Dr. Chong’s Diagnosis of America’s WoT: Why We’re Fighting And What’s At Stake

U.S. Flag - PatriotsClarion call from a patriot.

You’ve probably never heard of Cliff Baker or Vernon Chong. Neither knows the other, for their lives are divided by geography, generations, and families. They are connected only by their love of country. Both are patriots.

On October 25, 2005, my son celebrated his 18th birthday at Camp Pendleton with his Marine Corps platoon. Cliff was there not because he seeks war, but because it was hard for him to continue in a college where left-wing professors further indoctrinated classmates already stunted by years of public education.

As Cliff celebrated his birthday, Vernon Chong sent this letter to his senator. A graduate from the Stanford University School of Medicine and career military surgeon, Major General (Dr.) Vernon Chong has seen the horrors of war and the sacrifices made by our young men and women to guarantee the peace so many of us take for granted today.

Whether you support our president or not, General Chong’s letter reminds us of how high the stakes are.

There is nothing partisan in his comments. He’s retired and possesses no more authority than his citizenship and understanding of history. It’s important to read his comments completely, for no one in America has more authority or experience on the subject.

- - - - - - -
Subject: War on Terror
To: Sen. Saxby Chambliss
From: Major General Dr. Vernon Chong, USAFR

This WAR is for REAL!

To get out of a difficulty, one usually must go through it. Our country is now facing the most serious threat to its existence, as we know it, that we have faced in your lifetime and mine (which includes WWII). The deadly seriousness is greatly compounded by the fact that there are very few of us who think we can possibly lose this war and even fewer who realize what losing really means. First, let’s examine a few basics:

1. When did the threat to us start? Many will say September 11, 2001. The answer as far as the United States is concerned is 1979, 22 years prior to September 2001, with the following attacks on us:

* Iran Embassy Hostages, 1979
* Beirut, Lebanon Embassy 1983
* Beirut, Lebanon Marine Barracks 1983
* Lockerbie, Scotland Pan-Am flight to New York 1988
* First New York World Trade Center attack 1993
* Dhahran, Saudi Arabia Khobar Towers Military complex 1996
* Nairobi, Kenya US Embassy 1998
* Dares Salaam, Tanzania US Embassy 1998
* Aden, Yemen USS Cole 2000
* New York World Trade Center 2001
* Pentagon 2001.

(Note that during the period from 1981 to 2001 there were 7,581 terrorist attacks worldwide).

2. Why were we attacked?

Envy of our position, our success, and our freedoms. The attacks happened during the administrations of Presidents Carter, Reagan, Bush 1, Clinton and Bush 2. We cannot fault either the Republicans or Democrats as there were no provocations by any of the presidents or their immediate predecessors, Presidents Ford or Carter.

3. Who were the attackers?

In each case, the attacks on the US were carried out by Muslims.

4. What is the Muslim population of the World? 25%.

5. Isn’t the Muslim Religion peaceful?

Hopefully, but that is really not material. There is no doubt that the predominately Christian population of Germany was peaceful, but under the dictatorial leadership of Hitler (who was also Christian), that made no difference. You either went along with the administration or you were eliminated. There were 5 to 6 million Christians killed by the Nazis for political reasons (including 7,000 Polish priests).

Thus, almost the same number of Christians were killed by the Nazis, as the six million holocaust Jews who were killed by them, and we seldom heard of anything other than the Jewish atrocities. Although Hitler kept the world focused on the Jews, he had no hesitancy about killing anyone who got in his way of exterminating the Jews or of taking over the world - German, Christian or any others.

Same with the Muslim terrorists. They focus the world on the US, but kill all in the way — their own people or the Spanish, French or anyone else. The point here is that just like the peaceful Germans were of no protection to anyone from the Nazis, no matter how many peaceful Muslims there may be, they are no protection for us from the terrorist Muslim leaders and what they are fanatically bent on doing — by their own pronouncements — killing all of us “infidels.” I don’t blame the peaceful Muslims. What would you do if the choice was shut up or die?

