Posted on 06/03/2006 12:09:50 PM PDT by baseball_fan
snip...In this war, we do not have enough political leaders and opinion-makers receiving soul-searing letters from their children. Their sons and daughters are notably absent from our military. That's too bad.
A personal connection to our wars might discourage the sort of glib hubris that leads the media to trumpet events such as the Haditha killings without putting them in the context of the everyday heroism that is the norm, or in the context of history. And a personal connection to our military by our political leaders would give them a stake in our troops' welfare and what we are asking them to do.
...snip
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
And what's the so-called author's son doing these days? Smoking dope? Surfing child porn sites? Protesting at US Military funerals?
Just curious...
The author is out of touch.
I think not!
"The author is out of touch."
?
from the article: "I am proud my son volunteered, and of his two tours in Afghanistan and his mission in Iraq. And he is glad he served his country. I wish all Americans had a gut connection to the troops so they would know that people like my son don't kill civilians and that they anguish over the vicissitudes of war."
Obviously not.
I think that they're upset 'cause the author "dissed" not just Left-Wing "journalists" and peaceniks, but "flag-waving" pro-war types. They don't understand, apparently, that you can hate war, and still believe that the War on Terror has to be prosecuted.
Sorry, didn't see that.
I don't think he is correct though.
Don't be put off by the fact it's the WaPo. It's a good article smacking the armchair critics of our military.
I just saw on"Newsmax"that a 12-year old(girl)has indicated that she knew of the impending attack on The Marine convoy.She was wounded when The Marines entered her house(following the attack)and began shooting.Now,I don't know many details concerning this affair,but if The Marines had confirmed that these people had prior knowledge of this attack,then they also knew who planted the IED!!!
"In a natural state a human will kill, and kill not always for necessity, but for convenience as well. The only way that I know I am still me is that I hate that fact; I hate it more than anything I have ever known."Sounds like the son is rather anti-war to me. Kill for convenience?? He'd best not let his superiors hear that attitude expressed. Besides, military training and discipline is supposed to move a person away from their 'natural state'.
Also form the article:
Frank Schaeffer is co-author of "AWOL: The Unexcused Absence of America's Upper Classes from the Military and How it Hurts Our Country."Nope, absolutely no agenda there.
There is an agenda to his writing and this is it:
"I am proud my son volunteered, and of his two tours in Afghanistan and his mission in Iraq. And he is glad he served his country."Now spin that any way you want.
Proudly posting replies without reading the entire articles, since Jan 06.
Nope.
On Memorial, I remember reading about a Cobra gunship being shot down and the crew missing. Does anyone know the latest?
He is correct. People like his son do not intentionally kill civilians, but in the so called "fog" of battle it all to often does happen.
If you were not in the "fog" with those Marines at Haditha, you will never know or understand what really happened there. If you had been there, you would have felt the blast, smelled its pungent odor. Even though your ears were ringing you would have heard your wounded comrades cry out. You would have heard shooting, but you may not have known from where it was coming, and your platoon leader may have thought the shooting was coming from the houses nearest to you. Your training would have taken over at that time, and you and your squad would have attacked. Suppressing fire would have been put on the houses until your squad was close enough to hurl grenades into the houses, and as soon as the grenades exploded, you and your squad would have rushed inside and shot everything you saw.
If you have attacked the wrong houses, God may forgive you, but you will remember those dead women and children for the rest of your life.
Only God and those who were there in Haditha at the time can judge those Marines, and you can't believe the Iraqis.
War is Hell, and you cannot refine it.
Sherman had it right. Even the most moral war is a sewer, but it does not negate the need to fight and win wars.
I'm afraid that if the politicians and opinion makers (elected officials and the MSM) had relatives at the "sharp end" the net result would be zero, or close to it.
Perhaps if we pursued the author's line of thought to the point where only combat vets could make policy on combat there would be a change.
My father, a WWII infantry vet, darkly told me before I deployed in the WOT that I should do whatever I had to do to return alive, but measure my actions by the simple idea that I had to live with whatever I did or I was better off dead and honored. I thought he was being melodramatic, I know now that he was merely stating the obvious.
He's an opinion writer. He's supposed to have an agenda.
Judging by Lewis's diary -- and many other accounts -- the so-called Greatest Generation of World War II was often badly led and worse-behaved, and was certainly less merciful than our present-day soldiers and their leaders. We haven't carpet-bombed Baghdad or nuked Fallujah to spare the lives of our troops. Yet most Americans are glad we forced Italy, Germany and Japan to become democracies, however brutal our means
And an acknowledgment of the New World Order Rules Of Engagement;
Sixty years later and caught up in another war, we are confronted by the massacre in Haditha. And we are also caught up in the anguish of another generation of young men and women asked to kill but to keep killing within "civilized" bounds, to take insults, be fired upon by men hiding behind women and children, yet not respond in kind
"I'm afraid that if the politicians and opinion makers (elected officials and the MSM) had relatives at the "sharp end" the net result would be zero, or close to it."
the columnist did seem influenced by the fact that his own son has served. maybe its a start. keeping the interests of the "elites" in alignment with the average citizen when called upon to go to war through service of their own close relatives might be one of the more important democratic protections that could be implemented. the question then would be whether to support such a policy through social pressure or a draft.
one would not want to go overboard in saying there could never be criticism of how a war is conducted unless they had a close relative involved. also, i don't know that he was necessarily saying it would influence whether a close relative is for or against a war, but that it does reduce patronizing attitudes, which itself would be a big relief, and creates the political pressure to ensure the troops get everything they need.
thank you for your service.
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