This started out as a comment over on Drunken Samurai’s site, where he had a few choice words. !!Language Warning!!
Violence is the norm in times of war. Unmitigated torture and mistreatment of a prisoner is strictly outlawed by the Geneva Convention. Now that the left has tied the hands of the military (actually, just made double knots in the ties that are already in place), the American Fighting Man has that much less chance of success.
In the World Wars, there were no lines drawn along certain parallels or borders that the Allied Forces could not cross; our win/loss record there speaks for that policy. After the war, the prisoners were exchanged and the countries we invaded were rebuilt with our money. In Korea and Viet Nam, there were lines drawn on the map; in the middle east there have been lines drawn in our minds as to how far the troops are “allowed” to go. After Korea and ‘Nam, prisoners were exchanged (on our part) and the countries we invaded were rebuilt (again, using our own money). Our win/loss record for these conflicts also speaks volumes. By drawing a line, and saying “We will not cross this,” we have shown the enemy just how far we are willing to go to confront them.
Not all the way, no no, that might offend them. We will go to this point, and then we will not advance beyond this. The enemy, on the other hand, has no compunction with crossing any and all lines; whether physical or mental, they will cross that point and keep going in order to fulfill their mission, without regard to offending those they attack.
Where does that leave us?
It leaves us in the untenable position of fighting a limited war against an unlimited enemy, without the ability to fully defend ourselves. The enemy will use any and all means at their disposal to attack the American Fighting Man (and his Allies, God Bless them, everyone), including masking their motives and movements by using non-combatants as camouflage (“The US bombed a wedding!” “Never mind that they were firing SAMs from the middle of the reception line…”) and by not identifying their own troops by having them wear a distinct uniform. In more than one instance, uniforms of our Allies were used to confuse our troops, giving the enemy the edge in who gets off the first shot.
The American Fighting Man is not allowed, by Geneva Convention, to be out of uniform when in battle, to use non-combatants in combat roles, to wear any uniform other than their own, to treat prisoners inhumanely, among other tenets.
Compare that, please, against the actions of the “freedom fighters” when they held some of our troops prisoner. Compare that to the physical torture and beheading of not just our uniformed troops but also civilians who were trying to rebuild the infrastructure of the country. That’s right, boys and girls, we have already started rebuilding the country (once again, with our own money) before hostilities have even stopped!
We, as a country, were vilified because we made some prisoners wear underwear on their heads (the heads were still attached to the living bodies, in case anyone missed that). We, as a country, were demonized because prisoners were forced to form a human pyramid (a living human pyramid, in case anyone missed that part too …). We allow their journalistic sources (Al Jazeera, in case anyone missed that too …) to continue doing their “job” while they remove the heads of our journalists (Daniel Pearl, in case …).
Above all else, remember which side in this battle is following rules, and which side is not.
Some people say the US is a terrorist force. We have the finest standing army, the most technologically advanced weapons and tools, and the best-behaved forces on the face of the earth. Yes, there are some bad apples in the bunch – but compare that to the ration of good and bad apples in the forces we face! Add to that, most of the allegations against our troops are just that – allegations; whereas the enemy makes videos of and then broadcasts the atrocities they commit.
We should be fighting this war the way we know how, the way the forces on the ground have been trained to, not the way some loud (and minority) voices want them to. The time for making nice is over, the gloves have got to come off; otherwise the forces we are fighting against will never be subdued.
God bless you all, and may we be able to vanquish those who are arrayed against us, both foreign and domestic.
