The Editorial that Spawned the Definition and Ridicule
War on the Cheap
By BOB HERBERT
Published: December 20, 2004
Greg Rund was a freshman at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., in 1999 when two students shot and killed a teacher, a dozen of their fellow students and themselves. Mr. Rund survived that horror, but he wasn't able to survive the war in Iraq. The 21-year-old Marine lance corporal was killed on Dec. 11 in Falluja.
The people who were so anxious to launch the war in Iraq are a lot less enthusiastic about properly supporting the troops who are actually fighting, suffering and dying in it. Corporal Rund was on his second tour of duty in Iraq. Because of severe military personnel shortages, large numbers of troops are serving multiple tours in the war zone, and many are having their military enlistments involuntarily extended.
Troops approaching the end of their tours in Iraq are frequently dealt the emotional body blow of unexpected orders blocking their departure for home. "I've never seen so many grown men cry," said Paul Rieckhoff, a former infantry platoon leader who founded Operation Truth, an advocacy group for soldiers and veterans.
"Soldiers will do whatever you ask them to do," said Mr. Rieckhoff. "But when you tell them the finish line is here, and then you keep moving it back every time they get five meters away from it, it starts to really wear on them. It affects morale."
We don't have enough troops because we are fighting the war on the cheap. The Bush administration has refused to substantially expand the volunteer military and there is no public support for a draft. So the same troops head in and out of Iraq, and then back in again, as if through a revolving door. That naturally heightens their chances of being killed or wounded.
A reckoning is coming. The Army National Guard revealed last Thursday that it had missed its recruiting goals for the past two months by 30 percent. Lt. Gen. H. Steven Blum, who heads the National Guard Bureau, said: "We're in a more difficult recruiting environment, period. There's no question that when you have a sustained ground combat operation going that the Guard's participating in, that makes recruiting more difficult."
Just a few days earlier, the chief of the Army Reserve, Lt. Gen. James Helmly, told The Dallas Morning News that recruiting was in a "precipitous decline" that, if not reversed, could lead to renewed discussions about reinstatement of the draft.
The Bush administration, which has asked so much of the armed forces, has established a pattern of dealing in bad faith with its men and women in uniform. The callousness of its treatment of the troops was, of course, never more clear than in Donald Rumsfeld's high-handed response to a soldier's question about the shortages of battle armor in Iraq.
As the war in Iraq goes more and more poorly, the misery index of the men and women serving there gets higher and higher. More than 1,300 have been killed. Many thousands are coming home with agonizing wounds. Scott Shane of The Times reported last week that according to veterans' advocates and military doctors, the already hard-pressed system of health care for veterans "is facing a potential deluge of tens of thousands of soldiers returning from Iraq with serious mental health problems brought on by the stress and carnage of war."
Through the end of September, nearly 900 troops had been evacuated from Iraq by the Army for psychiatric reasons, included attempts or threatened attempts at suicide. Dr. Stephen C. Joseph, an assistant secretary of defense for health affairs from 1994 to 1997, said, "I have a very strong sense that the mental health consequences are going to be the medical story of this war."
When the war in Afghanistan as well as Iraq is considered, some experts believe that the number of American troops needing mental health treatment could exceed 100,000.
From the earliest planning stages until now, the war in Iraq has been a tragic exercise in official incompetence. The original rationale for the war was wrong. The intelligence was wrong. The estimates of required troop strength were wrong. The war hawks' guesses about the response of the Iraqi people were wrong. The cost estimates were wrong, and on and on.
Nevertheless the troops have fought valiantly, and the price paid by many has been horrific. They all deserve better than the bad faith and shoddy treatment they are receiving from the highest officials of their government.
"From the earliest planning stages until now, the war in Iraq has been a tragic exercise in official incompetence. The original rationale for the war was wrong. The intelligence was wrong. The estimates of required troop strength were wrong. The war hawks' guesses about the response of the Iraqi people were wrong. The cost estimates were wrong, and on and on."
MY REPLY
With all due respect, Mr. Herbert, I am tired of playing around with the 'DENIAL' this country is experiencing regarding this entire episode of USA ?History? or should I say TRAVESTY.
Iraq is about Halliburton. It is about Cheney's Liability to those stockholders.
That is ALL it is about, Mr. Herbert.
Plain and simple.
