But I've been struck by the recent ad campaign launched by former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer and his Freedom Watch organization. One of the 30-second spots was aired on Hardball Wednesday (you can view it below). In the ad, a veteran steps out from his house on two artificial legs, and tells us that if we withdraw from Iraq now, all his sacrifice would be for nothing. The scene shifts immediately to a plane ramming into the Trade Center, and the veteran asserts "They attacked us, and they will again! They won't stop in Iraq!".
The young veteran was eloquent and moving. You can't help but feel for him. When Hardball's Mike Barnicle asked Fleischer for the man's name, the former Press Secretary unfortunately did not know.
I looked up his name. It is Sgt. John Kriesel. You can visit his web site by clicking on his name. He lost his legs when an IED exploded under his humvee. He's a brave young man, and admirably proud of his country.
I thought about sending an email to John, but I couldn't do it. John has enough problems, and he sure doesn't need me. But I wish I could talk to him, because I have a couple of things to say. I'm going to write them down here, and perhaps somehow, in this electronic environment, it may find its way to the right place at the right time.
Dear Sergeant Kriesel,
I'm not sending you this email, because I respect you too much to bother you with my petulant emotions. But please forgive me, because I need to get them off my chest.
First, I want to deal quickly with this stuff about "They attacked us here". John, that's just poison. If you pay any attention, you know that's just the lie that has everyone so upset. Mike Barnicle's comment to Ari Fleischer was to the point: "How many Iraqis were on the planes that hit the twin towers?" You know so much better than I what a serious thing war is. We need to at least keep track of who did what.
But I was most affected by your claim that all your sacrifices would be for nothing if we leave. I cannot imagine the depth of your sacrifice, and I defer to it more than I can express. But I cannot accept that your courage to wear the uniform into harm's way, suffer extreme injury, and battle back with inspiring will, needs any embellishment from the outcome of Congressional roll calls.
We live in an extraordinary age. In the last century, even through Viet Nam, we seemed to fight sub-human caricatures instead of people, and even with newsreels and television, the wars were far away. So much has changed. Hundreds of satellite signals transmit from all over the world. Internet communities are born spanning multiple continents. Globalization, with all its flaws, has moved us and interchanged us, and we're getting to know one another as never before.
As we intermingle, there are many clashes and outbursts, but the better we know someone, the more likely we are to be tolerant, on the whole. In America, we've had many failures, but we've bumped up against blacks and Indians for many years, and have finally begun to learn something. Men have bumped up against women for even longer, and that's changed as well. We have changed so much in so short a time, and there is so much potential for both good and ill. The debate now underway will say a lot about where we may be headed.
John, I want to help. I want to believe that we have the potential to mature beyond the boundaries of fear, and begin to examine ourselves and our objectives in the light of common humanity. And finally, America should let humanity speak for itself, and we should listen.
I am very grateful for your service, and am saddened by your difficulties. I'm very glad that we've met you, and I've been inspired. Yours is a powerful voice in this debate, and I know you take that responsibility very seriously. I hope you will at least take a moment to consider what I, in my passionate ignorance, might do in your place.
Donald Weed
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