Phil Klay is a U.S. Marine veteran and an award-winning author with a Master’s degree. This dude seriously knows his s**t. He served in Iraq for two years as a Public Relations Officer.
Because of his time as a U.S. Marine overseas, he has a unique position on the Syrian refugee crisis. He has seen war first-hand. He knows what it looks like, and what it feels like.
He is a wise man and a smart guy, and his perspective as a veteran is an important part of America’s foreign policy discussion. Here’s what he has to say about the Syrian refugees:
1. Tremendously upset by attempt to effectively close our borders to Syrian refugees by imposing impossible-to-implement screening standards
— Phil Klay (@PhilKlay) November 19, 2015
2. When I swore my oath of office as a Marine officer, I swore to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
— Phil Klay (@PhilKlay) November 19, 2015
3. The Marine hymn claims that Marines are the “first to fight for right and freedom and to keep our honor clean.”
— Phil Klay (@PhilKlay) November 19, 2015
4. You’re not supposed to risk your life just for the physical safety of American citizens
— Phil Klay (@PhilKlay) November 19, 2015
5. You’re supposed to risk your life for American ideals as well.
— Phil Klay (@PhilKlay) November 19, 2015
6. This shouldn't be a left-right issue. Ronald Reagan, who believed that America was the exceptional nation,
— Phil Klay (@PhilKlay) November 19, 2015
7. the “Shining City on a Hill,” asked himself during his farewell address from the Oval Office how that Shining City fared, answering:
— Phil Klay (@PhilKlay) November 19, 2015
8. "After 200 years, two centuries, she still stands strong and true on the granite ridge, and her glow has held steady no matter what storm
— Phil Klay (@PhilKlay) November 19, 2015
9. “And she's still a beacon; still a magnet for all who must have freedom,
— Phil Klay (@PhilKlay) November 19, 2015
10. “for all the pilgrims from all the lost places who are hurtling through the darkness toward home."
— Phil Klay (@PhilKlay) November 19, 2015
11. Millions of pilgrims are hurtling through the darkness, but it’s Germany that has recently been the beacon standing strong and true,
— Phil Klay (@PhilKlay) November 19, 2015
12. welcoming them home, not America.
— Phil Klay (@PhilKlay) November 19, 2015
13. If we want to be the kind of nation that others will follow,
— Phil Klay (@PhilKlay) November 19, 2015
14. the kind of nation capable of forging strong links in the Muslim world against extremism,
— Phil Klay (@PhilKlay) November 19, 2015
15. then we have to behave like that kind of nation. I get that people are scared.
— Phil Klay (@PhilKlay) November 19, 2015
16. But it's only during frightening times when you get to find out if your country really deserves to call itself the 'home of the brave.'
— Phil Klay (@PhilKlay) November 19, 2015
Boom. There you go. Although there is some fear about letting refugees into the States, Klay makes a great point that we can’t call ourselves “The Home Of The Brave” if we don’t face our fears. We have sent men and women out to uphold American ideals; perhaps it is time to uphold those ideals at home as well.
Featured image is by DVIDSHUB via Flickr, available under this Creative Commons license.
