Of Brothers and Presidents

Jon's brother Matt has his two surgeries scheduled for Thursday, the 18th at 8am. They will start with the gall bladder, then tag team with another crew to get the kidney out. Matt and his wife Brenda met with both surgeons this week and had a very good meeting with each of them. They discussed different options concerning the surgery and have come up with a clear path. Matt will be in the hospital for 3 days and then 3 weeks off work. He hopes to be ready for work before then, but at least he has the option to ease back into things if he needs to. Thank you for your continued prayers.

Jon thought some of you might be interested in his perspective on the President's Plan. If so, read on...

"The President's Plan
History has shown that three things are required to achieve success in long term military engagement: the support of the people, the capability of the armed forces, and the will of the leadership. Historical record shows that congressional leaders almost unanimously supported the removal of the Saddam regime, as it posed a clear and present danger to the sustained safety and way of life of all Americans. It is clear that the continued efforts of the United States to create stability in Iraq has resulted in opposition by those who do NOT want to grant people what are defined as God given rights in our Constitution (life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, and a representative form of government). Failure to take responsibility for establishing the conditions that will permit the establishment of a representative government in Iraq following OUR congressionally supported removal of the prior regime is irresponsible, spineless, and as damaging and potentially as criminal as the conduct of the regime which we removed.

The President has demonstrated that he will not shirk responsibility for action taken in Iraq that was fully supported by the people of the United States and its Congress. The enemies of the United States (Iran and Syria) have denounced the President's plan because they are afraid it will succeed. More than 60% of Congressional Leaders have sided with Iran and Syria because they are betting the President's plan will NOT succeed, and their non-support of a less than successful plan will propel their political future. There is no other motivation to oppose the President's plan, as those in opposition will doubtless not seek to permanently reduce Presidential powers or immediately cease funding military operations. Go back to the first paragraph: the people of the United States want the same quality of life and protections NOW that precipitated the removal of the Saddam regime. If the will of the leaders wavers, it will affect the support of the people, and mission accomplishment will become fundamentally unattainable militarily. Conditions are not yet set to provide a reasonable expectation for 'success' yet in Iraq, so by betting on failure now, leaders can contribute to that goal by withdrawing support, assure their domestic success, and let future generations reap the harvest of their lack of courage in taking responsibility for the removal of the Saddam regime. My son Joshua will have to go back to the CENTCOM AO to try to finish the job--at three times the cost and after untold suffering.

Are the people of the United States who said "We will NEVER forget" shameless enough to let our leadership get away with this? What would the Congressional leaders who oppose the President stand to lose if they supported the President, the people of the United States, and the people of Iraq in working to achieve representative government in Iraq and increased safety for all Americans and increased protection of their way of life? I personally find the behavior of these leaders unacceptable.

Semper Fi, Jarhedjon"