There Was a Global War on Terror?

I have earned an award which recognizes my service in a war that doesn’t exist, at least as far as some Democrats in the House of Representatives are concerned.

According to a March 27th House Armed Services Committee memo penned by the new Democratic leadership, the term “global war on terror” is not to be used.

So, what in the world am I to do with the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal I was awarded for my service in Iraq?

If the war doesn’t exist, should the medal also not exist?

The same memo calls the term “global war on terrorism” a “colloquialism.”

So should we change the name of the medal to the “Colloquialism Medal?” That’s a whole lot of medals to change for all of us who’ve served to fight terrorism throughout the world and been awarded the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal. We’d also have to change all the Global War on Terrorism Service Medals for those who’ve earned that award.

“Colloquialism Medal,” sounds like something I should have gotten for stellar performance in high school English, rather than something awarded for combat operations. Maybe I should have a picture of Walt Whitman etched on mine instead?

Or better yet, maybe I should have an ostrich with its head stuck in the sand engraved on mine and have it sent to Nancy Pelosi.

The incredible level of ignorance she possesses about the threats in the world today surely makes her and at least a few others worthy of some type of award.

The members of the House Armed Services Committee probably also deserve a copy of the ostrich medal. Obviously they weren’t aware of the awards so many military members who have fought in the war on terror, whom they have been specifically designated to represent, have earned. Of any group in Washington D.C., one would have thought they would have been better informed at least on this one issue.

However, making the assumption that some members of the House and Senate understand the threat from worldwide terrorists could earn one a medal engraved with a donkey. Not for political affiliation, but for being naive enough to assume such a thing and becoming what the old saying tells us we are after making such an assumption.

The memo may be worthy of the ostrich medal, but it’s also a Democratic strategy.

In pursuing defeat in Iraq, they’ve tried to dissect the war on terror into unrelated, individual actions. This allows them to deny the fact that we daily battle Al Qaeda in Iraq and doesn’t recognize it as part of the war on terror, thereby making that part of the war being fought in Iraq unworthy of prosecution.

It allows them to make Iraq a separate issue, which in turn makes their pursuit of defeat in Iraq more palatable to the public.

The fact that so many want to precipitously pull out of Iraq, while completely disregarding the reality of Al Qaeda there, makes them worthy of the ostrich medal. Because if Al Qaeda isn’t worth fighting in Iraq and we can afford to stick our heads in the sand with regard to the danger posed by leaving them unchecked, why are we fighting them anywhere in the world?

Maybe we should assume that Al Qaeda’s simply not a threat anymore. However, making that assumption would qualify one for both the ostrich and the donkey medals.

If we’re not willing to fight Al Qaeda in Iraq, are we as a nation on the way to losing the courage necessary for confronting them? How close to home do they have to come before we again concede the threat exists if we won’t acknowledge it elsewhere?

But it’s not just Iraq where Pelosi and friends are wrong.

Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Syria solidifies her lack of knowledge concerning the threats from terrorists in the world. The road to peace leads through Damascus? Surely you jest Ms. Pelosi.

To have made such a statement, she must be completely unaware that Syria is one of the world’s largest sponsors of terrorism, being critical to the existence of Hamas, Hezbollah, and a conduit for Al Qaeda into Iraq.

However, if she sees capitulation to those groups intent on destroying peace-loving nations as a means to achieving peace, then yes, by all means, the road to peace would lead through Damascus.

It’s probably the same road that Al Qaeda takes into Iraq to attack our troops. It’s probably the same road that also leads Hezbollah into Lebanon for its attacks against Israel. Maybe she should be consulting someone or something other than Map Quest and Rand McNally to figure out where that road really leads.

In the end, she is deserving of some type of an award for being seemingly lost to what’s happening in the world today.

But I’d have to contract with someone else to make her the ostrich medal. No way is she getting a remade version of my Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal. I’m keeping mine.

To send it back would bring me down to the same level as John Kerry who sent his medals back, via the White House lawn.