One General's opinion

It's long but well worth reading. I remember most of what he's talking about as far as the military.

Rob, MSgt, USAF, Ret


GOD BLESS AMERICA!


LET'S BE SPECIFIC

by Jimmy L. Cash, Brig. Gen., USAF, (ret.)

Due to the thunderous applause that I received from the far-left over
the "I Am Tired" letter written by one of our troops in Iraq, I
thought it prudent to follow up with one last attempt to be very
specific about what I have observed and actually personally
encountered during my 36 years of service to this Great Country. This
will be a one time attempt to reach some of those who are confused by
far-left and their ilk's unethical rantings and give some insight
through my personal experience as a professional military officer over
the years. These examples are but a few. In real life there were many
more which space and time will not allow. As a young fighter pilot,
flying F-4s in Vietnam, I was stopped in my tracks by the decisions
made by Lyndon Johnson and Robert McNamara. I was young and naive, but
even then I knew their daily interference was wrong and would not
allow us to win this thing and go home. Decisions like not allowing us
to strike enemy aircraft while still on the ground, keeping real
targets off the target list, and allowing us to strike only rusted-out
trucks made us basically a toothpick factory. However, the big one for
me came the day I saw the President Lyndon Johnson on television,
forcefully lying to the American people. I'll never forget the
language, "I want to assure the American people that the United States
of America has never, and will never, bomb or use force inside the
borders of Cambodia". On and on he disavowed the reports that this was
happening. I was amazed. Guess where I had put several F-4 loads of
750 pound general purpose bombs every day for the past five days. You
guessed it, Cambodia!!! So much for Mr. Johnson. The only question in
my mind was simply, "Was it just Johnson or was it the methodology of
a particular political party?" I decided to delay answering that
question until more experience was gained.

Years passed, and I ignored politics as much as possible, as a good
military man should. Then came Jimmy Carter. Our young people don't
remember 18% interest rates and 18% inflation, but I'll bet someone in
your family does. That is one really bad thing Carter did for our
country, but it is not the worst. During this period, I was an F-15
Squadron Commander, located at Langley AFB, VA. Jimmy Carter and his
democratic party stopped spare parts procurement for almost every
weapon system in our military, and diverted the funds to social
programs. The F-15 was brand new at the time with leading edge
technology designed to provide air superiority anywhere in the world
on a moments notice. That was my job. I loved it, but guess what? In a
two year period from 1979 to 1981, there was not one day when more
that one-third of my assigned aircraft were flyable. It is amazing the
lengths we went to in those days, cannibalizing parts, expending twice
the time and energy to fix every little item, and still two-thirds of
the birds were always broken because of no spare parts. Had this
country faced a really serious military threat during that time frame,
only Montana Hunters could have saved us. The military had some
equipment, but it was all broken. Do you want to know the really bad
part for me and the young fighter pilots working for me? Our flying
sortie rate was so low that pilot proficiency dropped to dangerous
levels. The accident rate tripled. That obviously was totally
unacceptable, as we were losing expensive airplanes and highly trained
young pilots at a rate comparable to losses seen in actual combat. All
of a sudden, even a Texas Aggie like me began to see a trend.

Forward a few years to 1986. I am an F-16 Wing Commander at MacDill
AFB, Florida, and Ronald Reagan is president. His change in attitude
and policy toward the military had time to fix the spare parts
problem. We were flying 26,000 flying sorties per year out of MacDill
AFB, my aircraft fully mission capable rate (FMC) was above 90%, the
aircraft accident rate was below 1.75 per hundred thousand flying
hours, fighter pilots were flying and proficiency levels were at an
all time high. The United States Air Force was ready to defend this
Wonderful Country. Proof of the pudding is simple. Look what the USAF,
and the military in general, accomplished in Iraq during Desert Storm.
And, they did it in less than 100 hours. Yeah, at this point I was
starting to realize there was a difference in mentality between
Democrats and Republicans, or should I say, the Right and the Left.

Then, came everyone's favorite-Bill Clinton. If there ever was an
individual 180 degrees out of sync with the ideals and the values of
the US military, it was Clinton. He was a known draft dodger, military
hating, self absorbed, unspeakingly shameless and immoral individual,
who the Left managed to elect President of the United States of
America. Clinton's antics in the White House would have brought court
martial, conviction, and Dishonorable Discharge had he been a military
member. We still suffer oral sex on school buses, because the
President told the world it wasn't real sex, and some of our children
believed him. It took a lot of years, but now I became certain. There
is a big difference in the right and the left on all fronts, and for
the first time I started feeling angry and shamed that the majority of
the American people were actually willing to vote for such an
individual.

