Guest opinion: Pro-war argument has grown tiresome

Brian Bresnahan, writer of "Another Opinion" (Grand Island Independent, April 19), has just assigned two more American patriots, General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker, to the list of his "liberal bent" antiheroes who, because they want to know when the Iraq War will end, "highlighted their ignorance of warfare."

Tut, tut! General Petraeus asked that question before Capitol Hill testimony and, in asking, highlighted his profound knowledge of war rather than his ignorance of it. The truth is, in asking when the Iraq War will end, Petraeus put himself squarely among the 73 percent of American people who have been asking the question for a long time.

Included in this camp with their "liberal bent" are Republicans and Democrats, Congressmen and women, liberals and conservatives, politicians, military leaders, farmers, teachers, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the clergy and an endless list of others. In spite of the 73 percent statistic, Bresnahan can repeat the old foolishness, "You fight until you win, and you keep fighting when you are winning."

Yet the question now has become: "How do you keep on fighting when you're losing and can't possibly win?" That is the question being asked by Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) -- who is certainly not historically linked with the liberal benders -- in his new book, "America, the Next Chapter," (Harper Collins, 2008). In his book Sen. Hagel makes it clear his vote to authorize the invasion of Iraq was a mistake, (p. 58), and that the Iraq War has been a "disastrous misadventure" (p. 35). 

The tired, retreaded argument of Bresnahan is that, "It is not responsible to allow al-Qaeda a victory in Iraq." Ho hum!  Sen. Hagel: "There was never any reliable evidence or intelligence linking Saddam Hussein and (to) al-Qaeda or any terrorist group." (p. 50). Al-Qaeda has become the whipping boy to justify everything about Iraq by "Bush administration arrogance and incompetence" (p. 50).

Bresnahan sees nearly everybody, including Sen. Ben Nelson, as being in bed with the liberal benders. I'll tell you, sir, there are a lot of us liberal benders under this bed, with our belief with Hagel that:

"The damage this war has done to our country will play out for years to come. It has eroded our position and influence in the world, severely damaged our military force structure, further destabilized the Middle East, and seriously undermined American's trust in their leaders." (p. 64).

Also: "The results have been one of the greatest foreign fiascoes in the history of our republic, the hemorrhaging of our national treasure and the sacrifice of thousands of young lives in the meat grinder of a Middle East conflict." (Page 4 in Hagel's book).

Not only this, but al-Qaeda was never present in Iraq when we invaded that country but has now become, "… a conflict that has inadvertently, but undeniably, led to the recruitment of new terrorists who have, in turn, spawned new terror cells all over the world." (p. 79).

I'll tell you one more thing: There are a lot of us veterans under this bed, and that includes both active and retired. Count them! Veterans Against the War, Disabled Marine Corps Veterans Against the War, the "Johnny" veterans of the American Legion, along with mother's groups and a good many student groups, as well as denominational bodies and no less than Pope Benedict XVI.

Bresnahan and I can write about the Iraq War "blunders" (p. 5 in Hagel's book), but that war will end only when the American people rise up and demand it end and vote accordingly. Then Bresnahan and I can sit down peacefully to a cup of coffee like good Marines do and watch America get on with being what it can and should be without the dogs of war.

Dona nobis pacem, Dona nobis pacem,

Dona nobis pacem, Dona nobis pacem.

Clarence McConkey of Grand Island is a United Methodist minister, writer for various national journals and co-author, with his daughter, of a new book titled "Winds and Small Faces," to be published this summer.