There were no weapons of mass destruction before we invaded that country. THAT was made plainly obvious by the United Nations Security Council's Inspectors. They found nothing. They tested everything including the dust at the site where Colin Powell TESTIFIED there were WMD production.
There was NOTHING, Mr. Herbert.
NOTHING. Your Judith Miller fell into the habit of promoting the propaganda of the Bush White House to secure an invasion. She never looked outside her undisclosed sources in The White House to VALIDATE 'The Truth.' ( http://www.fair.org/extra/0411/stenographers.html)
The media has allowed the brainwashing of this country rather than coming down on the Bush White House like a ton of bricks unrelenting to 'The Truth' and the best interest of the USA and Iraq. Iraq has support from every area nation including Saudi Arabia. If the USA were to step out of the situation the surrounding nations would intervene with assistance.
WHY has the media allowed brainwashing of the people of this country? Why did you become such a willing part of the propaganda? What did we ever do to all of you?
You have allowed a dictator for self profit, namely Bush, to seduce of you into to thinking he was actually in pursuit of someone that attacked this country. Many of you believe there is virtue in Bush's continued occupation of Iraq while Halliburton secures profits to bail Cheney out of obligation to it's stockholders. Who's side are you on? Bin Laden and his al Qaeda Network has won while you distracted everyone with the terror of Iraq's War. Iraq, a country that was never a threat to the USA. Ever.
Osama bin Laden has won his fiscal attack on the USA. Bush fell right into the pattern of spend and pursue the enemy actually thinking as delusional as the American Press that all would be okay if you could all just 'get on top of it.' Just as the press believes they can turn the country around to prevent further descent from the people who know 'The Truth.' It was easy for Bush, who has failed at every job he's had including serving in the Air National Guard to continue to fail.
In Afghanistan, "Kabul is Afghanistan" as the rest of the country is still dominated by Opium Warlords. And yesterday Iceland, a coalition member, had three of their Peacekeepers attacked.
Iceland, Mr. Herbert? Iceland?
Do you understand the word, bizarre? The country of Iceland is now moving 'nationalism' to the forefront? Are you all the complete idiots for playing Iceland out to be this 'tough and committed' country of the coalition? What difference does it make if Iceland sends there entire country to Afghanistan? This is a joke, Mr. Herbert. A completely and desperately stupid Bush joke on this country.
Iceland? Regardless of the demonstration of 'force' Iceland is showing with their parade of tanks I don't think the people there are in favor of battle. I was in Iceland. I was handed a lapel pin in Icelandic stating "Do you want to bomb Iraq?" It was a demonstration pin in protest of the aggression of the USA.
Iceland is a poor country. All the countries in the USA Coalition have been poor countries until they enlisted for the money dangled in front of their noses. They are incapable of protecting themselves from the violence. That wasn't made clear in Spain the day before their national elections?
Leave Iceland alone. Al Qaeda could destroy that country in one day. Do you understand me? One day. There is a poorly armed USA military base there with nothing but Jumbo C5 Cargo planes. Iceland is a depot and lay over station. There are elements of the Missile Defense Shield there. And now Iceland is being targeted by al Qaeda in Kabul. What does Bush think he is doing?
The Icelandic National Museum is postage size compared to ANY museum in NYC. It is about the size of the third floor of The Whitney.
Mr. Herbert, do you understand this is going nowhere. The New York Times 'article' regarding Iceland is hideous.
(http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/20/international/europe/20reykjavik.html).
Lance Corporal Greg Rund has now joined a majority of the dead in Iraq. A majority in rank of the dead in Iraq. There are more Lance Corporals that die than any other rank.
If I may.
....................................
A trained military policeman/woman normally employed as a member of a Service Police Unit. Trained to think and act independently and to take control in emergencies. Used to shift work and to accepting responsibility. Used to exercising self-discipline and to maintaining high standards of integrity and loyalty.
A Military Policeman or woman is a trained soldier who, apart from military skills, will have received instruction in First Aid, be trained in arrest and restraint techniques and be able to drive a vehicle and/or ride a motorcycle.
Throughout his/her service he/she will continually gain experience in conducting and managing crime enquiries and may also have experience in a specialized field such as Close Protection, Advanced Driving and Crime Reduction.
