About heroes and cowards

They look happy

John Baptiste got up before Congress today and said in so many words "the army is breaking" Paul Eaton suggested that many generals today are lackies of Rumsfeld.

Do not be fooled. This is politics. They are right, but make no mistake, this is the military trying to play politics to save the Army. They should have been heroes two years ago. Now, they are merely honest.

I think some people on the left are too quick to tar the military as of one mindset or that everyone should have resisted going to Iraq. Look, most people join the Army because of the benefits, and they got Iraq instead of happy childhoods.

At the same time, the right acts as if any criticism against the troops is akin to Lenin calling for revolution.

When I think of heroes from Iraq, I most often think about the doctors and nurses who have to deal with the wounded and the dying. They have to tell kids that their friends aren't coming back, people are going home with missing parts. That's courage, more than most people have.

Most soldiers don't see combat. Even in war, their job changes little from stateside. But we have people who are losing their families because of the constant deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. They may not complain, but eventually, they lose their marriage, their homes, everything.

Tammy Duckworth, who lost her legs in a helicopter crash in the sandbox, was accused by her opponent of being a "cut and run" democrat. Crass would be nice for such a comment.

But that's who we are facing. Cowards for whom words are cheap. People who have no idea of what they are truly talking about. The Army is at a crossroads, and so is the country. We need to admit Iraq is lost, mainly because they keep killing people like animals there. It's anarchy, more like the Congo than Lebanon.

We are not a cowardly nation, but we are led by cowards. The men who think the methods of the secret policeman have a place in the US. Men who have no faith in the rule of law.