Henri Reynard Speaks Out

United We Stand, Or Is It Untied?

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Unity can be a good thing, it just doesn't happen very often in a democracy, nor does it tend to last for very long when it does happen. Like most nations we tend to be more or less united against any common enemy. Perhaps that is why every candidate for President has some kind of proposal that defines what the common enemy is for that day. Sometimes there is an opportunity to unite the nation handed to a President that cannot be ignored. This President's opportunity came early in his administration. The wind that blew away his oath of office had barely dissipated when the terrorist attack occurred. He used it to unite the nation in a way seldom experienced. I joined in and supported most of the efforts made in Congress to strengthen this nation during the crisis as did most of us. I disagreed with some of the rules suspended by the Justice Department and was annoyed and amused at the same time by Ashcroft's need to drape the boobs of the statue of justice. I remember making some crass comment about draping the boobs on the Supreme Court but that was as divisive as I got during that period.

No more, I am no longer restrained by the need to maintain a single perspective in order to let our enemies know that we are united. Nor do I feel it is incumbent on me to support our troops by agreeing that they should be taking a class in managing looters after soundly whipping the Republican Guard. I'm glad they won without more casualties, now I want them to come home safe and well. We need them too much to keep them at risk for long in a country united in one thing, they want us out of there soon. I know that our President wants to be seen as a uniter and not a divider but did he have to do such a good job of uniting the Shiites and Sunis against our presence?

Iraq is the purview of the Iraqi people, The President has said as much, now let him live up to that and remove our troops soon. I would be far more comfortable with the UN running the peacekeeping effort in Iraq than leaving our troops there so that Haliburton and Bechtel can keep getting contracts for the rebuilding effort. Let our allies get a piece of that pie and even our former allies if they adjust their attitudes a bit. It is blood money anyway, and we as the nation that shed most of the Iraqi blood lost in this war need to be careful, very, very careful about those funds. The UN would clean up a lot of the image problems we could develop as a conqueror if we let it. I know it is popular right now to act disdainful of the nations that did not support us in this war. That is the emotion in the American street, but we need to curb our emotions, we are too powerful for tantrums and emotional fits. We are the most powerful nation on the planet and it ill becomes us to indulge in too much jingoism as a means of expelling our anger at 9/11 and more recent events in the UN.

I am as proud of this nation as any rebel yelling Texan and as grateful that we have invested in weapons systems and technology that make our troops so effective in war. I also understand the problems of families trying to survive the loss of an income while the troops are away fighting the war. It is hard to lose an income, which is not replaced by what we pay our troops. It is harder to lose the time and support of one parent in the endless effort to raise a family. We need those young people at home as soon as possible and if we need to compromise with the UN in order to accomplish that without losing Iraq to chaos that is a very small price to pay.

I know the urge to stand triumphant on the hill after winning the battle for the top. Crowing might notify the hens that you are on top but it also lets the other roosters find you easier. If Syria is not an objective militarily as we are being told, then we need to remove as many of our troops as we can as fast as we can. We need to do that in order to reduce costs both to the nation and to the families that are the reason these people fight for all of us. Yes I want the Iraqi people to have a chance at freedom, but that is their process to carry out with help from the international community. Iraqi Freedom can be better done through the world community supporting the peace effort than it can be by us alone. The cost to us, and our troops, will be considerably lightened if we do it that way and Iraq will tolerate it better.

Greater unity in the world will benefit us all in the war on terror, which is nowhere near over. In pursuit of unity in the world I have untied my tongue and intend to leave it loosed. This does not imply that I no longer believe in our nation united, it merely means I believe that even in unity of purpose we must pursue diversity of opinion. It is the American way and it is why we are so great and powerful a nation. The power of our people untied, freed to have opinions that differ with those of our leaders is far greater than the power of any people united behind dictated policies. Untied and United, we stand proud of our rights, and we always will!