Walk a mile
Babble on.
I'm still hoping John puts together a post on this issue, but in the meantime I need to say this.
The difference any day right now between a live Marine and a dead Marine in Falluja might be a double-tap into a wounded rebel in a mosque. That is a very hard and unpleasant truth. "I'd rather be judged by 12 than carried by 6" is a maxim the vast majority of us - thank heavens - can only understand on an intellectual level. The men and women serving in Iraq (and those who have served in other scary places at other scary times) LIVE IT.
Matt at Froggy Ruminations is an ex-SEAL, and he has a different perspective than most of us when it comes to combat. Of course, he's actually been there, done that, unlike most of us pundits.
Remember, in Fallujah there is no yesterday, there is no tomorrow, there is only now. Right NOW. Have you ever lived in NOW for a week? It is not easy, and if you have never lived in NOW for longer than it takes to finish the big roller coaster at Six Flags, then shut your hole about putting Marines in jail for war crimes. (via Ghost of a Flea)
Are you listening, Madame Arbour?
Personally, I think you shouldn't shoot unarmed, wounded men. I think there has to be a standard of civilized behaviour expected from professional soldiers even in the most uncivilized of situations. Most militaries and the democratic societies they serve would agree.
But I've never been in combat. I've never had a friend and comrade's life depend upon my split-second decision whether to pull the trigger or not. I've never had my wife and kids' futures with their husband and father rest upon my ability to make life-and-death decisions in the blink of an eye. And so I feel completely and blessedly unqualified to judge this Marine.
Whatever you think you saw on that video, this is not a black and white case, people. And I have to tell you, after hearing some of the vicious and uninformed bile from some on the left, it's refreshing and heartening to see that there are some honest people on the left remaining in the world who will stand up and say "right or wrong, there but for the grace of God go I".
May He have mercy upon all of us, and never put us in a situation where we will be judged by those who have not walked a mile in our dusty, sweaty combat boots.
Babble off.
posted by Babbling Brooks @ 1:00 p.m.
5 comments
5 Comments:
I feel nothing but compassion for the Marine. How could you feel anything but that for a scared kid, hopped up on fear and lack of sleep? My anger is reserved for the idiots who put an M-16 in that kid's hands and put him in harm's way for no good reason. Rumsfeld, Cheney, Wolfowitz, Rice and W himself. Liars all. Villains all. They are the ones who should walk in that kid's shoes (preferably at night and alone). They deserve that fate far more than that kid.
(Sigh)
I should no better than to engage in a flame war on the weekends I'm working, but frankly, I just can't help myself.
Alright Greg, I'll bite. Let's dance.
Why are "Rumsfeld, Cheney, Wolfowitz, Rice and W himself. Liars all. Villains all," and why did you leave out Powell? And since we're definitely going to be talking WMD, why aren't all the prominent Democrats, all the prominent Chretien Liberals, and the UN weapons inspectors liars too, because they all said Saddam still had WMD too.
I'm gonna be so tired by Sunday night!!!
Mike
Sorry Mike, I forgot to include Powell. He's, in some ways, the biggest villain of all. He is a guy who reportedly called Rumsfeld and Chaney "Those fucking crazies", but went to the U.N. on their behalf and lied to the world about WMD. He has since said that he was "deceived" by the rest of the Bush crew, but I think he is just covering for his own moral cowardice.
As for the liars part, well that might be harsh and you are right the rest of the world believed that Saddam might have had left over WMD. But a) they did not believe Saddam posed an imminent threat and b) they did not want to (and legally could not) blow up Iraq unless they had proof that Saddam was going to launch a strike against one of his neighbours within 45 minutes or some such time frame. Only the Bush Administration and its "Coalition of the Willing" were willing to go to war on the dubious intelligence provided by Ahmed Chalabi. As a sidebar, Chretien was, by the end, not willing to go to war in Iraq. He made it clear that he thought that the invasion was about regime change and not WMD and he was not willing to have Canada enter the regime change business (His famous "who's next" statement made that clear).
Time has proved the rest of the world right and the coalition of the willing totally, totally wrong. So liars (I sometimes get carried away) might be a bit harsh (although I suspect not), but "incompetent boobs" might be an acceptable substitute. Either way they put a lot of people in harm's way for nothing and they are the ones who should suffer for it, not the grunts on the ground.
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