FREEDOM ALLIANCE
Average Americans, despite decades of anti-military propaganda in the media and popular culture since the Vietnam War, have always admired the military, and this feeling has grown since the 9/11 terrorist attacks. After its success in toppling the government of Afghanistan with little trouble, it seems certain that the U.S. military will repeat the performance in Iraq soon. American fighting men are deployed around the world to assist local governments in their battles against guerrillas and terrorists-and to keep the peace in places like Bosnia and South Korea.
Despite these successes, Rep. Charles Rangel (D.-N.Y.) and several other congressmen generated much media attention when they proposed reinstituting the draft, arguing that if more elite people had sons in the military, they would be less likely to support wars.
"But Mr. Rangel's carefully crafted criticism suggests that his real desire is not to prevent war, but to protest the actions of the current administration," wrote Thomas Kilgannon, president of Freedom Alliance, in a January 28 column. "Mr. Rangel has not always had such reservations about sending young Americans to fight. When Bill Clinton dispatched troops to Haiti, Charles Rangel chastised the President for failing to "make his case" to the American public, but supported him anyway. During the Clinton years, Rangel also voted to authorize U.S. forces in Somalia as part of a United Nations fiasco and the deployment of troops to Kosovo as part of a NATO peacekeeping operation."
Freedom Alliance, whose founder and honorary chairman is retired Marine Lt. Col. Oliver North, works to promote military service. Kilgannon noted that after years of personnel problems, the U.S. military's recruitment and retention rates are high. "Many students who were inclined to serve refused to answer their country's call, and in so doing expressed their profound dissatisfaction with the thought of serving under William Jefferson Clinton," he wrote. "Fortunately, today the trend is improving. The attacks of September 11, and a commander in chief whose respect for the military is unquestioned, are drawing young Americans back to recruiting stations."
"Morale is up since the Clinton years," said Kilgannon in a recent interview. "The former commander in chief set a bad example for the kids."
Freedom Alliance provides college scholarships for the children of Americans killed or gravely disabled in action or who are currently POWs or missing in action. In an era when many secondary schools and universities refuse to allow military recruiters to meet with students, the group brings students to the military. "Every branch is challenging, stimulating, intense-but which branch is best for you? What specialty, before or after college, enlisted or officer? The National Military Leadership Academy will help you answer these questions," says Freedom Alliance's website. "You'll talk one-on-one with young recruits and experienced commanders and investigate their equipment-tanks, submarines, radar, missiles, helicopters and aircraft. You'll check out their dorms, eat their food, watch them train, and discover why some of the strongest and brightest men and women in America become our fighting soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines." Said Kilgannon, "They even sleep overnight in the barracks."
Freedom Alliance also tracks the ever-worsening activities of the United Nations with its "UN Update." The International Criminal Court (ICC), which the United States has not ratified and which President Bush "unsigned" after Bill Clinton signed it, poses a particularly serious threat to America's sovereignty, her ability to employ her military to protect her interests, and to her military servicemen. The ICC claims the authority to prosecute anyone anywhere for such things as "war crimes" and "crimes against humanity"-and without the protections afforded by the U.S. Constitution.
"Basically we just try to get the word out and be a watchdog," said Kilgannon. "America's sovereignty continues to erode. With the World Trade Organzation, we don't even control our own trade with foreign countries."
North saluted in print an American hero whose recent death reminds us of what we owe to war veterans. "Like all Marines, I'd learned about the heroic feats of Joe Foss during the battle for Guadalcanal-the first U.S. offensive of World War II...," he wrote. "After the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor he persevered over the bureaucrats who had told him that he was too old-at 27-to be a fighter pilot. Ten months later, on October 9, 1942, as executive officer of Marine Fighting Squadron, VMF-121, he landed his F4F Wildcat on the dirt strip called Henderson Field on embattled Guadalcanal. By November 19, he had downed 23 enemy aircraft."
Freedom Alliance may be reached at 22570 Markey Ct., Dulles, Va. 20166 (703-444-7940; fax: 703-444-9893; website:www.freedomalliance.org).
