William A. Alexander – 4/10/07

This page was last updated on April 12, 2007.

Don’t they know already?; William A. Alexander; Beaver County Times; April 10, 2007.

Mr. Alexander has written at least 22 letters since December 2004, and all but one bashed Republicans for something. The sole exception was a letter to thank “U.S. Rep. Jason Altmire [D-PA] for the opportunity to attend [his] swearing-in ceremony” in January.

Below is a detailed critique of the letter.

“I am weary of the administration’s lackeys repeating over and over that setting Iraqi milestones with dates to be met or starting to bring home our troops will let the insurgents wait us out.”

[RWC] Mr. Alexander couldn’t write seven words before he got into name-calling.

“There is little doubt that Twiddle-Dee and Twiddle-Dumb’s lack of an exit plan and commitment of adequate troops and equipment after the initial military victory in Iraq failed to establish security and order for the people of Iraq.”

[RWC] By “exit plan,” Mr. Alexander means a deadline. I’m no expert on military history, but I know of no war entered into where either side said if the war goes longer than x days, weeks, months, or years, I’ll quit.

“Now, four years later, these blunders and Bremer’s dismantling of the Iraqi army and police forces have our brave military trying to referee a civil war.”

[RWC] Was it the right thing to do to dismantle “the Iraqi army and police forces?” Who knows, but Mr. Alexander appears to forget Saddam Hussein supporters overwhelmingly manned these organizations.

“Does anyone think the world, including those fighting the civil war in Iraq, don’t understand that to be elected in the 2008 elections the next president, House and Senate will have to have committed to bringing our troops home? They know that all they have to do is wait until then and our troops will be disengaging and coming home.”

[RWC] Ah, the “civil war” talking point, as if it would make a difference even if it were true.

So Mr. Alexander believes the American voters will respond better to politicians who promise to deliver surrender than to politicians who promise to work for success? I hope he’s wrong.

“The difference is about two years of wasted American treasures. The most important is the average of 2 to 3 men and women in our armed forces losing their lives every day with many more wounded. For two years, this represents another 700 to 1,100 caskets returning from Iraq and another 6,000 to 8,000 wounded, about half of them severely.

“In addition to the above lost treasures, we will have committed another $300 billion to $400 billion of our dollars to Iraq. Most of these dollars we will be borrowing from Asia for our grandchildren to pay off some day.

“We must set and enforce milestones with dates to be met. The Iraqis have only met two of the 17 milestones they set for themselves for January 2007. That level of performance is not acceptable.”

[RWC] Based on Mr. Alexander’s letters, I believe he cares little to nothing about “American treasures,” including our airmen, Marines, seamen, soldiers, et cetera. For folks like Mr. Alexander, this issue is primarily about politics. I have little doubt that if we had exactly the same circumstances under a Democrat president, Mr. Alexander would either be silent or cheering on the president.