As I was watching 60 minutes last night, I thought, “Not again!” In CBS’ first segment, ‘The Killings in Haditha” Correspondent Scott Pelley interviewed Sgt Frank Wuterich about the 24 killings of apparently innocent civilians in the town of Haditha, Iraq last December.
In my daughter’s world history class, they debated whether or not there should be rules in war. I told her, rules are fine. You have to have some rules of engagement to prevent rape or true mass murder. But, there is a fine line between rules that maintain our humanity and rules that hinder our progress in the war. Right now, we are afraid to stub anyone’s toes in Iraq. We are not fighting a war, we are playing games, and we are giving the radical Muslims the advantage – and they know it. If we are going to fight a war, we should go in and fight a war, or else we should never go in – that is why we are losing the propaganda war which could easily turn into a complete loss in Iraq and a victory for the terrorists..
Pelley asked Sgt Wuterich if he had to do it over again would he, and the sergeant responded, “I would do the same thing”, Looking aghast, Pelley retorted, “You can’t mean that! Is a sorry in order?” The inflection in his voice reflected the disgust he felt towards the Sergeants’ response. What was the Sgt suppose to say to a question like that. Of course, He said what any soldier would say, “I’m absolutely sorry.” He, along with the other marines involved, are facing life in prision.
Can someone tell Pelley and the other correspondents in 60 minutes that we are in a war and war is brutal? The good we are doing in Iraq is honorable and noble. The Iraqis are in a better situation than they ever were under the banner of Sadaam Hussein.
Instead, the far left, the media and even the leadership in the Democratic party want the United States to lose – it is evident by their actions, and the propaganda emanating from these groups is no less disingenuous than the propaganda that emanated from Joseph Goebbells in Nazi Germany, and the irony is the polls show that many are falling for it. History once again is repeating itself.
The main problem is that Bush and his administration have become listless in fighting this propaganda war. Bush needs to be out there on a daily basis and present the good he is doing in Iraq. The Commanders on the ground have said the surge is working, and that the killings in Baghdad have been reduced by 80%. That sounds good to me. Why hasn’t Bush said anything about it? Just tell the truth.
3 comments:
You sound like a good man, sir. I would disagree with certain assertions you have made, however.
I watched the interview, and admittedly, Pelley was a bit sanctimonious. In his defense, you may have the moral high ground to do so when speaking with a man who killed what would appear to be two dozen non-combatants.
I feel badly for Sgt. Wuterlich. He and thousands of other Americans have been put in an impossible situation, in a place which was not a threat to our country, and with no discernible goals. You say that what good our troops do there is honorable, but in the larger scheme of things, there is damned little of it compared to the cost we and the Iraqi people are paying for our presence.
I wrote some thoughts about it last year when the story first came to light (http://sims9.blogspot.com/2006/06/haditha.html), and as with Abu Ghraib, it will be the little fish that get caught in the net, while the big ones swim off to give lectures for fifty grand a pop, or search in vain for a place to build their vanity library.
I suppose we have to ask ourselves what we can legitimately accomplish in Iraq.
It's remarkable how things have changed just in the past 6 years. It used to be that liberals were considered the starry-eyed idealists, who think that rainbows are around every corner if we just wish hard enough. Now, with the neoconservative dream factory making policy, the theory seems to be that if we pray hard enough, (deficit) spend enough treasure, and spill enough blood, we can turn a feudal society into a democracy.
Oh, these adorably naive souls. It'd be precious if not for the obscene cost.
Wars are necessary, have a look at Afghanistan. War in Iraq was not, and is not. If we need another country to attack, my vote goes for Saudi Arabia. Fifteen of nineteen 9/11 hijackers? I'd say they declared war on us already.
As for comparing liberals or Democrats to Nazis, frankly, that is disgusting. I said the same thing when that ad appeared online where Bush was morphed into Hitler. Bush is not Hitler. Saddam was not Hitler. The Republicans are not Nazis. Democrats are not Communists, or Nazis (although being called both is a neat trick which shows tremendous ignorance). As a student of history, I will not accept rendering the Holocaust or the Allied struggle in WWII to be made banal. Anyone who compares ANYTHING to Hitler or the Nazis should go see the Holocaust Museum in DC, and I would suggest you bring along something to catch your partially digested lunch. It will divest you of the notion completely.
Keep writing, it keeps the mind sharp, and good luck.
Sims,
Thanks for your comment. I knew when I mentioned Joseph Goebbels, I would be accused of comparing the Democrats to the Nazis. I did no such thing, and I would never do such a thing, because I believe many Democrats are true patriots albeit misguided. What I said is the propaganda the liberal media spews out is no different than the propanda that Joseph Goebbels spate out. For example: The altered photographs http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/09/technology/09photo.html?ei=5090&en=e0a80ee29080a0b2&ex=1312776000&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=all by a journalist who doctored photographs of an air Israli raid on Beirut using the clone feature in photoshop. This happens time and time again. That is no different than what Joseph Goebbells did to mislead the masses.
I'm not arguing that propaganda isn't important in winning a war. I'm just pretty sure that given the incompetence of the left over the past ten years or so in that area, I don't think pointing out that a Marine may have taken part in the killing of 20+ unarmed civilians qualifies as propaganda. You may be giving us too much credit, sir.
It seems to me that given the scandal-per-month pace that this administration is setting, those who oppose these policies really have an embarassment of riches to choose from when they wish to demonstrate:
Criminality
Ethical lapses
Hypocrisy
Callousness
Un-Christian behavior
Incompetence
Greed
Petty vindictiveness
Let's face it, it's a long list.
You can apply it to any administration, it's just that in my recollection, no previous one has been so insistent that they were doing God's work, no matter what malfeasance was occurring. To accuse opponents of said policies of "hating America" or "wanting us to lose" is beneath the dignity of debate.
Also, it's BS. Fight the war to win, or get out. Raise taxes to pay for the required larger military we need to win, or you are committed to losing. This country can accomplish almost anything, but not with half-efforts, not without shared sacrifice, and certainly not on the cheap.
Love it or leave it? Gimme a break. Love it and pay the freight? Welcome to reality.
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