Another home run for Beldar

As is probably obvious from the number of times I link to him, Beldar is one of my favorite bloggers. He's got a great knack for writing, and his posts are always interesting.

He's done it again with this piece highlighting the contributions and honors of our Coalition allies... the "bribed, bought, coerced, or extorted." These are the men John Kerry dishonors every chance he gets. These are the men of the "fraudulent coalition."

He begins with a Reuters photo of a Macedonian soldier receiving the Bronze Star from Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. It's a beautiful photograph; the soldier is standing ramrod straight, and his face, while stern and solemn as befits such a moment, clearly radiates his pride and honor.

About this bribed, bought, coerced, and/or extorted warror, who's part of Bush's fig leaf of a phony coalition, Beldar asks:

So if it's your American son or daughter who's life has been saved by this warrior — whose flag you almost surely wouldn't recognize, and whose country you may not even be able to point to on the map, but who likely grew up amidst the terror of government sponsored ethnic cleansing — would this be a "so-called, phony" hero? After all, he's now wearing the same medal that John Kerry threw over the Capitol fence in 1971. Does he look bought? Is that medal a bribe?

Or is it instead something that his wife will bring out of a cherished place show to their grandchildren someday? Is it something that she'll explain was a sacred symbol of appreciation from the powerful country whose soldiers their granddaddy fought beside, whose very mortal sons and daughters he risked his life to save? Will she explain how their granddaddy fought for civilization, against barbarism, and for the honor of their new country as it sought to take a place among the world's peaceful and responsible civilized nations?

We can but guess, of course. Maybe at the moment this picture was snapped, Stojance Patarovski was thinking, "Wrong war at the wrong place at the wrong time." Maybe he was thinking, "I'm glad nobody asked me to be the last man to die for a mistake." Maybe he was thinking, "Those guys who were shooting at me sure were a nuisance."

The "nuisance" bit is a low blow, since John Kerry's stupid remark, which I've dissected here, didn't have anything to do with troops in combat. But with that exception, this says exactly what needs to be said, and Beldar paints the picture magnificently. I can just see that Macedonian grandmother, decades in the future, smiling proudly as a cluster of beautiful children gather around to look at дедо's bronze star, which he kept polished to a mirror shine.

These are our allies. We are proud to have them standing by our side. They deserve our gratitude and our thanks, not insults from a wannabe President.