"The Undefeated"

I watched an old John Wayne movie the other night. It was nostalgic. The movie was "The Undefeated" made in 1969. John Wayne played a Union Colonel in command of a brigade.

In the opening scene, the Union Colonel is attacking a Confederate stronghold, routing them and killing many of the soldiers. Several "Rebels" grab their Confederate flag and keep it from falling to the ground as rebels are killed in the battle. Finally one rebel soldier gets hit and falls, wrapping himself in his flag as he dies.

The scene changes to show John Wayne, the victorious Union Colonel astride his horse, surveying the vanquished, rebel camp. A messenger rides up shouting that the war is over. The Union Colonel reprimands the messenger and orders him to report his message. The Union Colonel finds out that the war had ended three days earlier with Lee’s surrender to Grant at Appomatix. The Union Colonel looks around at all the dead soldiers and realizes the futility of the battle. He orders a flag of truce and he rides into the rebel camp to share the news that the war is over.

The rebel camp honors the flag of truce and a gaunt Confederate Colonel with an empty sleeve where his right arm used to be comes out to talk with the Union Colonel. The Union Colonel shares the news about the war being over. To his surprise, the Confederate Colonel says he learned of it the day before.

Then the Union Colonel asks a logical question. "If you already knew the war was over, why did you fight this battle?"

The Confederate Colonel says, "Because this is our land and you’re on it."

Our occupation of Iraq is not eliminating terrorists. It is creating fighters against us simply because we are there. It is time to re-deploy the troops!