Realists exist in a freeze-frame reality—blind to the long-term consequence of cold, calculating, short-term decisions. Several argue for a pull-out from Iraq. Discussions of time tables and phases are mere spin for withdrawal. It’s too easy to forget or ignore the human costs of such a decision, or the sense of betrayal which we telegraph around the world. In his history of the 1970s, my colleague David Frum relates the story of Sirik Matak, whom the US embassy in Phnom Penh offered to evacuate as the Khmer Rouge closed in on the city. Matak refused, writing this letter to the US ambassador. It should be a must read for the “abandon Iraq” crowd:
Dear Excellency and Friend,
I thank you very sincerely for your letter and for your offer to transport me towards freedom. I cannot, alas, leave in such a cowardly fashion. As for you, and in particular for your great country, I never believed for a moment that you would have this sentiment of abandoning a people which has chosen liberty. You have refused us your protection, and we can do nothing about it. You leave, and my wish is that you and your country will find happiness under this sky. But, mark it well, that if I shall die here on this spot and in my country that I love, it is no matter, because we all are born and must die. I have only committed the mistake of believing you.
The Khmer Rouge shot Matak in the stomach. He took three days to die.
May God forgive me, I have an abiding contempt and hatred for the Congress that abandoned South Viet Nam and the vile creatures, like John Kerry and Jane Fonda, that created the political situation in this country that led to that decision.
For those who were not alive during that time, we not only left Viet Nam but cut off supplies so that they could no longer fight back.
A crime was committed but, like Stalin's willing executioners, the criminals are proud of their handiwork. there must be a special place in Hell for such creatures.
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