The following is an excerpt of Governor Palin’s remarks
at Colorado Christian University (CCU) on May 2, 2011, for the Tribute
to the Troops benefit in support of Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS),
which provides support to those who suffered the loss of a military
loved one. We will post the video of the speech as soon as it’s
available.
Who are these young American warriors? What is the character
represented in those who are sitting up here on this stage? They are
volunteer troops. They enlist because they instinctively know that
America is worth fighting for and that America’s enemies must be
defeated.
The fighting warriors in our armed forces are willing to lay their
lives on the line to preserve and protect something greater than self –
to defend the American ideal of liberty. They represent the very best
among us. They embody our highest ideals. And they represent American
Exceptionalism.
And yesterday their courage and their determination brought us
justice – especially justice for the victims of 9/11. God bless those
families who suffered so much on 9/11.
Yesterday was a testament to the military’s dedication in
relentlessly hunting down an enemy through many years of war, and we
thank our President. We thank President Bush for having made the right
calls to set up this victory.
Let me give you another example of victory, among thousands of
examples that we can think of in our military – an example of the
heroism over the years. One of Colorado’s newest residents is Staff
Sgt. Sal Giunta, and he’s a new resident in Fort Collins. He’s the
first living service member from the Afghanistan or Iraq conflicts to
receive the Medal of Honor. He was a rifle team leader in Afghanistan;
and on October 25, 2007, his unit was ambushed shortly after nightfall.
Sgt. Giunta described it: "There were more bullets in the air than
stars in the sky. A wall of bullets at everyone at the same time with
one crack and then a million cracks… They were close – as close as I’ve
ever seen.” But the sergeant kept his cool and relied on his
training. He fought off the insurgents and rescued several members of
his unit, including an injured soldier who was being carried off by the
Taliban. Giunta’s squad leader later praised him saying, "We were
outnumbered. You stopped the fight. You stopped them from taking a
soldier.”
When he was notified that he was being recommended for the Medal of
Honor, Sgt. Giunta was humble. He said, “If I’m a hero, every man that
stands around with me, every woman who is in the military, everyone who
goes into the unknown is a hero.”
Why do these American heroes go into the unknown? G. K. Chesteron
once wrote that “the true soldier fights not because he hates what is
in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.” They fight
because they love America and they love the ideals that America
represents. What America stands for is liberty, and justice, and
equality, and the empowerment of the individual.
Now, the enemy that we’re fighting loves death, the subjugation of
women, and a twisted promotion of the survival of the fittest through
fear, and hate, and lies about America and our purpose in the world.
Yesterday, when we learned that the public face of Islamic terrorism
was killed, there were already voices declaring, well, our war on
terrorism over. It is not over. We are still at war with a brutal enemy
that hates America and our allies and all that we stand for. So we must
not retreat. We cannot let-up. The war wages on.
Our troops and our intelligence services have proven again and again
their courage to defeat the enemy in the face of the same overwhelming
odds that Sgt. Giunta faced. Those threats are still real, and in fact,
they may be ramped up after the events of yesterday.
And that’s why when we continue to send our troops into harm’s way,
they deserve the clarity of knowing what their mission is. And the
decision to insert American units in areas to hunt down and to kill Bin
Laden is an example of the needed, decisive leadership that our troops
deserve. It is an example of the proper use of force to protect
America.
So, of course, we celebrate that important tactical victory that we
found out about yesterday. You know, there’s no military in the world
that could have accomplished what that young team of SEALs
accomplished…. But there are still many serious questions that demand
answers. Osama bin Laden was killed in an affluent city outside
Islamabad, not in a dark cave in the mountains. How long had he been
there? The town where he was hiding is home to the Pakistani equivalent
of West Point. According to some reports, the gun battle took place
just about 800 yards from the Pakistani Military Academy. Many retired
Pakistani military officers live in the area. How was the most wanted
man in the world able to avoid detection living in comfort in a
mysterious super compound in plain sight? ….We know that speculation
will be that at least some of the Pakistani leaders perhaps were helping
him. Consider that just last October, the U.S. offered $2 billion in
military aid to Pakistan. That’s on top of $7.5 billion that we provide
them in civilian aid. So, we deserve answers to our questions and
should demand answers to our questions. We also must demand that anyone
who cooperated in hiding Bin Laden be brought to justice. So there are
lots of questions, lots of questions about the burial, about photos;
and those things will certainly be disclosed, we must trust.
But despite these lingering questions, we’re not going to question
the integrity of our troops. Credit belongs to our troops and our
intelligence services for this victory. They were given a clear and a
vital mission with defined objectives, and they accomplished the
mission.
There’s a lesson here then for the effective use of force, as opposed
to sending our troops on missions that are ill-defined. And it can be
argued that our involvement elsewhere, say in Libya, is an example of a
lack of clarity. See, these are deadly serious questions that we must
ask ourselves when we contemplate sending Americans into harm’s way.
