Julia Koppius

I do Congressional Liaison work for the Dutch. Tweets are personal, not official. RTs do not imply endorsment.

[Julia Koppius @Embassytweets]

@FreddyLA7 Be sure to go to BILLY BOB’s while you are in Ft. Worth.
So fun and completely TX.

[The Space Coast Rocket @CoastRocket]

WE COUNT THE ENEMIES WE KILL. WE RARELY COUNT THE ONES WE CREATE.

Nidal Hasan was a patient on my floor in the surgical trauma ICU at Brooke Army Medical Center.

I wasn't there when he arrived. I had just left for my deployment to Mosul, Iraq. But the nurses and doctors who cared for him were my peers and my friends, and I know exactly what that required of them, because every one of us had done some version of it before. Before anyone tells me what strength looks like, understand what that work demands.

I have cared for a drunk driver who wiped out an entire family and landed in our ICU himself. I have cared for gang members who shot up a block while children were stepping off a school bus, then ended up on our unit with bullets of their own. I have kept alive people who murdered their own families and failed at taking their own lives. And in Iraq, I saved the lives of the very enemy fighters who had just tried to kill us and miraculously survived our response.

Every one of those patients got our best. Not because we felt anything for them, but because of who we were. You set aside anger, grief, prejudice and every personal feeling you have, because a life in front of you is a life in front of you. That's the oath. That's the duty.

So when Hasan came through those doors, my colleagues did what we had always done. They preserved the life of a man who murdered thirteen people and would have killed them too, given the chance. He killed those men and women in one of the very same buildings many Soldier's like myself have been in when I was stationed at Fort Hood.
He is alive today because they did their jobs. That was not sentiment. It was a hard, tangible expression of the values this country claims to stand for. Our principles had to mean something even when the person benefiting from them had violated everything we believed in.

Now the Pentagon plans to livestream his execution by firing squad on Dec. 3, and our leaders apparently believe turning his death into a public spectacle will demonstrate American strength. I think it demonstrates how little they understand the enemy they claim to be fighting. We kept Nidal Hasan alive, now our leaders want to make him a martyr.

Hasan walked into Fort Hood expecting to die. He believed his death would be rewarded. At his trial, he called no witnesses and offered no defense, and his own court-appointed lawyers worried he was seeking execution. He failed at martyrdom once. Now we're about to hand it to him, in high definition, for every extremist with an internet connection to replay, manipulate and celebrate.
We supply the footage. They supply the meaning.
Long after the politicians finish congratulating themselves, that video will still exist. Their moment of bravado becomes somebody else's recruiting material for decades. And this failure to think past the immediate display of power reaches far beyond one execution. We count the enemies we kill. We rarely count the enemies we create.

Look at the school in Minab, Iran, where multiple investigations attributed the strike that killed more than 100 children and their teachers to us. You cannot bury people's children beneath the rubble of their classrooms and expect a speech about American intentions to decide how they remember you. No denial brings those children home. No claim of good intentions makes their parents forget whose weapons killed them.
If those were our children, we would remember for the rest of our lives. We would demand accountability. Many of us would want vengeance. We would tell their stories to the next generation. We know this because we did exactly that after September 11.

Why do we imagine other people love their children less, grieve less deeply, or remember less clearly?

We have developed a horrifying talent for creating more terrorists than we will ever stop. We inflict suffering, evade responsibility, and then act as though the anger that follows came out of nowhere.

Think back to the first time you saw one of those al Qaeda videos of an American being beheaded. Remember the sickness in your stomach. Remember the rage. Remember thinking that only savages would film a killing and send it out for the world to watch. Now ask yourself what the rest of the world will see when the camera is ours.
Terrorist organizations stage executions for the cameras. Authoritarian regimes make death a public spectacle to feed fear and rage. Watching our own leaders reach for those same tools should force us to confront how much of ourselves we are surrendering in the name of defeating them.

The line separating us from the people we condemn has to live in our conduct. A flag cannot hold it for us. Neither can a uniform, a title, or a declaration that we are the good guys.
On that ICU floor, on a bloody street in Mosul, and in trauma bays across this country, people like my colleagues hold that line every day under circumstances most will never face. They keep monsters alive because their duty and their humanity are bigger than their hatred of what those monsters have done.

Execute him if that's the sentence. But do it the way a confident nation does; quietly, lawfully, and without giving him the stage he always wanted. Let him be forgotten.

I expect our leaders to show at least as much discipline as the nurses who had to care for him.
They keep telling us they are defending what makes America different. Every day, they make that difference harder to see.

Robert W. Burns III is the editor and publisher of The Space Coast Rocket, an Army veteran and a retired trauma nurse. The views expressed in this column are his own.

[Julia Koppius @Embassytweets]

@oelma__ Goliath

[Julia Koppius @Embassytweets]

@usambnl @cruijffarena @NFL Yes!!!👏

[Julia Koppius @Embassytweets]

@FreddyLA7 Sorry to hear that. I hope you feel better soon. 🙏🙏🙏

[Julia Koppius @Embassytweets]

@BenSasse @jaketapper Maybe BAMF Health in Grand Rapids MI is worth a shot? They do impressive work getting rid of cancer.

