A true warrior is willing to look his adversary in the eyes. What we see here is techno-chickens#!t terrorism, and makes us no better than "AQ" ...
I didn't read all that much of the thread. It's too long. But over and over again this last week, throughout my coverage, I've seen folks decry the "evil' Americans and the "heartless murderers." But when the totality of evidence is considered, we know, of course, that U.S. forces engaged AIF in firefights all morning; that ground contingents were nearby and in direct communication with the Apache gunship; that the AWT captain received the go ahead each time before opening fire; that the unmarked van had been transporting insurgents throughout the day; that the children were placed in harm's way as human shields; and that the Americans evaculated them immediately for medical treatment.
And leftists have been up in the air that U.S. forces "celebrated" their "kills." And damn straight right! An RPG will take down the birds, so vividly recounted in "Black Hawk Down":
But for an especially revealing leftist take on the debate, recall the post at Crooked Timber.
And check this out from CT's Henry Farrell, a poltical scientist at GWU, who banned "The Americanist," who's well-informed. Checking the thread, Americanist isn't at all abusive, but here's this from Henry:
theAmericanist – speaking of growing up, I think it is time for a time-out. You’re banned from commenting on threads here for the next 72 hours (i.e. until 2pm ET Tuesday), and I expect you to be calmer and more considerate to your fellow commenters when you come back. Any efforts to post in the interim will be considered grounds for a permanent ban.I don't see an intervening comment, but here's Henry nevertheless, at 10:02pm PST:
TheAmericanist – we have pretty straightforward rules here – and pretty straightforward solutions for those who deliberately flout them. You are now permanently banned from Crooked Timber. Any further posts from you will be deleted on sight. Goodbye.Actually, the thread's not all that ugly. Scroll back up to comment #66 and The Americanist calls Henry's kids "assholes." Shoot, that's nothing. And Americanist's just mocking 'em at #97.
But, uh oh, at #108 he tells one of the commenters to "grow the fuck up." Except that's not what got him banned. Americanist got banned for having a decent argument about winning the war, an argument THAT'S COMPLETELY ALIEN to Crooked Timber's mindless haters. Fact is, Henry can't have folks upsetting the narrative, and it's not like Henry doesn't know how it all works. He's an expert on blog readership, partisanship and deliberation -- except he's not so great himself on the deliberation part.
RELATED: "A leaked video of wartime atrocities sparks a media firestorm and raises questions about the accuracy and validity of new media."
BONUS: Kathy at Moderate Voice amply demonstrates her complete cluelessness. See, "'We Were Fighting To Make It Home Alive'."
TOTALLY PREDICTABLE: "ASSHATS" at LAT "call for WikiLeaks investigation."
The feigned authority of leftist criticism is based on out-of-context snapshots of military operations and is a common slander by the biased media. Our military should be given the benefit of the doubt based on unedited facts presented. Anyone who has been in country, or in harm’s way, knows that civilians rarely know the entire story.
ReplyDeleteEven in the face of past mistakes of our troops, such missteps never defined U.S. military conduct, which is overwhelmingly honorable. The real story is the multitude of atrocities of the Islamic fundamentalists that needs to be heard.
Thanks Rusty.
ReplyDeleteThese anti_Americans are a disgrace. Like true propagandists--msnbc whackos, and others you cited, leading the pack--they rely on half-truths, report the part of the data that seems, to support their hate-crime diatribes, and, of course, provide support for the enemies of the United States.
ReplyDeleteHowever, as we learned from Ion Mihai Pacepa, Propaganda Redux—with a precursor via George Orwell--we will eventually learn that the hard-left ideology is funding these anti-American, anti-military miscreants.
My only wish is that when the next terror attacks come (and they will come), it is these reprobates and their families that get killed and injured, rather than Americans who love this great nation and support our military. Maybe then they will understand the true nature of this war, rather than the fantasies meandering through their so-called brains.
Let's not forget, al-Qaeda'a goal is to kill four million Americans, two million of them children.
one hardly has to be "left wing" to see that this incident is appalling -- and does reflect well upon our servicemen? Sad for them that they were put in such an awful situation, and so badly trained (as military men). Is this your idea of winning hearts and minds? E.g., shoot first and ask questions later? Or would you prefer just separating the two? Is it your idea that by definition, our guys (and Israel's) can do no wrong? If so, how very, very sad. Eisenhower would be turning over in his grave. ah, but you would blast him and any other military guy who dared to quote international law (and ucmj) as "leftists" How dangerous such gung-ho mindless.
ReplyDeleteEveryone should review the totality of the facts, rather than make baseless, mindless and hate-ridden comment regarding our military, in an inadequate attempt to demean the exceptional efforts our troops make to avoid killing innocents.
ReplyDeleteWhy do these anti-American propagandists never comment of the thousands upon thousands of innocent people al-qaeda and the insurgents launch intentionally on civilians. All one need do is review Orwell's Notes on Nationalism to understand that these people are just permeated with hatred of America.
I doubt these leftists have ever been in a combat situation, or a terror attack, preferring to remain behind mommy's apron or anonymity.