The writing below in the blue box was written and posted on this web site prior to the Oct 11, 06 special Fairbanks Borough Assembly meeting.

See below the blue box for an update about what happened at the Oct. 11, 06 borough meeting.

On Wed. Oct 11, 2006, The Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly will be considering passing a resolution with the following title:
RESOLUTION NO. 2006 - 37
A RESOLUTION CALLING FOR THE IMMEDIATE RESIGNATION OF SECRETARY OF DEFENSE DONALD H. RUMSFELD AND COMMENDING THE SOLDIERS OF THE 172 STRYKER BRIGADE
(Note: The above is the title of the Sep. 28, 06 original resolution. There are also a few substitute versions.)
Oct. 5, 06 meeting agenda featuring the different substitute versions of resolution 2006-37 at Borough web site.

The Borough should not pass this resolution! The little part about commending the 172nd Stryker Brigade is good, but the bulk of it which calls for the immediate resignation of Donald Rumsfeld, is bad for our efforts in Iraq, in my view.
   I feel that this resolution will be interpreted by the world and the terrorists as a repudiation of our efforts to secure freedom and a constitutional government for Iraq.

Please contact the Borough assembly members and ask them to vote against this resolution.
Click here for contact info at the Borough web site.

   The proposed resolution (No. 2006-37) is very defeatist in its tone. It bemoans that key measures of success are getting worse, but says nothing of the positive developments. The proposed resolution offers no specific tactical or policy suggestions.
   The resolution states that we “can not sustain the current operational tempo” implying that we are about to wilt and cave in.
It states that “soldiers of the 172nd Stryker Brigade have been killed”.
   The soldiers of the Stryker Brigade as well as our other soldiers are true heroes. We citizens at home are very grateful for their efforts on our behalf. Anytime we hear of the death of one of our brave soldiers, it is very painful to us.
   But the proposed resolution does not acknowledge that the cause of freedom sometimes requires great cost and sacrifice.
 
Iwo Jima
   In one single battle in World War II, America paid a tremendous price to take the heavily fortified island of Iwo Jima in February and March of 1945. There were 25,000 American casualties in the battle of Iwo Jima. Of that number, 6,800 brave American soldiers were killed.
   But it was vital to capture the island to get a bomber airstrip that was closer to Japan.
Fortunately the American people had great fortitude and long range vision and went on to win World War II in August of 1945 after 4 long years of grueling combat.
   From 1945 to 1952 Japan was controlled by the American military occupation. Japan was changed from a dangerous dictatorship to a free and prosperous country.
 
Success in Iraq
   Can we and the many good Iraqi people succeed in Iraq? Well, we’ve already succeeded in getting rid of Saddam Hussein and his 2 unpleasant sons. The good Iraqi people have succeeded in writing a constitution and holding 2 successful elections / referendums.
   In July 2006, Iraqi forces took over the security responsibility for Muthanna province which is the southernmost of the 18 provinces of Iraq. The security responsibility was taken over from British, Australian and Japanese forces.
   It is expected soon that control of other peaceful southern provinces will be turned over to the Iraqis.
 
Why invade Iraq?
Saddam Hussein came to power in 1979 and for 24 years held the Iraqi people in an iron grip. On Aug. 2, 1990 he invaded and conquered the country of Kuwait. The coalition of nations told him to get out of Kuwait but he did not. The coalition launched an air war against Iraq on Jan. 17, 1991. Saddam then launched 39 Scud missiles at Israel even though Israel was not involved in the war. Iraq was pushed out of Kuwait but Saddam Hussein was allowed to remain in control of Iraq. Saddam’s regime agreed to the temporary cease fire terms (Security Council Resolution 686) on March 3, 1991. The Saddam dictatorship then agreed to the formal cease fire terms (Security Council Resolution 687) on April 6, 1991.
   The cease fire terms stipulated among other things that Saddam was to:
  • Give up his programs for weapons of mass destruction and to cooperate with international inspections.
  • Not possess missiles with a range of greater than 150 Kilometers.
  • Renounce the support of international terrorism.
   During the 12 years following 1991, Saddam repeatedly violated terms of the cease fire agreement by frustrating inspection efforts.
Saddam went on to murder thousands of innocent Shias and Kurds in retribution for attempted uprisings.
His regime repeatedly fired upon coalition aircraft as they patrolled the no-fly zones in the south and north of Iraq.
He paid up to $25,000 per Palestinian family that provided suicide bombers to kill innocent civilians in Israel.
   The UN imposed sanctions against Iraq in an effort to get Iraq to comply with the cease fire terms. But these sanctions imposed a hardship on the Iraqi people. So as to help remedy this, the UN Oil for Food program was instituted so as to help get food and medicine to the Iraqi people. Saddam subverted this program with massive corruption and diverted billions of dollars for his weapons and palaces.
   Saddam Hussein proved that he was not going to change and on March 20, 2003 Iraq time (March 19, 03 U.S. time), operation Iraqi Freedom was launched by the United States and a coalition of other nations. Baghdad fell on April 9, 2003 and the Saddam Hussein dictatorship was finally removed. Saddam was later captured on Dec. 13, 2003.
   I (Randy Griffin) must confess that prior to the war, I never said that we should invade Iraq. In fact on March 14, 2003, I called a radio talk show and expressed some mild reservations about the impending war. But once the March 20, 2003 invasion started, I was completely in favor of a successful outcome for the mission. I now see the long term wisdom in removing Saddam from power. Eventually the sanctions would have collapsed and Saddam would have gone right back to pursuing his weapons of mass destruction and it would have been more difficult to stop him in the future. 
   