[Julia Koppius @Embassytweets]

@FreddyLA7 Equestrians!!! Love it. 😍

[Julia Koppius @Embassytweets]

@AP Put it in the NYC Museum. Amazing. 🤩

[Julia Koppius @Embassytweets]

Freddy (and friends) I hope you realize how much joy you brought to so many people during this World Cup. Your humility, curiosity, simplicity and yes, even your anonymity in an age of selfies and self promotion, has greatly impacted us. The adventures you have been on and the experiences you have recorded will remain even after you have gone. Thank you for sharing your journey, and taking us along with you. We wish you safe travels home, and as they say in the South: “y’all come back now, you hear?!” Tchuss! ✌️

[Julia Koppius @Embassytweets]

@FreddyLA7 @EWErickson @Clay4MainStreet @SpecEnvTourism @RepClayFuller @ThomasMHern Welcome Freddy! We were just talking about you (and Ella) at lunch! My Dutch colleague just discovered her.

[Julia Koppius @Embassytweets]

A great recap of a great World Cup! Well done! Thank you to everyone who organized, who played, who came, and who kept us safe. So sad it’s over, but what great memories!

[Julia Koppius @Embassytweets]

@FreddyLA7 I hope you get to Beckley. I hope you do the New River Gorge Bridgewalk. I hope you get to go Whitewater rafting. West Virginia is beautiful! So much to do there🤩

[Julia Koppius @Embassytweets]

@FreddyLA7 Heeee’s baaaack!!! All is well.
💝💪🤗🥳👏

[Julia Koppius @Embassytweets]

@erling @McFaul Yes! You did WELL, WELL, WELL!!!! 🎉👏😁🤩

[Julia Koppius @Embassytweets]

If you still have any contact with Freddy, please apologize on behalf of those of us who are heartbroken about this development. Why do people find it necessary to sabotage wonderful things? It makes me so sad. Thank you for welcoming Freddy, and helping him out.
He brought a lot of joy to a lot of people. 🙏💝🇺🇸🇩🇪

[Unpopularfootyx @Unpopularfootyx]

🚨🎙️ZLATAN IBRAHIMOVIĆ ON JAPAN'S PERFORMANCE AGAINST BRAZIL:

🗣️“At this point, I'm short of words.

This loss is painful, but they've proven themselves to the world.

I have literally no words.

Because when I watched Japan today, I didn't see a team that was afraid of Brazil.

I saw a team that believed they could compete with one of the greatest football nations in history.”

“From the goalkeeper to the defence, everything was perfect.

The only thing lacking was the attack.

And I have to be honest...

I didn't feel like the attack really did their job.

The build-up was excellent.

The organisation was excellent.

The pressing was excellent.

But when the decisive moments arrived, they needed to be more ruthless.

Against Brazil, you cannot waste your moments.”

“Their goalkeeper should be the proudest man in that dressing room.

For me, he's been the best goalkeeper in this tournament.

The saves he made.

The confidence he showed.

The composure under pressure.

He kept Japan believing until the very end.

That's what elite goalkeepers do.”

“People will only remember that Japan lost.

I won't.

I'll remember that they stood toe-to-toe with Brazil.

They defended with courage.

They played with intelligence.

They fought for every ball.

That earns my respect.”

“They've lost, but it's a step to success.

Sometimes football teaches you more in defeat than it does in victory.

If this group stays together, learns from today and keeps believing in themselves, they'll become even stronger.”

“I hope this generation gets to win something.

Because generations like this don't come around often.

They have discipline.

They have quality.

They have humility.

And now they've shown they also have the mentality to compete with the very best.

That combination is dangerous.”

“So yes, they'll leave disappointed.

They should.

That's what competitors do.

But when they wake up tomorrow, they should also be proud.

Overall, they should be proud.

Because today they didn't just play against Brazil.

They earned the respect of the entire football world.”

[MLIH @myloveishoney]

I can’t get enough of this song💪🇺🇸💪🇺🇸

[Julia Koppius @Embassytweets]

@VATF1 @StateDept @ffxfirerescue @US_TRANSCOM @AirMobilityCmd @USForeignAssist Thank you all. 🙏💝

[Sjoerd Sjoerdsma @ministerBHOS]

Following the devastating earthquakes, The Netherlands is offering Venezuela a @USARNL search and rescue team. Up to €2M has been released for rapid deployment. Our thoughts are with all those affected. https://t.co/TNaa8IaX5g

[Birgitta Tazelaar @NLAmbassadorUSA]

Delighted to welcome @ministerBHOS Sjoerdsma to DC today. This intense day of meetings with the administration and Congress is vital for safeguarding our shared security and strengthening strategic transatlantic sectors.🛡️🤝🌐