Noble Cause

by William J. Stuntz - December 6, 2005 - The New Republic (Online)

Brief Wars Rarely Produce Lasting Results.
Long Wars Often Do.

In 1861 Abraham Lincoln led what was left of his country to war to restore "the Union as it was," to use the popular phrase of the time. Free navigation of the Mississippi River, the right to collect customs duties in Southern ports, the status of a pair of coastal forts in South Carolina and Florida--these were the issues over which young American men got down to the business of killing one another that sad summer.

It was all a pipe dream. "The Union as it was" was gone, forever. Events proved William Tecumseh Sherman--the prophet of that war--right, and everyone else wrong: An ocean of blood would be required to reunite the United States, and once that blood was spilled, the country over which James Buchanan had presided was as dead as the soldiers whose corpses littered the battlefields of Shiloh and Gettysburg, Antietam and Cold Harbor.

Reading this article by professor Stuntz is both sad and inspiring.

It is sad that we are so much at risk of the pessimists and appeasers having their way and demanding that we pull our forces out of Iraq. American troops won every battle in Vietnam but had the victory stolen from them by those who would not fight. We gave away South Vietnam to satisfy the appeasers. Millions of Vietnamese died and were tortured because of that shameful chapter in our history. Once again the left wing appeasers are determined that they will not let us win. This time it is Iraq at risk.

However this article explains the reason we have to stay in Iraq and win better than most can say it. It covers an amazing history of a nation that has paid the price for freedom and democracy. The listing of the powerful commitements to ideals greater than self, the legacy of the men who fought our battles, the glory they achieved for themselves and our nation, will make any patriot proud. We must not forget that this time the legacy of defeat will almost certainly be nuclear bombs exploding in our cities.

This is a very special article that everyone should read.