6. So who are we at war with?

There is no way we can honestly respond that it is anyone other than the Muslim terrorists. Trying to be politically correct and avoid verbalizing this conclusion can well be fatal. There is no way to win if you don’t clearly recognize and articulate who you are fighting.So with that background, now to the two major questions:

1. Can we lose this war?
2. What does losing really mean?

If we are to win, we must clearly answer these two pivotal questions.

We can definitely lose this war, and as anomalous as it may sound, the major reason we can lose is that so many of us simply do not fathom the answer to the second question - What does losing mean?

It would appear that a great many of us think that losing the war means hanging our heads, bringing the troops home and going on about our business, like post Vietnam. This is as far from the truth as one can get. What losing really means is:

We would no longer be the premier country in the world. The attacks will not subside, but rather will steadily increase. Remember, they want us dead, not just quiet. If they had just wanted us quiet, they would not have produced an increasing series of attacks against us, over the past 18 years. The plan was clearly, for terrorist(s) to attack us, until we were neutered and submissive to them.

We would of course have no future support from other nations, for fear of reprisals and for the reason that they would see, we are impotent and cannot help them.

They will pick off the other non-Muslim nations, one at a time. It will be increasingly easier for them. They already hold Spain hostage. It doesn’t matter whether it was right or wrong for Spain to withdraw its troops from Iraq. Spain did it because the Muslim terrorists bombed their train and told them to withdraw the troops. Anything else they want Spain to do will be done. Spain is finished.

The next will probably be France. Our one hope on France is that they might see the light and realize that if we don’t win, they are finished too, in that they can’t resist the Muslim terrorists without us. However, it may already be too late for France. France is already 20% Muslim and fading fast!

If we lose the war, our production, income, exports and way of life will all vanish as we know it. After losing, who would trade or deal with us, if they were threatened by the Muslims.

If we can’t stop the Muslims, how could anyone else?

The Muslims fully know what is riding on this war, and therefore are completely committed to winning, at any cost. We better know it too and be likewise committed to winning at any cost.

Why do I go on at such lengths about the results of losing? Simple. Until we recognize the costs of losing, we cannot unite and really put 100% of our thoughts and efforts into winning. And it is going to take that 100% effort to win.

So, how can we lose the war?

Again, the answer is simple. We can lose the war by “imploding.” That is, defeating ourselves by refusing to recognize the enemy and their purpose, and really digging in and lending full support to the war effort. If we are united, there is no way that we can lose. If we continue to be divided, there is no way that we can win!

Let me give you a few examples of how we simply don’t comprehend the life and death seriousness of this situation.

President Bush selects Norman Mineta as Secretary of Transportation. Although all of the terrorist attacks were committed by Muslim men between 17 and 40 years of age, Secretary Mineta refuses to allow profiling. Does that sound like we are taking this thing seriously? This is war! For the duration, we are going to have to give up some of the civil rights we have become accustomed to. We had better be prepared to lose some of our civil rights temporarily or we will most certainly lose all of them permanently.

And don’t worry that it is a slippery slope. We gave up plenty of civil rights during WWII, and immediately restored them after the victory and in fact added many more since then.

Do I blame President Bush or President Clinton before him?

No, I blame us for blithely assuming we can maintain all of our Political Correctness, and all of our civil rights during this conflict and have a clean, lawful, honorable war. None of those words apply to war. Get them out of your head.

Some have gone so far in their criticism of the war and/or the Administration that it almost seems they would literally like to see us lose. I hasten to add that this isn’t because they are disloyal. It is because they just don’t recognize what losing means. Nevertheless, that conduct gives the impression to the enemy that we are divided and weakening. It concerns our friends, and it does great damage to our cause.

