Beat Harry Reid In Nevada In 2010

OPEN LETTER TO SENATOR HARRY REID

MAJORITY LEADER, UNITED STATES SENATE

September 24, 2009

Dear Senator Reid,
Four Marines were killed on September 8th as a direct result of the Administration’s Rules of Engagement, because they were not given the air support they requested! A story appearing in McClatchy Newspapers, written by Jonathan S. Landay, provides a chilling account, detailing the circumstances surrounding the deaths of these four U.S. Marines.  A quote from that article follows:

“U.S. commanders, citing new rules to avoid civilian casualties, rejected repeated calls to unleash artillery rounds at attackers dug into the slopes and tree lines — despite being told repeatedly that they weren’t near the village.

“We are pinned down. We are running low on ammo. We have no air. We’ve lost today,” Marine Maj. Kevin Williams, 37, said through his translator to his Afghan counterpart, responding to the latter’s repeated demands for helicopters.

“Four U.S. Marines were killed Tuesday, the most U.S. service members assigned as trainers to the Afghan National Army to be lost in a single incident since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion. Eight Afghan troops and police and the Marine commander’s Afghan interpreter also died in the ambush and the subsequent battle that raged from dawn until 2 p.m. around this remote hamlet in eastern Kunar province, close to the Pakistan border. “

The full McClatchy Newspaper story can be read online at: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/336/story/75036.html

Unbeknownst to the American public at the time these Marines were killed, General Stanley A. McChrystal, U.S. Commander for Afghanistan, had submitted his assessment of the Afghanistan war to Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates on August 30, 2009, nine days prior to these four Marines’ deaths.  Thanks to Bob Woodward of The Washington Post, General McChrystal’s assessment was published in The Washington Post on September 21, 2009.  In that assessment, General McChrystal warns:

“…that without more forces and the rapid implementation of a genuine counterinsurgency strategy, defeat is likely. McChrystal describes an Afghan government riddled with corruption and an international force undermined by tactics that alienate civilians.”

The Washington Post describes General McChrystal’s assessment this way:  “The top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan warns in an urgent, confidential assessment of the war that he needs more forces within the next year and bluntly states that without them, the eight-year conflict “will likely result in failure,” according to a copy of the 66-page document obtained by The Washington Post.  The full Washington Post story can be read online at:  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/20/AR2009092002920.html

I ask, what could possibly be more important than the very lives of our men and women in uniform serving in Afghanistan?  What issue before the Senate and House chambers could possibly take precedence over the lives of our service members serving in harm’s way?  In my humble opinion, absolutely nothing is more important.

The White House, House of Representatives and United States Senate must vigorously and immediately commence debate regarding our strategy in Afghanistan and make the determination as to whether or not our nation is going to support General McChrystal’s request for additional troops, additional equipment and additional funds to enable our service members to effectively and victoriously complete their mission in the Afghanistan, or whether we are going to withdraw our troops and conclude that they cannot succeed in their mission as defined by the Administration in March of 2009.  Time is critical in making this determination, and not one additional American service member should be sacrificed during this period of debate.  The situation in Afghanistan is of vital importance and is, literally, a matter of life and death.

I implore you to exercise your power as Senate Majority Leader to suspend all debate in the Senate on any issue other than resolving our national position in Afghanistan.  Health care reform, energy reform, climate change, financial reform, immigration reform … all issues currently considered urgent in Washington, D.C. … are all issues which, in reality, pale in comparison to determining how we most effectively protect the lives of our men and women serving in combat in Afghanistan.

My blood boiled listening to Mark Murray, NBC News Deputy Political Director, discussing the situation on Afghanistan on Wednesday, September 23, 2009, wherein he described the President as being in a “political box” as a result of the military’s assessment which requested additional troops versus the position held by many in his own political party.  Murray, unbelievably, went on to say “… you’re probably not going to get a decision until after health care is done, and that probably won’t be until November or so.”  That juxtaposition of priorities is wholly unacceptable, and I speak for the American people who do not believe nor want health care reform to take precedence over a determination that affects the lives of our sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, and brothers and sisters in uniform. Our service members in combat deserve more attention from our elected officials and America will not stand for anything less.

I call upon you to show true leadership and immediately schedule Senate debate on the future strategy for the war in Afghanistan.  The lives of our service members must not be subject to political convenience; but rather, the decisions regarding our service members in combat are a matter of immediate national security.  The truth of the matter is, our service members in Afghanistan operate in unwarranted perilous danger due to lack of clarity from our leaders, and it is incumbent upon our elected officials to provide clarity at the earliest possible moment.

We must not repeat a Nixon-style “decent interval” where we allow our American troops to be sacrificed while a politically-palatable “defeat with honor” is contrived.   Our elected officials can either:  (1) support fully General McChrystal’s request in its entirety; (2) return all American forces to safe bases, establish a 35-mile perimeter around those bases and authorize unconstrained shoot-to kill engagement orders of anyone attempting to penetrate that perimeter; or (3) begin an immediate and orderly redeployment from Afghanistan.   We must not follow in the footsteps of policymakers from the Viet Nam era by deciding to lose in Afghanistan while, at the same time, continuing to feed our troops into a meat-grinder as a political foil.

This is your opportunity to do the right thing and call upon the United States Senate to honor those who serve in uniform and protect America.  If our elected officials in Washington, D.C. lack the commitment to wage and win this war, then we have a moral obligation to the mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, and children of those service members serving in Afghanistan to remove them from harm’s way.

Sincerely,

Bill Parson

Candidate for U.S. Senate 2010