Please take a few minutes to read this speech, made by Chuck from From My Position... On the Way!
"....That, ladies and gentlemen, is representative democracy. That is government of the people, and by the people. That is what this country and this flag are all about. That is why we are fighting a war in Iraq and Afghanistan. We’ve removed petty despot dictators from power, and, because we believe so strongly in freedom and democracy, we stayed on, helping the citizens of those nations develop their own representative governments.
We didn’t do it for oil. We didn’t do it for a love of aggression or because we want to establish colonies. We stayed because we wanted to share democracy with a people who have been repressed by cruel and oppressive dictators for the last two millennia. We needed to not only help them repair and establish infrastructure, but secure their country from the threat of terrorists who wish to reestablish totalitarian caliphates, and we need to literally teach them basic civics from the township level all the way to their federal government.
Sure, we could’ve deposed the Taliban and Saddam regimes, and immediately withdrew from the Middle East as some have suggested. We’d have left a power vacuum that would’ve easily been filled by whoever had the ability to terrorize the populace into submission...."
Thanks to my dad who pointed this post out! I know it's a day late going by the calendar, but as Chuck points out, every day is flag day.
When Royal and I visited San Antonio, we decided it would be fun to count the American flags we saw along the way. This was because Royal is always so amazed at our patriotism and always wishes he could say the same for his country.
Over the 4 hour road trip, we saw over 200 American flags flying. And, two Marine flags. Now THAT is something to be proud of!
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