Of more recent vintage, the uproar fueled by the politicians and media regarding the treatment of some prisoners of war, perhaps exemplifies best what I am saying. We have recently had an issue, involving the treatment of a few Muslim prisoners of war, by a small group of our military police. These are the type prisoners who just a few months ago were throwing their own people off buildings, cutting off their hands, cutting out their tongues and otherwise murdering their own people just for disagreeing with Saddam Hussein.

And just a few years ago these same type prisoners chemically killed 400,000 of their own people for the same reason. They are also the same type enemy fighters, who recently were burning Americans, and dragging their charred corpses through the streets of Iraq.

And still more recently, the same type enemy that was and is providing videos to all news sources internationally, of the beheading of American prisoners they held.

Compare this with some of our press and politicians, who for several days have thought and talked about nothing else but the “humiliating” of some Muslim prisoners — not burning them, not dragging their charred corpses through the streets, not beheading them, but “humiliating” them.

Can this be for real?

The politicians and pundits have even talked of impeachment of the Secretary of Defense. If this doesn’t show the complete lack of comprehension and understanding of the seriousness of the enemy we are fighting, the life and death struggle we are in and the disastrous results of losing this war, nothing can.

To bring our country to a virtual political standstill over this prisoner issue makes us look like Nero playing his fiddle as Rome burned — totally oblivious to what is going on in the real world. Neither we, nor any other country, can survive this internal strife. Again I say, this does not mean that some of our politicians or media people are disloyal. It simply means that they are absolutely oblivious to the magnitude, of the situation we are in and into which the Muslim terrorists have been pushing us, for many years.

Remember, the Muslim terrorists stated goal is to kill all infidels! That translates into ALL non-Muslims — not just in the United States, but throughout the world.

We are the last bastion of defense.

We have been criticized for many years as being ‘arrogant.’ That charge is valid in at least one respect. We are arrogant in that we believe that we are so good, powerful and smart, that we can win the hearts and minds of all those who attack us, and that with both hands tied behind our back, we can defeat anything bad in the world!

We can’t!

If we don’t recognize this, our nation as we know it will not survive, and no other free country in the world will survive if we are defeated.

And finally, name any Muslim countries throughout the world that allow freedom of speech, freedom of thought, freedom of religion, freedom of the press, equal rights for anyone — let alone everyone, equal status or any status for women, or that have been productive in one single way that contributes to the good of the world.

This has been a long way of saying that we must be united on this war or we will be equated in the history books to the self-inflicted fall of the Roman Empire. If, that is, the Muslim leaders will allow history books to be written or read.

If we don’t win this war right now, keep a close eye on how the Muslims take over France in the next 5 years or less. They will continue to increase the Muslim population of France and continue to encroach little by little, on the established French traditions. The French will be fighting among themselves, over what should or should not be done, which will continue to weaken them and keep them from any united resolve. Doesn’t that sound eerily familiar?

Democracies don’t have their freedoms taken away from them by some external military force. Instead, they give their freedoms away, politically correct piece by politically correct piece.

And they are giving those freedoms away to those who have shown, worldwide, that they abhor freedom and will not apply it to you or even to themselves, once they are in power.

They have universally shown that when they have taken over, they then start brutally killing each other over who will be the few who control the masses. Will we ever stop hearing from the politically correct, about the “peaceful Muslims”?

I close on a hopeful note, by repeating what I said above. If we are united, there is no way that we can lose. I hope now after the election, the factions in our country will begin to focus on the critical situation we are in, and will unite to save our country. It is your future we are talking about! Do whatever you can to preserve it.

After reading the above, we all must do this not only for ourselves, but our children, our grandchildren, our country and the world.

Whether Democrat or Republican, conservative or liberal and that includes the Politicians and media of our country and the free world!

Please forward this to any you feel may want, or NEED to read it. Our “leaders” in Congress ought to read it, too. There are those that find fault with our country, but it is obvious to anyone who truly thinks through this, that we must UNITE and stand as ONE!

Lithonia , GA

***

My family and I understand the stakes. To this we pledge our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.

