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January 11, 2006
"Person of the Year...."
Over at Down East Blog, Michael has awarded his Person of the Year award to...
The American Soldier.
To me the Most Outstanding Person Of 2005 is still The American Soldier, whether Army or USMC. I don’t doubt the professionalism and courage of airmen and sailors alike, but I think it is clear that in this conflict the foot soldier bears the brunt of the fighting.
Did I tell you Michael is Belgiun?
Perhaps being from Europe gives him perspective that some Americans do not have. All too many nowadays want to quit Iraq since things didn't turn out all rosy immediately. Michael, however, knows that democracy doesn't take root easily. After pointing out that Iraq has not only never known a pluralistic form of government but just emerged from fifty years of Ba'athist hell, he asks us not to lose heart:
Therefore I would urge our American readers, who are all too aware of the blood, sweat and tears shed by your troops and their relatives, not to lose heart. For rule of law and democratic representation to take hold and blossom is in fact a very quaint and tough, if not unlikely event.
Iraq is difficult, yes, and much hard work remains to be done. Success is not assured, either.
But, as he reminds us, success in post-war Germany was not seen as a sure thing at the time, either. Headlines of the day warned of failure.
Yet Americans believed. With what now seems sheer improbable good will and vast amounts of that unique American "can-do" spirit, they took to the task of implementing democratic rule in Germany, when in 1946 nearby Czechoslowakia passed the so-called Benes-Decree, named after its president, which effectively ruled the deportation of a couple of million ethnic Germans, and which was thought of by the free world as a non-issue, or rather as something deserved.Yet Americans believed.
Thank you, Michael. Despite the naysayers that get all of the news, most Americans do still believe.
Go read the whole thing.
Posted by Tom at January 11, 2006 8:53 PM
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Comments
Thanks Tom.
Although I admit I sometimes wonder if I have the right to talk like that, given that I'm sitting here safely and comfortably.
Posted by: Outlaw Mike at January 17, 2006 4:54 PM
