Appeal For Courage

In less than six months, the Appeal For Courage has gathered over 2700 signatures of current members of the US military. The Appeal is simply worded.

As an American currently serving my nation in uniform, I respectfully urge my political leaders in Congress to fully support our mission in Iraq and halt any calls for retreat. I also respectfully urge my political leaders to actively oppose media efforts which embolden my enemy while demoralizing American support at home. The War in Iraq is a necessary and just effort to bring freedom to the Middle East and protect America from further attack.

We believe the war in Iraq, though costly and painful to the men and women here fighting it and to the families back home, is necessary to the long term security of our country and the short term stability of the Middle East. In four years we have accomplished much, and I believe the endgame is just around the corner. But some politicians and much of our media would have you believe that all of Iraq is in flames and mired in civil war. They want to leave Iraq to the terrorists for purely political reasons, most notably next years elections.

On Wednesday, May 9th, the Appeal For Courage will be formally presented to Congress. The members of Congress will be led by Congressman John Boehner and Senator Lindsay Graham. The ceremony is scheduled for 2:30 Washington DC time. Unfortunately neither Lt Nichols or myself can be present, but you have to love the symbolism of us being unavailable because we are still fighting the war.

I'm not sure how much media attention we will draw, but I have emailed over 65 TV, print and internet media outlets, as well as a fair chunk of the blogging world. As we get feedback on how it goes, and the reaction to the Appeal, I will post it here.

And this does not mean the Appeal For Courage is done. Lt Nichols and I intend to continue to collect signatures to try to get Congress to understand the consequences of failure in Iraq, and how they can truly support the troops. Though the Appeal is limited to current members of the military (active duty, National Guard, Reserve and IRR are all eligible), everyone can help by calling or writing to your member of Congress and asking them to support the Appeal. You can also sign the petition at Townhall.com for the general public asking Speaker Pelosi to stop calling for retreat.