Clark Baker is an author, filmaker, father and retired LAPD officer. He is a senior contributor to CaliforniaConservative.org. You may read more of his work here and here.

24 Responses to “Dr. Chong’s Diagnosis of America’s WoT: Why We’re Fighting And What’s At Stake”

  1. Common Sense Junction » Blog Archive » “This WAR is for REAL!” Says:

    [...] California Conservative: This WAR is for REAL! [...]

  2. Small Town Veteran Says:

    Clarion call from a patriot.

    Clark Baker has posted an absolutely must-read letter at California Conservative. A brief excerpt: [...] 1. Can we lose this war? 2. What does losing really mean? If we are to win, we must clearly answer these two pivotal

  3. Steve Schippert Says:

    A crisp hand salute to your son, surely a fine young Marine. When people ask, ‘Where do we find such men?’, I readily point to parents like you.

    Mission Accomplished, Dad.

    Your son’s as but barely begun.

    Semper Fi.

  4. The Anchoress Says:

    ’round the ’sphere

    John Hawkins is interviewing Tammy Bruce
    Dr. Sanity has a must read on the Roots of Terrorism
    A mildoctor on Why we fight and what is at stake. This is VERY moving.
    Claudia Rosett on the UN Internet grab and a follow-up
    Former President Clinton g…

  5. Winds of Change.NET Says:

    Thursday Winds of War: 17NOV05

    Welcome! Our goal at Winds of Change.NET is to give you one power-packed briefing of insights, news and trends from the global War on Terror that leaves you stimulated, informed, and occasionally amused every Monday…

  6. Just Some Poor Schmuck Says:

    A Clear Appraisal Of The Stakes

    Dr. ChongÂ’s Diagnosis of AmericaÂ’s WoT: Why WeÂ’re Fighting And WhatÂ’s At Stake And if you don’t think Iraq is part of the WOT, you’re a fool….

  7. The Liberal Avenger Says:

    A barely coherent screed rehashing tired talking-point arguments that should have been put to bed years ago. If rallying around nonsense like this is how the contemporary conservative movement is going to keep America safe then we’re doomed.

  8. Purple Avenger Says:

    General Vernon Chong’s letter to the senator…

    The general hits a home run. He “gets it”.

  9. Mike's America Says:

    What Price For Defeat?

    We keep hearing about the price we are paying for the war in Iraq and the greater war. Have we lost sight of the price we would pay for defeat?

    The following letter describing what this war is really all about will be instantly dismissed by the 20…

  10. Mike's America Says:

    Thanks Liberal Avenger.

    You just proved my point that lefties are so reality challenged that they will talk us into defeat if given half the chance.

    You’ve had HOW MANY ELECTIONS now to make your point??? And yet the people are too “stupid” to buy your blame America, defeat America rhetoric?

    If half you chicken-doves actually did SOMETHING to make this country better, safer and more free, this country and the world would be a greater place.

    But talk about tired talking points… you folks are a Johnny one note, and the song is getting old.

  11. In the Bullpen » Three Must-Reads on the GWOT Says:

    [...] Chung is spot-on in his analysis of why this war against radical Islamic terrorism is so important. For our international readers, it’s not just about the United States and it is purely apolitical. Thanks to California Conservative for finding the letter. [...]

  12. Lynne H. Wallentine Says:

    I truely believe this and compare Biblical quotes to all that is occuring and will occur. This is part of prophecy about what is to come leading up to the war where Christ appears on the mount to save
    His chosen people, one of the 12 tribes of Israel. We must continue to get the word out.

  13. Tom Anderson Says:

    I was very, very moved with article by Dr.Chong I would like to know how I could email a copy to rushlimbaugh.com.

  14. Charles Says:

    The terrorists war started when we started supporting Israel. Israel used terrorist tactics on the British to get them out of Palestine.