Sometimes, an abstract such as the following tells the story in very
simple terms: Jane Fonda, Tom Hayden, Lyndon Johnson, Robert McNamara,
Ted Kennedy, Howard Dean, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Michael
Moore, Tim Robbins, Susan Sarandon, Nancy Pelosi, Barbra Boxer, John
Kerry, Benedict Arnold, and the list goes on. America, wake up. Giving
in to the likes of these people and Abraham Lincoln's prediction of
destruction from within just may come true. There is not a country in
the world that can be considered a conventional military threat to the
United States today. However, this country faces a new kind of
threat-one that will not go away. It is a threat even more serious
that WWII, because money, industry and technology will not defeat it.
It is a threat of defeat from within. It is a threat of a faltering
economy because of a lack of resources, or the even the simple threat
of such a loss brought on by terrorism. It is a threat created by the
American people trusting the inept. It is a threat created by the
people wanting change, and perilously believing that the left can
successfully deliver that change. Have you seen anything from the left
that remotely resembles an answer to the Iraq situation? Have you seen
anything more than continued Bush-Bashing? Is that an answer? If there
was ever a need for a strong, well trained military, it is now. THE
LEFT HAS HISTORICALLY DISMANTLED OUR MILITARY IN THE NAME OF
REDISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH FAVORING SOCIAL PROGRAMS. We just cannot
afford to let that happen now. If we do, the entire country will be
bowing to the east several times a day within the next 50 years, maybe
sooner.

Now a final thought meant to upset as many as possible on the
far-left. As you might guess, I don't believe in political
correctness. So, let's look at the facts, not far-left rhetoric
attempting to empower the democratic party. Initially, I was not a
George Bush fan. I am not even a Republican. I normally vote
Republican, because of my total despise of Communism, Socialism and
the far-left in this country. I am a Conservative. However, during his
watch, I feel President Bush just happened to stumble upon the leading
edge of the greatest threat this country has ever faced. Mistakes have
been made, because of the newness of the threat. Overall, the
President has done a superb job dealing the threat, and at the same
time held off the constant ranting, raving, deceitful and malicious
escapades of the far-left attempting to regain political power. IF
THERE WAS EVER A TIME THE COUNTRY NEEDS TO COME TOGETHER AND BACK OUR
PRESIDENT, IT IS RIGHT NOW. WITHOUT CONSENSUS WE ARE EMPOWERING THE
TERRORIST!!!! The far-left is totally absorbed with the power struggle
and regaining control of congress. They could care less about
defeating the threat. It literally disgusts me to hear the constant
disagreement with everything the President tries to do, all in the
name of trying to make him look bad to the voters. Unfortunately, by
the time the American people really appreciate how bad the far-left
really is, it may too late.

What are the real facts? On the home front this country's economy is
the strongest that it has been in my lifetime. Interest rates are as
low as they were when I was in high school forty years ago. Inflation
does not exist for all practical purposes. For you youngster's, please
remember the Jimmy Carter comments? The Dow is approaching 13,000.
Unemployment is nonexistent. Wages are at an all time high. Home
ownership is at an all time high. Taxes have been lowered to an almost
acceptable level. Because of the surging economy the deficient is
under control and projected to go away far ahead of schedule. The
far-left is rich beyond its wildest dreams, so Mr. President when are
you going to "fix" all these domestic problems? Bob and George, give
me a break!!!!

On the war front this country has not been touched since 2001. I
remember being part of a seminar at the USAF War College in 1983
discussing the terrorist threat. There were some good minds at that
table and a lot of disagreement. However, one common thought was that
the US would be hit within the next five years. Answers to the
terrorist threat were just as hard to come by then as they are now.
Well, it took a little longer than the projection, but the attack
occurred. For an old military guy like me, the main point here is that
it has not happened again.

We have suckered the bad guys into entering the fight some where other
than in our country. To hell with political correctness. The President
can't say this, but I sure can. I smile every morning when I get up
and realize that one of our great cities has not been blown away. And,
there is zero doubt in my mind that if we pull out of Iraq
prematurely, that will happen within a short period of time after our
departure. I don't care what you might think of President Bush
personally. He has done the best he can with what he has, and this
country is not smoking because of it. So, back off McLean and
McClellan. You honestly don't have a clue about what you are talking
about. Call me, and I will tell you what I really think.

I realize there are different points of view on war, and I do not
believe the meek will inherit the earth, at least not in the next few
hundred years. To those like McClellan, McLean, poor Eve Kyes and
Sinowa Cruz let me say, "This is a strong country!!!" It has survived
the uneducated thinking of the far-left before, and I'll just bet it
will again. Regardless of who is President, the people will not
tolerate mass explosions on a daily basis, as our good friends in
Israel have been forced to do. To protect that position of power, even
Hillary will be forced to become a true hawk. To guarantee a few more
votes Ted Kennedy may be forced to begin supporting a strong military.
One more attack on America might even wipe the giddy,
I-am-finally-somebody' grin from Nancy Pelosi's face, and make her
realize that is not about votes and personal power. IT IS ABOUT
PROTECTING THIS GREAT COUNTRY FROM ALL ENEMIES, BOTH FOREIGN AND
DOMESTIC.

Jimmy L. Cash, Brig. Gen., USAF, (ret.)
349 Jib Lane Lakeside, Montana