Haditha, Boy Scouts & Memorial Day May 27, 2006
Posted by threadingwater in haditha, iraq war, politics.trackback
On this Memorial Day weekend, it is the Haditha incident that is occupying my thoughts.
The wingnuts are busy parsing the minutia of what exactly happened in that village, mouthing the proper words of shock and horror as they simultaneously dodge the bigger implications of the story.
Meanwhile, in another "disconnect" all too common for the current administration, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was presented with the Boy Scouts of America's top award yesterday, the Silver Buffalo.
The Silver Buffalo Award, created in 1925, is bestowed upon those who give "truly noteworthy and extraordinary" service to America's youth.
The latest U.S. military death count from the Iraq War stands at 2,460, so, great work Secretary Rumsfeld (and BSA), though not exactly what I would call "noteworthy and extraordinary" service to America's youth.
I'm more in step with Maureen Dowd's larger reflections on Haditha, reprinted at jurassicpork.
It's the big picture that matters, and we'd better stand back far enough to get a good look.
On this Memorial Day, I'm celebrating the "noteworthy and extraordinary service" of America's youth to their country because isn't that what this day is about?
Rumsfeld is the face of military atrocity – Abu Ghraib, Gitmo, Haditha and how many others yet to be revealed? He deserves our contempt, not our awards.
Haditha Horror…
If this is accurate, I believe that firing squads are in order. A four-man team of United States Marines led the killing rampage in the Iraqi town of Haditha which resulted in the deaths of 24 unarmed Iraqi civilians, military……
firing squad for whom? Rumsfeld? I fail to see how advocating violent, extremist action against criminals, even violent ones, can be an answer that leads to a better world for ourselves or our children.
RWR, you obviously didn’t take the time to read this post before linking here. Maybe it’s time you started reading an alternative point of view once in awhile and tried engaging in actual dialog.
Your incestuous circle of wingnut readers and writers are not representative of thinking, educated adults.
When will the people of Iraq be safe from Western soldiers? Would Maureen Dowd’s excellent relections of this event be even more impactful to those Westerners who are not Islamic, if she had been able to write, of the 9 yr old little girl, wounded by the marines, that she watched the marines go in to execute her father, as he read read the Bible, rather than, as he read the Koran? I am concerned that this is more than a breakdown in leadership, but could be part of military strategy, as has been the case in the past. For example WW II German soldiers reportedly, in German occupied France, would publicly execute about 10 French civilians for every German soldier killed by a French resistance fighter. This isn’t “bringing democracy” and by itself should be reason enough for Western nations to withdraw their forces from Iraq, invaded for any number of reasons, none of which was made public at the time.