By ,
Published January 13, 2015
You want to know what I’d like to hear from President Bush tonight?
How about something akin to Sean Connery’s famous line from The Untouchables:
You wanna get Capone? Here’s how you get him. He pulls a knife, you pull a gun. He sends one of yours to the hospital, you send one of his to the morgue.
Seriously, in my opinion, what has to change about the strategy and mission in Iraq is that we have to let the military do its job. Nothing I saw in my last trip to Fallujah was more astonishing than the incredible and unnecessary restraint that our troops displayed under fire. And can you blame then for being frustrated?
Our troops are getting shot at by snipers and RPGs and in many cases we did not fire back as there wasn’t a positive target identified. I watched a cowardly enemy laying IEDs on our routes in the dead of night and we could not fire on them for fear of collateral damage.
I want to hear the President say: NO MORE HANDS TIED. From now on, NO soldier, sailor, airman or marine should EVER hesitate to pull the trigger when he or she is under fire.
I want to hear the President say: Prime Minister Maliki’s Iraqi Forces will seek out and destroy ALL of the militias in Baghdad and elsewhere… and if they won’t kill Sadr and his Mahdi Army which continues to foment the violence, then US Forces will.
I want to hear the President say: No more barriers in going after the bad guys. ANY Iranian or Syrian element found to be operating in Iraq will be fair game – You wanted in this fight, now you will die and be held up for the world to see.
I want to hear the President say: After we are done clearing and holding Baghdad and the Anbar Province, the Iraqis will take control of their country. Then and only then can we begin to rebuild it and I am pleased to announce that I expect to accomplish this task by the end of THIS year.
I want to hear the President say: Too many troops have given their lives to quit the mission now. Under new rules of engagement and commitments by the Maliki government, I will add 20,000 additional troops to finish the job so they can soon come home. No longer will we fight this war in Washington and as Ted Kennedy so appropriately suggests, “like Vietnam.” My fellow Americans, it is time to win this war.
Then after he tells us what he’s going to do… I hope he will simply go and do it. We didn’t hear about what was coming in Somalia this week. Now there are a few less Al Qaeda threats out there. That’s executing the war on terror.
But if the President takes the course of “staying the course” with more troops on the ground in Iraq, then I am sadly certain that we will simply be adding 20,000 new sitting ducks.
The World is watching to see what we do… Here’s hoping we go after Capone!
I can be reached for questions or comments at Griffsnotes@foxnews.com.
https://www.foxnews.com/story/griffs-notes-1-10-07