  15. Mike Jones Says:

    This essay appears so intuitive in it’s analysis that statements like “This is long and disturbing — but it NEEDS to be read and understood. This is real and very timely!” seem to accurately describe the content. However, this doesn’t seem like it truly encompasses all of the points in this conflict. Everyone agrees that ANY kind of terrorist is dangerous, and if we were clearly trying to attack Muslim terrorists, we would be going about this thing very differently. Intelligence indicates that Omar Al-Bashir has harbored (aided and abetted) terrorists in Sudan since 1989. His army of mercenary terrorists has slaughtered 300,000 non-Muslims in Darfur, and has been moving outside of his countries borders to attack refugee camps.

    So let’s think about this army of Muslim terrorists. What is the incentive of becoming a terrorist? It is against Islam to become a terrorist and attack innocent people. So it isn’t sworn into their religion to kill all infidels, so there must be another reason. That reason is the quality of life and therefore socio-economic status. So much of the middle east is in poverty, and the people are living in squalor. They don’t see the silver lining of life that we see everyday. When they are promised riches and love in the afterlife, it sure does sound a lot better than the hell on earth they live in. No matter what, we cannot eradicate terrorism. It is a very violent form of rebellion, and that is something that people do. If we want to end this war we need to stop the causation of the terrorists by increasing their quality of living.

    Now, we are not at war with/in Sudan. We are at war with/in Iraq. Why? Because of the oil! Any person who has even briefly looked over the macroeconomic implications of this war can see that is why we are in it. We don’t give two shits about the people in the middle east, just like we didn’t give a shit about the Tutsi in Rwanda. The reason is because they don’t give us any gain. However, If we can secure oil, we secure the dollar, which is vitally important now because of the strength of the Euro. Before we attacked Iraq, they were going to switch the purchasing currency from the dollar to the Euro. Now that we have “taken” Iraq, it has gone back to the dollar. We want to pressure OPEC to stay with the dollar standard. That is what is at stake here.

    I am all for eradicating terrorism. That is a horrible condition of human nature. But let’s not lie to ourselves; we aren’t the world’s police. We weren’t in Rwanda, Cambodia, or Indonesia. However, using brute force does not work when dealing with terrorists. Look at Isreal. They built a wall to keep out the terrorists. They plan strategic assassinations against heads in the terrorist regime. They rain the West Bank and Gaza strip with Qassam rockets. Yet it is all for nothing. We need to learn from other countries mistakes or we really will be another Rome.

    Regards
    Mike Jones

  16. Bill McPeak Says:

    It never ceases to amaze me that the solution to all of our problems, according to left bashers like “Mike’s America” and liberal know-alls lie strictly within their own realm of beliefs. Blindly holding on to some of the outdated concepts of both camps is what prevents us from finding concrete solutions to most of what ails our country.
    Let’s wake up to the reality of Dr Chongs article and Mike Jones insightful commentary on some of the root causes of terrorism.

    Attack the idealism that nourishes some of the resentment toward us with more ethical economic and social policies while at the same time giving our military the strength, wisdom and moral support they need to overcome the violence espoused by the exporters of terrorism.

    Unfortuneately,we and they have to pray and hope our way through another two and a half years of political and military blunders by a bunch of myopic chicken hawks led by a wanna be who didn’t have the guts to do what he now expects others to do.

    For those who disagree, please spare me the “what ifs” by referring back to the last election. I’ll go you one better by doing the “what if” John McCain hadn’t fallen victim to the slander and dishonorable tactics of 2000. Or maybe you think the current crop is better than a leadership which would have had the experience and the guts to do this the right way. Bin Laden first, then focus on the real threats in North korea and Iran.
    Hindsight, no, just observation of what the hell has been going on the past 15 years.
    But the schoolyard bully found it a lot easier to pick on the bookworm rather than someone who just might have given him a fight and perhaps cost him reelection.

    So where is your vote going this November??

    Bill McPeak

    PS- you can start helping the military by getting congress to properly and fully fund veterans care. Vote for the candidates who support the troops by continuing to support them AFTER they have done the job for us. Something the last two administrations have NOT fought to do.

