The Black Republican

In today's Best of the Web, James Taranto comments on the vote in the House of Representatives this past weekend to continue the Iraq campaign.

Late Friday night the House took a vote on Rep. John Murtha's proposal for an immediate withdrawal from Iraq. The vote was 403-3 against, with Murtha among the 403....

Some Republicans have labeled Murtha a "coward," which strikes us as unduly personal. But he does seem to lack the courage of his convictions.

Ever since Rep. Murtha came out with his proposal, I have had the same snippet of video rolling through my head: the great liberal icon Martin Sheen portraying Robert E. Lee in Turner Picture's epic Gettysburg.

In one scene, just before the great battle began to turn horribly wrong for the Confederates, Sheen recites a monologue as Lee issues instructions to his deputy commander, James Longstreet.

General, soldiering has one, great trap. To be a good soldier, you must love the army. To be a good commander, you must be willing to order the death of the thing you love.

We do not fear our own death, you and I. But there comes a time... we are never quite prepared for so many to die. Oh, we do expect the occasional empty chair, a salute to fallen comrades. But this war goes on and on, and the men die, and the price gets ever higher. We are prepared to lose some of us, but we are never prepared to lose all of us.

And there is the great trap, General. When you attack, you must hold nothing back. You must commit yourself totally. We are adrift here in a sea of blood, and I want it to end.

Rep. Murtha, a decorated Vietnam veteran and a former Marine of decades of service, is surely not a physical coward when his own neck is the one in danger. But the Robert E. Lee in Gettysburg understood the difference between personal courage and the courage required by a commander, who must be willing to order other men to their deaths in the hope of victory - and the peace that follows.

Sheen's portrayal of Lee speaks to us now, in this age. We can shirk our duty and give up our country and its ideals, or we can fight for it. Fighting courageously will not assure us victory, but at least gives us hope we can achieve it. We "must hold nothing back," because we, like Lee, "want it to end." But should we lose our nerve, we must be "prepared to lose all of us," because the enemy will be at the gates, and they have shown us they will offer no quarter and show no mercy.