White House and Pentagon Cowards Betray Real War Heroes, Again, Failing to Support the Troops

[babylonsister]

http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_rob_kall_070221_white_house_and_pent.htm

February 21, 2007 at 10:22:04

White House and Pentagon Cowards Betray Real War Heroes, Again, Failing to Support the Troops

by Rob Kall


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This is another example of how the soldiers are being screwed by the Bush administration and the culture of obsequiance and managed image that must be tightly controlled. Just as caskets are not allowed to be shown when they arrive in the states, heroes-- true, examples of exemplary bravery and courage-- are also not allowed to be shown. Real heroes stand out from the average. They also show the danger the risk, the life threatening aspects of being at war. Maybe the military has decided it would be bad for recruiting-- that the lure of having the opportunity to become a real hero is outweighed by the deadly reality real descriptions of the situations real heroes face will be a turnoff to a generation of vido game playing enlistees who expect to go into battle playing heavy metal on their Ipods.

Maybe Karl ROve and Bush's misguided advisors have decided that, like Kinney says, awarding real medals of honor to real heroes will accentuate the fact that this is a brutal bloody war. Maybe the pathetic generals running this war with eyes closed, with all their strings pulled by George Bush and his moron appointees, like Donald Rumsfeld, who "war hero" John McCain has called the worst in history, don't like real heroes getting attention they could be getting.

Bottom line, the failure to recognize real courage-- to have the courage to make awards, even with the potential for mistakes-- is one more way, besides not providing body armor, not build hummers right, not taking care of families, cutting pay, and sending wounded to cockroach infested hospitals, that the Bush administration and its lackey military are failing, or worse, betraying, this generation of troops. When there is talk of supporting the troops, add this to the list of ways the right wing has failed to do its job.

You have to wonder about the kind of culture-- military and political-- exists that is so immobilized by... whatever... that out of 500,000+ troops having been in the combat zone, they have been unable to resolve that any of them have acted heroically. Are they cowards, afraid to name someone who ends up speaking out against the war? Are they so managed by Rove-type media and image managers? Have these armchair, combat deprived generals made it so hard to meet the criteria because they are so clueless, as Kinney suggests? Any way you scope the reasons, it ain't pretty and it still amounts to a failure to support and honor the troops. This is one war where the troops have not been vilified by antiwar activists. We know the troops have gone into this war with good intentions. It is sad to see that not only have the leaders-- miliitary and civilian-- failed the in planning and executing the failed Iraq experiment, failed in supplying them, but they have failed them morally, failing to honor true courage and bravery. But that may be intentional

Maybe, if there are no great heroes, then that makes it easier to sell the idea that everyone who enlists is a hero. Maybe that's easier to market to recruits than the real thing. Then again, that applies to a lot of territory, in this war, doesn't it?