Do you even know what a Strawman Argument is? You shouldn’t use words if you don’t know what they mean.

You do understand that it is the job of the National Security Advisor to advise the President in the formulation of defense and foreign policy, don’t you? I guess you could call that “playing politics,” but I would suggest that to do so shows an undeveloped understanding of how our government actually functions.

I am going to go out on a limb here and guess that despite your pounding out spittle-flecked venom and vituperation about cutting and running from Afghanistan, and accusing people you don’t know of dishonor and dishonesty, you’ve never actually been to Afghanistan yourself. I have. And I am concerned that I see the same type of strategic drifting and “Mission Creep” that I saw in Somalia. Based on my experience, if I were asked for advice, then I would side with General Petraeus’ approach, but I can understand Gen. Jones’ skepticism. I do not succumb to the temptation to seeing those who disagree with me as dishonorable.

Looking at the screen name you’ve chosen I am left with the impression that you are one of those who think that reflexively adopting a position in conformance with a perceived partisan template without thinking or examination makes you a “Conservative.” Let me disabuse you of that notion; it makes you a caricature. Maybe you should reflect on Justice Brandeis’ observation that the greatest threat to liberty comes not from an outside enemy but from folks such as yourself, “Full of zeal, but without understanding.”

Let me remind you that one of those Senators, Lindsay Graham, is also a Reserve Officer who, when his unit was called up for deployment, left the cushy confines of the Senate for honorable service in Iraq.

When did we reach the point that a failure to correctly recite every jot and tittle of some political credo exposes even a man of long and honorable service to the nation to the risk of being denounced to the cadres at the next campfire?

Gen. Brute Krulak U.S.M.C. once wrote that America doesn’t need a Marine Corps. America has a Marine Corps because America wants a Marine Corps, And it wants a Marine Corps because Americans know that when trouble arises there are Marines somewhere who have kept themselves fit and ready to answer the call. And because Americans know that when Marines enter a fight they will turn in a superior performance, not sometimes, but always. These statements have remained true through our history because of men like Jim Jones.

Time will tell whether General Petraeus or General Jones is right about Afghanistan. But regardless of the outcome,let there be no doubt that both are patriots and honorable men.