Gold Star Mom Debbie Lee, whose son, Aviation Ordnanceman 2nd Class (SEAL) Marc A. Lee, was killed in Ramadi on August 2, 2006 said that she feels like the Obama administration wants “to lose that territory” and “lose over there” on Monday’s “Your World with Neil Cavuto” on the Fox News Channel.
Lee stated that seeing ISIS controlling the city is, “just sickening, it’s gut wrenching to see what’s happened over there. Marc wrote an amazing letter, about two and a half weeks before he was killed, and one thing of the things he mentions in there is we will get Iraq to stand on its own two feet. He says it’ll take longer than most think. I went over to Iraq in 2007. Ramadi was still a bad place then. 2006, when Marc’s died — Marc’s teammates said it was the hellhole of Iraq and the worst piece of real estate there. I went back in 2010, I saw the successes, I saw the difference that our men and women made that serve in the military, and if we would have left troops there to stabilize the area, we would not be watching today and seeing that flag fly over the place where my son breathed his last, where his blood is poured on that soil, where so many others, there blood is there, and they’ve sacrificed, and left pieces there, and I just feel like our administration isn’t doing anything to be successful. It’s almost as if they want to lose over there.”
She continued, “The attitude is so insensitive and so flippant. I feel like they don’t have strategies. As I said a minute ago, it feels like they don’t want to be successful, over there, that they do want to lose that territory. And now ISIS is even more ready to go and conquer more, they’re emboldened to be able to do more and we’re going to watch them now as they go into Baghdad and try to take that area. And if Iraq falls, that changes the whole Middle Eastern control of there. It is a big threat to our national security, and as a mother the last thing I want to see, or know is another parent, another husband, a wife, a child losing a loved one in combat, but I can tell you that if we don’t stop it over there, we’re going to see even more of that here on our homeland, on our soils, innocent lives are going be taken just like happened on 9/11, and I do believe that is the place that we need to stop it. We need to show our strength as Americans and I think that’s what’s lacking for us in this administration. It feels like it’s an apology tour, that he just continues to accommodate the enemy and not Americans. We’re not standing strong, and we’re not seen as that powerhouse that we used to be.”
Lee concluded, “I think they should apologize to the families who sacrificed that they treat so flippantly in their comments and the insensitive things. I think they need to apologize to our troops for not giving them rules of engagement, not letting them be successful, and do what they’re trained to do, and it’s just — there’s so many areas that are things that need to be done differently there. But I am so proud of our men and women who served, and the sacrifices they’ve made. They have been at this for over a decade, and people don’t understand, and especially today on Memorial Day, we need to remember those sacrifices. We have almost a million Americans who sacrificed their lives in combat for the freedoms that we enjoy each and every day, and I think as a nation, we’ve gotten away from what the true meaning of Memorial Day needs to be and we need to come back and focus that. We need to remember the sacrifices. As a mother whose son has given everything for this country, every day to me is Memorial Day. Every day I think about Marc. I would love to just hug him one more time, I’d love to look into his eyes, and just hear his voice one more time. But, unfortunately, that won’t happen until I see him in heaven again. But, until then, I’m purposed to carry on for our troops, for their families, and to always remember the sacrifice that have been paid for our freedoms every day.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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