It was Winston Churchill who stated with steely-eyed determination, in the face of Nazi Germany in the dark days prior to World War II, that “appeasement is feeding the crocodile and hoping he eats you last.”
"As a 9/11 Pentagon “survivor” who lost twenty-seven “shipmates” on that fateful day, I view the current situation in Iran and our yet to be determined response with deep skepticism.
"Prior to 9/11 and the highest loss of American lives since Pearl Harbor, our intelligence establishment had the exact location of Osama bin Laden pinpointed several times, to the point that we could have taken him out by a number of means. The only thing lacking was the political will and resolve by the National Command Authority (NCA) to give the green light to execute the mission. The trigger was not pulled, as there was always “hope” that he could be dealt with under more favorable conditions.
"Fast-forward some twenty years, and we continue to appease our adversary in the Middle East: Iran. The current administration’s intransigence and hand-wringing have only exacerbated a volatile situation, and now we have needlessly lost the lives of three more American service members. As with Osama bin Laden, we may “hope” Iran’s proxies are reined in, but as I learned as a young military officer, “hope is never a strategy.”
"In my office I have a photograph signed by the twenty-seven of my former office mates who were lost in the Pentagon on 9/11. When I see their faces staring back at me each day, I can only wonder: if a previous administration had taken the risk and acted decisively, would they still be here with their families and loved ones, and not standing the watch for perpetuity in the Pentagon Navy Command Center?" . . .
Our political system cannot seem to breed good leaders. If we get an effective leadership it seems to be merely the luck of the draw. TD
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