Help the Iraqi people build their new nation
   The Iraqi people do not have much experience in constitutional representative government and they need time to gain experience and work out the problems. Also, there are outside evil forces such as the Al Qaeda terrorists who are trying to undermine progress in Iraq. The United States and the other coalition nations need to follow through and help the Iraqi people achieve a free and self sustaining nation.
   There are left wing pressure groups that would like us to abandon Iraq. These people have plenty of voice. They can and do write letters to the editor. They can produce Michael Moore type movies. They can hold their demonstrations, put forth ads, support their candidates, write letters to Congress, shake hands with Hugo Chavez, and they can say all they want on their web sites.
 
   Donald Rumsfeld is doing a good job in a tough situation
   But I do not want any Borough Assembly member of my Fairbanks Borough government taking it upon himself to purport to speak for me in calling for the immediate resignation of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. If a Borough assembly member or anyone else wants to write their own letter of protest - that’s OK and that’s their right. But leave me out of it.
    Out of hundreds of retired generals, a handful has spoken out against Donald Rumsfeld. But the retired General Tommy Franks has defended and supports Rumsfeld and the Bush administration. General Tommy Franks was in charge of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Recently retired General Richard Meyers also spoke out in defense of Rumsfeld.
   In a huge wartime operation there are bound to be mistakes and unforeseen developments. We learn from our mistakes. The question is, are there any specific operational policies or tactics at the present time that we need to change or add to?
 
I strongly support a resolution that praises the 172nd Stryker Brigade and their families
A small portion of the proposed resolution commends the 172nd Stryker Brigade, and this part is good.

Back to main page.
 

Update: At the Wed. Oct. 11, 2006 special Borough Assembly meeting, more citizen's testimony was given on the subject of proposed Fairbanks Borough resolution 2006-37. Then the Borough Assembly members debated and voted on it.
Fortunately, the resolution did not pass. Passage would have required 5 votes, and it only received 4 yes votes.
   

The Borough assembly members who voted in favor of the resolution calling for the immediate resignation of United States Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld:

Hank Bartos
Guy Sattley
Valerie Therrien
Luke Hopkins		 The Borough assembly members who voted against the proposed resolution:

Charlie Rex
Nadine Hargesheimer (Oct 10, 2009 update note: Nadine Hargesheimer is now known as Nadine Winters.)
Tim Beck

   The Borough Assembly has 9 members. 2 of the members (Randy Frank & Torie Foote) were not available at the special Wed. Oct. 11, 06 Borough meeting. Therefore there were only 7 assembly members present at the special meeting.
   I'm just guessing, but I am under the impression that Randy Frank & Torie Foote probably would not have voted for the anti-Rumsfeld resolution if they had been present. But I am just speculating here.
   Randy Frank is more of a conservative on the Borough Assembly. Torie Foote and Nadine Hargesheimer had offered a proposed substitute resolution that commended the soldiers of the 172nd Stryker Brigade. Their substitute did not say anything about demanding the resignation of Donald Rumsfeld.
   None of the proposed substitute resolutions were able to supplant the original Hank Bartos, Guy Sattley Sep. 28, 06 resolution. The original was the overwhelming favorite of citizens that testified in favor of the resolution against Rumsfeld.
   Virtually none of the citizens who testified in favor of the anti-Rumsfeld resolution, said anything about supporting the mission in Iraq to help the Iraqi people secure freedom and a stable representative government.
   Fortunately there were quite a few citizens who came out to offer excellent testimony against the resolution, but they were definitely outnumbered by the ranks of anti-Rumsfield / anti-Iraq mission testifiers.
   But thankfully, as stated previously, the resolution failed to pass.