Our men and women in uniform deserve a clear understanding of U.S.
positions on such a crucial decision. I believe our criteria before we
send our young men and women—America’s finest—into harm’s way should be
spelled out clearly when it comes to the use of our military force. I
can tell you what I believe that criteria should be in five points.
First, we should only commit our forces when clear and vital American interests are at stake. Period.
Second, if we have to fight, we fight to win. To do that, we use
overwhelming force. We only send our troops into war with the objective
to defeat the enemy as quickly as possible. We do not stretch out our
military with open-ended and ill-defined missions. Nation building is a
nice idea in theory, but it is not the main purpose of our armed
forces. We use our military to win wars.
And third, we must have clearly defined goals and objectives before
sending troops into harm’s way. If you can’t explain the mission to the
American people clearly and concisely, then our sons and daughters
should not be sent into battle. Period.
Fourth, American soldiers must never be put under foreign command. We
will fight side by side with our allies, but American soldiers must
remain under the care and the command of American officers.
Fifth, sending in our armed forces should be the last resort. We
don’t go looking for dragons to slay. However, we will encourage the
forces of freedom around the world who are sincerely fighting for the
empowerment of the individual. When it makes sense, when it’s
appropriate, we will provide them with material support to help them
win their own freedom.
We are not indifferent to the cause of human rights or the desire for
freedom. We are always on the side of both. But we can’t fight every
war. We can’t undo every injustice around the world. But with strength
and clarity in those five points, we’ll make for a safer, more
prosperous, more peaceful world because as the U.S. leads by example, as
we support freedom across the globe, we’re going to prove that free
and healthy countries don’t wage war on other free and healthy
countries. The stronger we are, the stronger and more peaceful the
world will be under our example.
Some of these principles may sound familiar. A few of them were first
expressed back in 1984 in President Reagan’s cabinet. They were
designed to help us sharply define when and how we should use force,
and they served us well in the Reagan years. Times are much different
now, but I believe that by updating these time-tested principles to
address the unique and changing circumstances and threats that we face
today, they will serve us well now and into the future. Remember,
Reagan liked to keep it simple, yet profound. Remember what he would
say to the enemy? He’d say, “we win, you lose.”
Some may argue that today in a world where we are dealing with
terrorist organizations rather than Cold War adversaries, these
principals are outdated. On the contrary, these principles are timeless.
They will allow us to effectively and forcefully defend our vital
national interests and those of our key allies in the age of terrorism.
We must vigorously defend ourselves, but at the same time we must not
wear down our armed forces with never-ending and ever-increasing
commitments.
I believe that America must never retreat into isolation. The world
would be less safe and less free without our leadership. And we must
never forget that America has a responsibility to lead. “To whom much is
given, much is expected.” We cannot be the world’s policeman granted,
or the world’s ATM. But we can lead by example. By our words and, when
necessary, by our actions, we must and we will remain the world’s
abiding beacon of freedom.
Now, we may hear from pundits, from some of the elite in the Beltway,
from the politicos (in fact, I often hear from them on a daily basis)
that some of these commonsense ideas are passé and that America is in
decline. That is what some of them would articulate and want you to
believe. But a nation that can produce and support the men and women
that we have up here on stage, and a man like Sgt. Giunta, a nation that
can produce these volunteer patriots and the brave warriors who
defeated an enemy yesterday is not in decline. We are not a nation in
decline if we can look to these young people and realize that they still
want to protect America and fight for America. That is proof that we
are not in decline.
We have America’s finest willing to sacrifice for the country. They
are willing to sacrifice all for all of us. We have in America gifted
private sector entrepreneurs who create wealth, and they provide jobs.
We attract the best and brightest minds in the world wanting to come to
America. Do you notice that not a lot of people are wanting to leave
America? They’re wanting to come to America because we believe in
American Exceptionalism, and we believe in the pioneering spirit that
can be found in places like Colorado. No, America is not in decline –
because America believes in itself and in leaders who believe in America
and who believe in the providential hand that can guide us.
We need leaders who embody the same standards to which our men and women in uniform hold themselves.
Remember, the true soldier fights because he loves what is behind
him. Behind him here is tradition; it’s patriotism. It’s not a need for
a fundamental transformation of America; it’s for a renewal of all
that is good about America! It’s a renewal of what CCU stands for.
Our fighting men and women love America’s values, they love their
families, they love this providential land which God has shed His grace
upon.
They love their fellow Americans. They’ve fought for us; they’ve
protected us; they’ve given us the justice that America deserves. They
know that freedom isn’t free. It’s a God-given right. It’s worth
fighting for.
They have made us proud. Now let’s make them proud!
Thank you for loving the United States of America, for supporting
TAPS, for assisting the survivors. May you be blessed in the mission,
Colorado. And thank you for being part of the solution.