What has happened to Leonard Pitts?
On September 12, in the Miami Herald, Pitts published the most moving and inspiring article on the abomination that was September 11. He fully captured the shock, pain, grief, and righteous anger of the nation. His words sent shivers up my spine, for the heart is a writer's best inkwell.
If you haven’t already, you should read every word of his article. In closing, Pitts promised the enemy that they they didn’t know his people, but they were about to learn.
Over the past four years, the enemy has learned much about us through our media. Most of the lessons have been helpful to them rather than to us or, more importantly, to our troops. This past week, Pitts wrote an anti-war, anti-Bush piece that was permeated with so much venom it would drop a herd of elephants. It is difficult to reconcile the two articles with the same writer.
The August 26 article is cause for terrorists to dance with delight. In his article, Pitts asks many questions we have come to expect from the hysterical left. Why are troops dying, why are so many injured, why are Iraqis dying. Why, why, why. Questions are good and necessary, but when reasonable answers are offered, people like Pitts cover their ears and hum.
Pitts points to a casualty count that is rising “like floodwater.” Excuse me, Leonard, but I know many members of the armed forces, and all of them agree that our casualties to date have been almost miraculously light.
This is not to minimize the tragedy of each loss, both to their families and to our nation, but to emphasize the courage and professionalism of our military. Our troops understand their mission in the Middle East, and they support it. This crucial fact is deserving of our respect. They know better than anyone that people will die in order for their mission of ensuring an independent, democratic Iraq to succeed. If I may pose a question or two of my own, if our troops are able to accept the dangers of war and their inevitable casualties, then who are we, safe at home, to pontificate against their extremely difficult job? What right do any of us have to make their hard road even more arduous?
Troops are dying in Iraq and Afghanistan because they have made the noble commitment to protect America from harm. It is that true and simple. The battle for Fallujah certainly seems preferable to a battle for Philadelphia, but the left won’t accept that explanation. Perhaps they feel we need to be roughed up a bit more on our own turf before a proactive response to a vicious and merciless foe is appropriate.
Liberal rants are very predictable. They always arrive at a rabid Bush hatred. Pitts refers to Bush’s “stubborn hubris” and inability to admit error. He also tosses in the “blinkered morality” of a “frightened nation” that won’t challenge the president, thus reinforcing MSM’s interpretation of those supporting the necessity of this war as pathetic, robotic simpletons.
It seems to me that words are easy for Leonard Pitts. On September 12, they sprang from outraged rivers within his soul, inspiring him to write the definitive column of that terrible day, 9/11. Pitts should be commended and remembered for that.
Pitts, in turn, should realize that talking the talk is only the beginning. It’s walking the walk that gets the work done.
Walking the walk requires blood, sweat, toil and tears, but it is what's required to get you where you’re going. This hard fact is especially true when the road is as difficult, dirty, and dangerous as the war against international Islamist terrorism. May God bless and protect our precious troops along the way.
