[antimedia] antimedia: William Arkin wrote a post....

[Email subscription to blog articles]

Posted by antimedia:
William Arkin wrote a post....
http://www.antimedia.us/posts/1170389286.shtml


   ....[1]in WaPo online that created a firestorm of tirades attacking
   him and attacking the Post for allowing him to write it. The article
   begs to be fisked.

     These soldiers should be grateful that the American public, which
     by all polls overwhelmingly disapproves of the Iraq war and the
     President's handling of it, do still offer their support to them,
     and their respect.
     Through every Abu Ghraib and Haditha, through every rape and
     murder, the American public has indulged those in uniform,
     accepting that the incidents were the product of bad apples or even
     of some administration or command order.

   Apparently Arkin is completely ignorant of the incidence of criminal
   behavior in the military versus the incidence of criminal behavior in
   society. Else he would know that the percentage of criminals in
   society, where he parks his butt, is much higher than in the military.
   For example, the percentage of the military population that has used
   illicit drugs in the past twelve months is [2]less than half that
   (6.9% vs. 14.9%) of the general US population. The [3]national violent
   crime rate in 2005 was 620.1 per 100,000. The murder rate was 8.6.
   Unfortunately, finding military crime statistics seems next to
   impossible. I'd be shocked, however, if the military crime rate was
   even close to the national crime rate (based on [4]recruitment
   demographics.)

     Sure, it is the junior enlisted men who go to jail. But even at
     anti-war protests, the focus is firmly on the White House and the
     policy. We don't see very many "baby killer" epithets being thrown
     around these days, no one in uniform is being spit upon.

   Of course we don't. The anti-war left and communists have been
   extremely careful to hide their true feelings this time, unlike their
   behavior during Vietnam. But to say no one has been spit upon is to
   [5]ignore the truth that stares him in the face and happened in his
   city just two days before he wrote this foolish tirade.

     So, we pay the soldiers a decent wage, take care of their families,
     provide them with housing and medical care and vast social support
     systems and ship obscene amenities into the war zone for them, we
     support them in every possible way, and their attitude is that we
     should in addition roll over and play dead, defer to the military
     and the generals and let them fight their war, and give up our
     rights and responsibilities to speak up because they are above
     society?

   Again Arkin's [6]ignorance is on display. Although I have no idea what
   he's paid, it's highly likely that he makes more annually than all but
   the highest ranked generals in the service. Even the longest serving,
   highest ranked enlisted man makes only about 25% more than my
   recently-graduated-daughter's starting pay as a music teacher. And I'd
   wager they suffer a great deal more hardship and make much greater
   sacrifices than Arkin's occasional late night meeting a deadline.
   More to the point, however, how would Mr. Arkin feel if his employer
   sent him on assignment, to cover a story, and then, part-way through
   decided it might not have been worth the effort? How would he feel if
   he missed a really important occasion, such as his anniversary, to get
   to that assignment, only to find out that his sacrifice was
   meaningless because his employer had changed their mind?
   Do you think he might be a little bitter? A little resentful of his
   employer's fecklessness? Possibly even angry? How motivated do you
   think he might be to accept the next assignment that required an
   important sacrifice?
   This country doesn't just owe a debt of gratitude to our men and women
   in uniform, who sacrifice much to serve us. We owe them the courtesy
   of standing behind them once we've sent them onto the battlefield --
   regardless of the outcome. We owe them the decency to see the battle
   through to the end, not just until we tire of the effort. (The idea of
   us sitting at home, watching TV, working out at the gym and going
   about our daily lives tiring of the war effort is laughable. What have
   you sacrificed for this war?)
   There's been much made of the loss of over 3,000 lives in Iraq. