WHEN SOLDIERS SPEAK
Democracy in wartime.
It’s one thing for those of us who sit in warm comfortable homes nestled in the bosom of our family and friends to talk about the grand strategy in the war on terrorism and criticize the tactical and strategic decisions taken by our military and political leaders.
It’s quite another thing to be the muzzle of the gun used to enforce those decisions.
The soldier at the OTHER end of the muzzle is a human being. He doesn’t see himself as a hero. He doesn’t see himself as anyone special, although I can imagine he has an enormous amount of pride in who he is and in his own special abilities to do his job. I’m sure there are times he doubts the mission, his leaders, even those of us here at home.
I wonder what he thinks when he reads that people oppose the war but support the troops?
I wonder what he thinks when we at home play armchair general and urge him to move into harms way to “clean out Samarrah” or “take out Fallujah.?”
I wonder if he knows that so many of us would like to wrap our collective arms around him, to keep him safe, to bring him through, so that he can come back to his loving wife*, watch his children grow up, laugh and joke with his buddies, and once again enjoy what he has sacrificed so much to defend.
I got to thinking about this reading the article in today’s Washington Post. The article talks about a platoon from the 1st Battalion 2nd Marine regiment. Like all soldiers in Iraq, they’re anxious to get the job done and go home. And I imagine like all soldiers, they’re frustrated with the slow progress against the insurgency.
One thing that jumped out at me was this:
“Every day you read the articles in the States where it’s like, ‘Oh, it’s getting better and better,’ ” said Lance Cpl. Jonathan Snyder, 22, of Gettysburg, Pa. “But when you’re here, you know it’s worse every day.”
Could our view of the coverage of the war be so far off? Complaints against the MSM’s negative reporting of the war has been an article of faith on sites like mine since the war began. Could it be that we’re overemphasizing the negative while missing the positive?
Perhaps, but I think what the above quotation shows is that one’s point of view becomes necessarily constricted when people are hell bent on killing you. This doesn’t make the Marine’s opinion any less valid…in fact, we should listen very carefully to these young men and women. If they have questions about the mission then we damn well better find out why.
The executive officer of the Battalion Maj. Douglas Bell has a possible explanation:
“Bell said Marines offering dire predictions for Iraq were not taking into account the training of the new Iraqi security forces. He said the installation of the new Iraqi army, Iraqi National Guard and police across the country would lay the foundation for the withdrawal of U.S. troops.”
That’s the “company line” to be sure. And this is what we have to guard against. When the “company line” starts to ring hollow with the boots on the ground, it’s time to start worrying. That hasn’t happened yet. Despite the frustrations voiced by the marines in the Wapo article, I suspect that, at bottom, they haven’t lost faith in the mission. And regardless of who is elected President, they will, like the consummate professionals they are, do their jobs to the best of their ability.
I don’t like to read that the people who are at this moment protecting my life are discouraged. I wish I could send an e-mail to each and every one of them telling them how much I appreciate their service, how much I admire them, how I wish only the best for them.
And how much I wish that each and every one of them makes it back.
*Please read this moving Post from a soldier saying goodbye to his family before going to Iraq. It’s from the blog “American Soldier.”
UPDATE: OSAMA SPEAKS! (WELL, SORT OF)
Check out this link to Balloon Juice re: a Nicholas Kristoff article about an imaginary interview with Osama that “proves” Bin Laden wants Bush to win.
Kristoff calls Bush the “VP of Recruitment” for al Qaeda ostensibly because of our invasion of Iraq.
This, of course, is a common meme being propagandized by the Dems. But it begs a few questions, to wit:
How many more terrorists does Bin Laden recruit after a spectacular success like 9/11 or the Bali bombing.? Does he recriut more then or does he recruit more after getting the snot kicked out of him as we did to him in Afghanistan?
If we DON’T fight the terrorists in the Middle East does this means that their numbers will diminish?
If we, as Flip Flop wants us to do, rely exclusively on Special Forces and the FBI to “arrest” and occasionally kill the odd terrorist, does this mean we can go back to the way we were BEFORE 9/11 because there would be fewer terrorists recruited?
I’ve never seen these questions addressed by any intelligence leaks or even any media outlet. Can Flip Flop prove that his method would mean fewer terrorists?
Somehow I doubt it.
UPDATE: ARE YOU A SHEEP OR A SHEEPDOG?
An extraordinary post comes to us via Backcountry Conservative. It’s an essay by Lieut. Col. Dave Grossman (Ret.) entitled “I Only Hang With Sheepdogs” followed by a marvelous poem by Russ Vaughn, a paratrooper.
With guys like this looking out for me, I’ll never be quite the same kind of “sheep” again.
UPDATE: KERRY LOOKS FORWARD TO DAY WHEN TERRORISTS ARE A “NUISANCE”
Senator Flip Flop has a new “nuance” to the war on terror.
It is a nuance so nuanced that it gives nuancing a bad name. Let’s call it the “Nuisance Nuance.”
Flip Flop wants to go back to the good old days before 9/11…you know, when terrorism was only a nuisance. Remember when terrorists could blow up a car bomb in front of our embassy and kill 300 people? That was just a nuisance.
Or how about some wild eyed group of islamofacists steering an explosives laden boat into one of our warships? Just a nuisance.
Or some poor addle-brained fruitcake, drunk with religion making a nuisance of himself in front of the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia by blowing himself, his truck, and 19 US servicemen to kingdom come.
Perhaps Flip Flop could deal with terrorism the way we deal with other nuisances like spitting on the sidewalk or jaywalking. Maybe, he could start a “Just Say No To Terrorism” program in arab schools. They’d teach it right after exhorting the kids to hate godless westerners and other crusaders.
Am I the only one who is scared to death of this guy getting into the White House?