Are you aware of the following letter? The real tragedy is the circumstances that prompted this young Naval officer to send this letter to the Majority leader of our U.S. Senate! This is from an Academy List April 21. If you question its authenticity, it is easy to check.
An open letter to Senator Reid on his declaration of defeat
April 21, 2007
Senator Reid:
When you say we've lost in Iraq, I don't think you understand the effect of your words. The Iraqis I speak with are the good guys here, fighting to build a stable government. They hear what you say, but they don't understand it. They don't know about the political game, they don't know about a presidential veto, and they don't know about party politics.
But they do know that if they help us, they are noticed by terrorists and extremists. They decide to help us if they think we can protect them from those terrorists. They tell us where caches of weapons are hidden. They call and report small groups of men who are strangers to the neighborhood, men that look the same to us, but are obvious to them as a foreign suicide cell.
To be brief, your words are killing us. Your statements make the Iraqis afraid to help us for fear we'll leave them unprotected in the future. They don't report a cache, and its weapons blow up my friends in a convoy. They don't report a foreign fighter, and that fighter sends a mortar onto my base. Your statements are noticed, and they have an effect.
Finally, you are mistaken when you say we are losing. We are winning, I see it every day. However, we will win with fewer casualties if you help us. Will you?
Respectfully,
Lt. Jason Nichols, USN
MNF-I, Baghdad
I sincerely trust you will expose your readers to this letter. With heavy heart, I pass it on.
Rev. George B. Scripture, Retired
Warsaw, via e-mail
Editor's Note: The letter from Lt. Jason Nichols is authentic. Nichols is a Naval officer who is currently serving in Baghdad. He also oversees a grassroots effort recently launched by a group of active-duty servicemen and women hoping to communicate to Congress "the troops' desire to remain in Iraq" until the mission is complete.
The effort - AppealforCourage.org - has been collecting signatures for a petition that reads:
As an American currently serving my nation in uniform, I respectfully urge my political leaders in Congress to fully support our mission in Iraq and halt any calls for retreat. I also respectfully urge my political leaders to actively oppose media efforts, which embolden my enemy while demoralizing American support at home. The War in Iraq is a necessary and just effort to bring freedom to the Middle East and protect America from further attack.