  17. Barbara Davidson Says:

    A MUST READ FOR EVERY AMERICAN!

  18. EDDINA SYMNS Says:

    .
    TO: Dr. CHONG
    Probably the most clearly stated facts about our present situation which I have read.

    I’ve sent copies to friends, emailed to others.

    Thank you Dr. Chong.

    What else can I do to help?

    Eddina Symns
    Hutchinson, KS
    somethingmagical@cox.net

    Incidentally, I once worked with Dr. DeLemos and went to Wilford Hall for him several times.

  19. SalJournal.com Blogs » Blog Archive » The War is for Real Says:

    [...] http://www.californiaconservative.org/?p=1447 [...]

  20. Jim Says:

    Truth or fiction?

  21. kokher carter Says:

    My hat is positively off to Dr.Chung. While his commentary was written some time ago, true insights remain right- on!
    Mike Jones is a dreamer. Sure, I’m all for peaceful reconcilliations…after the terorrists climb off their world domination crap and understand that we all have to live on this earth together.
    Do we have a right to go after the oil and in doing so, bring a better way of life to the people of Iraqu? You bet!!!(Lets all envision a day without oil)
    There was a time when this country was in need of cheap labor. African slaves was a crude solution thought up by some pretty crude people, but it remedied the situation. The atrocities that were inflicted against my black brothers were horrendous at best and will forever represent a belmish in the ole’ history books, but the history books are full of mistakes.Yes, we can learn from them, but we will never eliminate them.Thats life, but I would wager that few blacks would choose to return to Africa today. Slavery was the price we all paid.
    What is going to happen? Who knows, but I guarantee you there will be bloodshed. The unfortunate thing is that the terroists don’t care and we do. I’m just a feared that we’ll be pushed too far, too late in the game and Hiroshima will be remembered as but a mere fireworks display.War is the shits! My son just got back from a total of three years in the mid-east. He was shot and his jeep got blown up. It infuriates me to even imagine that we might duck our heads a run.

  22. Freeman Says:

    Are you guys for real??? Did any one of you even bother to check the autheticity of this letter? It is false. Check it out. http://www.snopes.com/rumors/soapbox/chong.asp

    Its a shame that this piece of garbage (with no real research, data, or cited sources) would get distributed so widely. Not a surprise since most conservatives are consumed by a need to blame ANYONE or EVERYONE else except themselves. Look where our country is today due to these conservative morones. Also, they are so ready to look for a scapegoat that they wouldn’t even bother to check whether the information they are receiving is true. Most of you need to get educated, learn history so you can put present events in the right context, and learn critical thinking skills!

  23. Clark Baker Says:

    Freeman et al:

    When I posted this piece in November 2005, I found no evidence that it was an urban myth. I routinely examine these messages before posting and apologize for any confusion that my essay and posting may have caused. For what it’s worth, the SNOPES reference suggests it was last updated or posted on the same day I posted this.

    But unlike Rathergate, the LA Times, and other media events, the contents of this piece appear not to be in dispute.

    What also lends credibility to this note and post is that, according to SNOPES, General Chong received this in an email and forwarded it to a friend of his. Had he reviewed it and disagreed, it’s not likely that he would have forwarded it to an acquaintance.

    In any case, I apologize to anyone who feels they were misled or misrepresented. While its authorship remains in question, its contents are as profound as before.

  24. MIchael M.Garay Says:

    Dr.Dr Chong, The Christians were mostly killed in war and other way,not in mass-murder.The Jews were humiliated,treated like subhuman,starved murdered
    in masses,gassed 1.5 million innocent children in Auschwitz etc.It was a Genocide!!!!!!WHAT A COMPARISON ??? Dr,you failed to highlight it. As far as I am concert, who came bask from the ashes of Aushwitz and Dachau not very pleased with your comparison.Otherwise,your assay is outstanding!!!!!!!

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