Big Lizards:Blog:Entry “"Victory Is Silence"”

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July 11, 2007

"Victory Is Silence"

Hatched by Dafydd

Driving home from my épée lesson today, I was listening to the second hour of Hugh Hewitt's show. He was only taking callers who were current active-duty military who had either been in Afghanistan or Iraq; but he made one exception. That exception was such an exceptional call, I simply must share (before Dean Barnett does, I hope!)

The caller's name was Bruce, and he was a civilian. His son is active duty in Iraq right this minute, and Hugh let him on to speak on behalf of the son. What follows is not verbatim quotation; I don't have a transcript, of course, because it was just broadcast less than an hour ago. But the substance is pretty accurate, as any subsequent transcript will prove.

"Your son is currently in Iraq, right?" asks Hugh; "how's he doing?"

"He's going out of his mind with boredom... because he's stationed in Ramadi, and he hasn't heard a shot fired in combat for the last six weeks."

Bruce went on to explain that Ramadi is so peaceful, the residents and Coalition members are rebuilding all the damage caused by years of al-Qaeda infestation. Then he returned to the lack of gunfire in what used to be al-Qaeda central... and Bruce said the following:

"This is what I want to tell all those people in Washington. This is what Victory is; Victory is silence."

He said he had just heard CNN journalist Michael Ware on some news show say that Ramadi was the home base of al-Qaeda in Iraq. Bruce wished Ware would just go there and see for himself what it was really like. But that's unlikely, even though Ware is based in Baghdad. And it wouldn't have much effect on the debate in D.C. anyway: There are none so deaf as those who will not hear.

The Democrats (and some renegade Republicans) hear nothing; nothing penetrates, nothing rattles round their skulls like dried-out knucklebones. But in Ramadi, there is Nothing to hear; and that is exactly what we're looking for: Not a signing ceremony on the deck of the USS Missouri, but just simple peace, quiet, and Nothing.

Victory is silence.

Hatched by Dafydd on this day, July 11, 2007, at the time of 5:38 PM

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Comments

The following hissed in response by: Caltechgirl

Now there's a hell of a "benchmark". Thanks for bringing this to the attention of those of us who missed Hugh's show today.

The above hissed in response by: Caltechgirl at July 11, 2007 7:11 PM

The following hissed in response by: RBMN

...and it's an alert and well-armed silence in Ramadi--the good kind. There's also the unprepared and oblivious-to-danger kind of silence--the kind congressional Democrats live in.

The above hissed in response by: RBMN at July 11, 2007 7:26 PM

The following hissed in response by: Rovin

The "real" silence I want to hear is in the editorial board rooms of the NYT's, Wapo, AP, and the LAT's-----when some one in the room ask the question: "So, how to we print the truth?"

The shame is that while our hero's are fighting (and winning) the battles in Iraq, we're loosing the battle for truth right here against the al Qaeda appeasers in the MSM and the losers in Washington DC who are not so silently cheering for our enemys.

The above hissed in response by: Rovin at July 12, 2007 5:25 AM

The following hissed in response by: snochasr

Perhaps you should say that "Silence is Victory" as well. If we could just get our idiot Senators to quit telling al Qaeda that they've won, maybe the reality on the ground would have more effect on their morale and tactics.

The above hissed in response by: snochasr at July 12, 2007 11:47 AM

The following hissed in response by: Terry Gain

Getting Ware to Ramadi is only half the battle. The other half is getting him to report the objective truth.

BTW, the Surge is working.

The above hissed in response by: Terry Gain at July 12, 2007 4:21 PM

The following hissed in response by: Dafydd ab Hugh

Terry Gain:

Getting Ware to Ramadi is only half the battle. The other half is getting him to report the objective truth.

Are you saying you can lead a louse to Anbar, but you can't make him think?

Dafydd

The above hissed in response by: Dafydd ab Hugh at July 12, 2007 5:57 PM

The following hissed in response by: Big D

Dafydd,

How does one express histerical laughter via e-mail? "Ha" doesn't quite do your last comment justice. A smiley face? Utterly underwhleming. I am at a loss.

The above hissed in response by: Big D at July 13, 2007 10:00 AM