Lee and Sherman Were Right - ("War IS Hell")

THE RANT.US ^ | DECEMBER 31, 2004 | TONY RUBOLOTTA

[CHARLITE]

During the Battle of Fredricksburg, Robert E. Lee, surveying the battlefield covered with thousands of the dead and wounded, remarked to his staff that "It is a good thing war is so terrible, lest we grow too fond of it." William Tecumseh Sherman, having been criticized for the widespread destruction his army caused in the Shenandoah and Georgia, responded "War is hell." What if war were not hell, but conducted as a sterile, antiseptic, non-invasive procedure to eliminate the "bad guys" without causing harm to "innocent civilians" and property? The hazards of this type of warfare are manifold and introduce a true asymmetry to war, unlike the currently accepted definition of "asymmetrical warfare."

The conflict in Iraq is an ample demonstration of the true asymmetry of this kind of war. Coalition forces have taken extreme measures to avoid civilian casualties and destruction of property. That increases the hazard to our troops though there is minimal favorable news coverage of the results. It is not considered news that a house was not destroyed or that civilians caught in crossfire were not killed. The rare times it does happen, the media is quick to liken the incident to some sort of atrocity committed by our troops that may be worthy of several days or weeks of coverage. The usual command response has been to promise an investigation, review the tactics and assure us the incident was an accident.

The Iraqi and foreign terrorist in Iraq suffers no such inhibitions against the use of violence and clearly has no concern for collateral damage. The use of car bombs, indiscriminate shelling and more recently, house bombs are intended to create maximum collateral damage. How many innocent civilians may be killed is not even a concern and indeed is part of the strategy of terror. Executing civilians in public view is no accident, but deliberate. There is no outcry from the press and only a quick mention of the number of civilian deaths. After a few hours, the story is dropped as if it never happened.

The asymmetry of this war is not that we must be right all of the time and the terrorists need only be right once. The true asymmetry is quite different. While we self-flagellate for months over Abu Ghraib, the terrorists promote public spectacles of grisly executions of their prisoners. While we take extraordinary measures to prevent damage to property, the terrorist take every opportunity to destroy it. Our soldiers are placed at risk and die to protect houses, mosques and schools while the terrorists attempt to use these as shields. We abide by rules of engagement that put us at a disadvantage. The terrorists have no rules. We permit ant-US and anti-government demonstrations. How many anti-terrorist demonstrations were held in Fallujah when the city was controlled by terrorists? We attempt to gain favor with a hostile press while the terrorists use the press to promote fear. This is true asymmetric warfare. One side brings hell and the other side brings flowers. One side is feared and the other side is, to put it politely, a bunch of pansies.

This is not a criticism of our military. They could do the job if permitted. Timorous and feckless military and civilian politicians trying to avoid "bad press" or appease our critics mitigate the determination, courage and effectiveness of our troops. Now hear this, "bad press" from Al-Jazeera is a good thing. The Sunni Triangle is the problem and the Sunni Triangle must learn what hell can be. There is not one building in Iraq that is worth an American or Iraqi life. Buildings can be replaced. The sanctity of a mosque should be forfeit once that sanctity is violated and it becomes a fortress. If war is holy, then holy places are targets. And if the Muslim world screams in protest, let them know that war is hell and it is a good thing it is so terrible, lest they grow too fond of it. We know that and it is time they learned.

Tony Rubolotta lives in the Chicago suburbs with his wife Ana Maria and youngest son Igor Carlos. Tony is a loss control consultant and director of software development for a fire protection engineering firm. A former resident of New Jersey, he is graduate of Stevens Institute of Technology with a Bachelor of Engineering degree.

Comments:rubolotta@therant.us

[Charlespg]

Agreed

[Luddite Patent Counsel]

There is an enormous difference between "collateral damage" incident to waging war against an enemy (as is the case in Iraq), and the purposeful and wanton destruction of civilians and their property (as was the case with Sherman's March of War Crimes to the Sea). The former is regrettable, but sometimes necessary. The latter is an act of brutality.

