Truth Conquers
Are American Soldier Deaths Used for Political Gain?
By David Tirsch
May 7, 2004 - 1:14:00 PM

Competition in business is what has made America great.  It is because of competition that we enjoy lower prices, better quality products and continuous improvements of goods and services that raise our standards of living. The 59-cent Taco Bell taco that got me through college represents my favorite part of American competition- price wars!  If Taco Bell didn't have Del Taco breathing down its neck, the 59-cent taco would probably cost more than a Kobe Beef Burger at the Whisper Lounge. 

Our Government works overtime to make a fair playing field because a fair marketplace benefits consumers greatly and keeps America thriving.  As much as the rules for the business competition are carefully managed, the rules for political competition are completely archaic. 

The marketplace of ideas in today's political environment is more like a battlefield in the Mad Max movies. Total Anarchy.  Through mailers, 30 second television ads, and spin doctors on talk shows, it seems as if telling lies, exaggerating claims, and running smear campaigns without any valid consequences is commonplace.

Our Soldiers Give Their Lives for your Freedom.

But the worse offense of all is that in a two party system, each party must disagree on every main issue to show a clear difference.  The theory is that if there is agreement between the parties, the party in power will maintain power.  Watch any political debate show and you will see the Democratic representative take one side, and the Republican take the other.

The only time I ever see the parties in agreement is during an American tragedy.  The longevity of bipartisan unity, however, is becoming shorter and shorter with each tragedy.  It seems as though each party is secretly trying to find something to hold the other party accountable for the tragedy.

Before the Vietnam War, both parties were supportive of each other during wartime.  All the debating was done beforehand, but once we went to war, the country came together, and we rallied not as political opponents, but as Americans.  During the Vietnam War, this all changed.  Politicians began to realize that they could emphasize the negatives of war to make the other side vulnerable to attack.  Because of the two-party system and the new trend of government criticism during war, the war in Iraq has become the main political issue for the November elections.  This means that if the American people believe the war in Iraq is going well, Bush will win the election.  If the war is not going well, Kerry will win.  Both sides are using the war as a political weapon.  The sad part of this is that the more our American soldiers are killed, the better chance Kerry has at winning the election!  This gives Democrats the motivation to emphasize things that are not going well in Iraq.  The consequences of this are decreased morale among our troops and the revitalization of Iraqi insurgents, since opposition to the war in America instills the belief that the war against them will end if Kerry wins the election.

The war needs to be de-politicized.  National unity is much better for America than protests, and we all want what is best for America, right?  I will close my article with a quote from Senator Zell Miller (D) of Georgia:

"I remember when most Democrats were in favor of projecting America's power abroad, because we believed that America was a great force for good over evil.

President Harry S. Truman recognized early on that Communism was a source of evil and a danger to our way of life, and he acted forcefully to meet the threat.

In 1946, even before the Soviet threat was clearly evident, President Truman forced a showdown with Stalin that pushed the Red Army out of occupied positions in Iran.  

In 1947, when Communist insurgents threatened to overthrow the government of Greece, Truman rallied America and the world, announcing the new Truman Doctrine. He committed $400 million to protect "free peoples" from "totalitarian regimes."

From 1948 to 1949 President Truman stood down the Soviet blockade of West Berlin, not by appeasement, but by flying in supplies and saving the city from Soviet encroachment. Thanks to his actions, West Berlin became a beacon of hope and liberty for people in the Eastern Bloc who were yearning for freedom.

And in 1950 President Truman committed U.S. troops to defend South Korea and drive the North Koreans back across the 38th parallel. While Harry Truman was on the watch, free people everywhere knew they had a friend in the United States of America.

For decades, the Democratic Party maintained peace through strength. We worked with Republicans to ensure that freedom and democracy would not falter in the face of any threat.

These days it seems like some people in my party are motivated more by partisan politics than by national interest."