ale and fondly remember the breweries whose magical elixirs I sampled in Germany, Belgium, and Luxemburg when I wasn't admiring cathedrals and museums.  Furthermore, I’m not alone in this uniquely American  multiculturalism.  Therefore, why do we need to invent useless holidays when we observe cultural rites every day?