A Lance Corporal/Corporal is a trained soldier who has specialist knowledge of the duties and procedures of basic police work. He/she will have basic computer keyboard skills and will have received instruction in First Aid, be trained in arrest and restraint techniques and will be able to drive a vehicle and/or ride a motorcycle.
He/she will normally be employed as an individual acting on his/her own initiative or as a member of a small team. He/she will be capable of independent thought and action and will have a high degree of self discipline and confidence. He/she will gain experience in dealing with other people at all levels. He/she will be used to making an objective assessment of a confused situation, arriving at a quick decision and taking effective action to restore a situation to normal.
He/she will be able to carry out basic investigations entailing the interviewing of witnesses and suspected persons, recording of statements and the compilation of related reports.
Selected NCOs will receive specialist training in Close Protection, Advanced Driving and Crime Reduction.
He/she will be used to shift work, involving long periods of relative inaction during which time they have to remain alert and be capable of acting decisively should a crisis occur.
..............................................................
On May 1, 2003, Walker Bush declared the fighting over in Iraq. He declared a victory while standing on a floating landing field. He wasn't standing on Iraqi soil with tens of thousands rejoicing Iraqi citizens applauding his victory. He declared the fighting over so he could continue to conduct a war against the Iraq people while Dick Cheney was bailed out of his indebtedness to the stockholders of Halliburton. He declared the war over so he could send in National Guardsmen to fight a political war of fear and hatred.
The Grand and Wonderful United States of America is fighting against the people of Iraq who have wanted us out of their country since we got there with Military Police, Mr. Herbert.
There are 380 tonnes of explosives disappeared out of the Iraqi desert. The United Nations Security Council is going nuts trying to realize where the 'once contained and secured' stuff is and our troops are being blown up by it. Our National Guard Military Police are being blown up by the SAME stuff that was already secured in the Iraqi desert.
In the Lancet there was a study done of the number of dead Iraqis. The number was 100,000. Of those 100,000 they were primarily women and children. Women and children is what are soldiers are killing in Iraq. Sounds strangely odd, as if we were in a jungle in Vietnam somewhere.
Oh, I said the dirty word, Vietnam. At the height of the killing of USA soldiers in Vietnam the body count was an average of 32 per day. Tell me we haven't reached that much recently.
What's the point to you editorial, Mr. Herbert?
That you are concerned we are racking up causalities because there are too few troops? It's a little late for that isn't it? The Mercury News the other day had an article stating three agencies of the USA government has reported the 'insurgency' (also known as REBELLION) was growing. I mean like, NO CLUE. So you are hearing there is going to be a draft? Why? We won't get anywhere.
The USA under Bush is defeated. Al Qaeda has forced this country into poverty status on a global basis and having done so has won their fiscal battle against the USA. The Iraqi Rebellion has cast doubt on the 'legitimacy' of the INTEGRITY of this country and the greed of the Neocons finally justify their philosophy of War Mongering at any Cost. The Neocons profit personally from their actions within the government.
As for the Iraqi people? They don't want us there. We have insulted their 'INTEGRITY' all too much while they suffer with radiation sickness from USA dirty bomb. The bombs dropped in Iraq have tips laced with radiation. The ground over there is contaminated. The waters of the Tigris is undrinkable but the people have no infrastructure to protect them so they drink the water anyway in order to survive. When one realizes the sickness the Tigris causes, the casualties of the Iraqi rebels with the invasion of Fallujah only pales to the Iraqi peoples real troubles.
The USA is in profound denial. And we are all still thinking it could only happen in post WWI Germany.
Believe it or not, the war in Iraq isn't the worse problem this country faces; Global Warming and Climate Change is.
The media in this country has become pathetic.
I feel sorry for all of you. You are allowing your emperor to send you to jail while you can't even find enough anger to expound the truth to the American people.
As the days go by and 'The True' of the situation becomes less and less blurred, I am finding no solice in reading newsprint that does nothing but panders to an administration in hope of them becoming enlightened while reporting the war as if matter-of-factly appropriate as if the country is really committed to it.
So, you'll excuse me if I don't find a great deal of enthusiasm for newsprint as I did. I think you have all become a bunch of pathetic puppets willing to work with the system, pandering for a survival rather than reeling against the insanity and incompetency of this situation. The American Press have become nothing more than sniveling comfort seekers.
