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Armies Don’t Win Wars; Nations Do
One of the most important things my friend Scott, a former Marine and a Lt. Commander in the Naval Reserve, taught me about war is that it takes an entire nation to win one. When a country goes to war, the entire nation goes–not just the soldiers. He said, “Armies don’t win wars; nations do.”
This fundamental truth is playing out in the Iraq war. Our military is not losing in Iraq. As I have said before, we have never lost a battle there. We have a superior force with superior tactical equipment and superior weaponry. In fact, there is not a standing army fighting us. The enemy is a bunch of terrorists who are attempting to blow up as many innocent people as possible. We will not lose the war militarily.
The only place we are “losing” is in the national debate. The American people have grown tired of the endless headlines of IED’s and suicide bombers. (Of course, the national media could be running headlines of heroic sacrifice and progress in the surge.) The majority leader of the Senate has said that the war is lost. All of the Democratic candidates for president, and not a few Republicans, have essentially said the same thing.
It is time for us to do our part. We must arm ourselves with the facts and start contributing to the national discussion. Things are turning around in Iraq. Our troops are asking us to let them finish the job. The Iraqis are even asking us to stay.
In addition to the Democrats, there is someone (or some thing) that does not want us in Iraq: Al Qaeda. And they are now the main enemy we are fighting.
Yes, that Al Qaeda. 
The one headed by Osama Bin Laden whose declaration of war on the U.S. led to the bombing of our embassies, the attack on the U.S.S. Cole and culminated in the 9/11 attacks. Yes, that Al Qaeda. The one that the liberals have agreed was based out of Afghanistan thus justifying our attack (and continuing presence) in that country but, they claim, had no connection to Iraq. Therefore, the now discredited liberal syllogism goes, we are fighting an “unjust” war there. Even if it were true that Iraq had no connection to Al Qaeda before the war (which it did), the fact is we are fighting Al Qaeda there now. We are smashing its fighters and decapitating its leadership.
It is time that we spoke the truth. We are on the side of Right. We have done an incredibly virtuous thing by overthrowing a dictator who had shown a propensity for murdering his own people. We have liberated 25 million people from the grip of tyranny. Our military did an incredibly virtuous thing by protecting a country while it drafted and ratified its own Constitution and elected its own leaders in three free and democratic elections. And they are continuing to do incredibly virtuous work.
As for the war, we are winning.
We are Americans, we don’t lose wars. We only lose our will to win.
Our brave men and women in Iraq are doing their part. It is time that we do ours. Support the surge dot com!