Military must be strong and united or we all are at risk

Patricia Hershwitzky, Las Vegas

Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2009 | 2:01 a.m.

Regarding the Las Vegas Sun’s Saturday editorial “Warning signs missed? Fort Hood shooter, a career Army officer, had shown disturbing behavior”:

From all indications, the signs were not missed. In fact, Nidal Hasan could not have been more obvious in his opposition to the American presence in the Middle East prior to this traitorous act. Former colleagues and documentation provide ample evidence of this man’s inner conflicts and building rage. Yet, he was permitted to continue in the service. Why?

This was a no-win situation for a military that has become increasingly political in its daily operations. Misguided sensitivity and a shift to project our military as an alpha peace corps now clearly supersede the need for our armed forces to appear strong, unified and unwavering in defense of our country.

Meanwhile, as a country, we must once again make a decision. Will we withdraw from the Middle East as we did in Vietnam, or will we pursue victory? This tragically, but realistically, includes horrific warfare and will result even in civilian deaths.

If we choose once again to withdraw, please discharge all of our poor soldiers and sailors and let them go home. They don’t deserve to be the pawns of wishy-washy Americans who have determined that we are the aggressors and deserve to lose.

Personally, I have suffered through the lengthy absences of a career Army father who risked his life in three wars only to be brutally slandered by those he kept liberated; the suicide death of a dear friend who never recovered from Vietnam; and the near death of a nephew who was betrayed in Afghanistan by an organization that was supposed to be our ally.

Yet, more anguishing than all of that is the constant, one-sided barrage of criticism against our country by Americans now in power. Their choice is clear. Either they face the truth of what is really happening, or we all face a series of 9/11s until they do.