[vetvetdoug]

Sherman and Sheridan, Taught the South to cry
Then the two went out west and showed the Indian how to die,
They burned the Shenandoah and Atlanta to the ground,
Turned Waushita and Columbia into charred burnt out towns.

[Hold DiMayo]

I just finished reading Victor David Hanson's "Ripple of Battels". He wrote that Shermin did not kill ANY civillians and that there wer only 20 reported rapes. This was with a army of 62,000 men.

[Hold DiMayo]

And another thought to my post above. Sherman did destroy every plantation and farm house from Atlanta to to the sea but in the prossess he broke the back of the South which ended the war sooner than if he didn't. Plus he freed over a million slaves. If he would'nt have cause such destruction the war could have gone on longer, coust more lives and possibly put the nNorth in a situation where they would have to nigotiate a serender, allowing slavery to continue.

[MosesKnows]

"It is a good thing war is so terrible, lest we grow too fond of it."

If men are so wicked with religion, what would they be if without it?" - Benjamin Franklin's advice to Thomas Paine regarding The Age of Reason

[ishabibble]

Interesting. I was reading Forbes at the hair salon today. The Most Overrated and Most Underrated of Everything article was terrific. From food to music to sports heroes, it was a most thought provoking read.

Most Overrated War Hero was Robert E. Lee. Most Underrated was Ulysess S. Grant. I did not agree with every point, but having read a mutli-volume biography of Lee, and one of my favorite books ever being the personal letters of Grant, I would have to agree with the writer of the article. The central issue is that, while R.E.L was seen as some sort of a mythical figure by both sides, U.S.G had a keen overview of the war and the very narrow ways in which it could possibly be won. Mainly by cleanly slashing the South in two using the river systems. It worked. Whatever else Grant may have been, he was perhaps the most brilliant strategist of American military history. It was noted by the author of this article that Gen. Eisenhower followed Gen. Grant's strategies almost exactly. I highly recommend this very fine article for anyone who likes a little counterweight with their boilerplate!

[DixieOklahoma]

lol, give me a break you freaking loser. In Columbia, SC there are letters from union soldiers that were left in the town describing the pillaging of southerner's homes and the murdering of civilians as well as the raping of women.

[DixieOklahoma]

well I assume that if all of your soldiers were starving and had bare feet and even resorted to 'throwing rocks' at the enemy because they had no bullets for their guns, YOU would be able to run as successfull indeed a much better campaign than Robert E. Lee, correct?

The north was as pathetic as they were brutal in the civil war. The union was WELL fed had plenty of good ammunition, uniforms SHOES, etc. yet they still had to rape, pillaged and murder the citizenry of the south in order to bring a starving, freezing army to its knees.

[ishabibble]

Dear Dixie:

I am first generation Irish. My dad paid for all of us with his service in the United States
Merchant Marine. From USS Wasson, to Nomandy, through the Murmansk Run. OK! and Thank Almighty God!

I sympathize much more with the South than the North as it pertains to the individual identity of an "American", it is most certainly true that the good manners and traditions of the South have shaped our nation, much more than has ever been credited.

My own mother saw GWTW more times than I could count, and cursed the day that Vivien Leigh married Sir Laurence! (humour break) My parents revered the opportunity they had been given and made the most of it. My father (15-19 yrs. old at the time) never said a single word about his trials during WWII. You should be so fortunate to ever meet such a gentleman.

Preaching to the choir, Dixie, you cannot know how I feel for the simple and true young boys kil't by both sides. I now confess to being something of a Civil War buff. I dare not outguess the great Gods and Generals, I only feel the presence of bravery in such places as Gettysburg, Fredricksburg, Michtchlville,etc. God Bless America, Dixie, we need to remember all this...Your pal, ishabibble(without the K!)

[Colonel Kangaroo]

The rape and murder practiced by a small minority of Sherman's men was indefensible, but Sherman's men were no more brutal than the rebel bushwhackers who terrorized the loyal Union southerners during the war. And unlike the bushwhackers, Sherman's actions hastened the end of the war and brought about the preservation of our united nation.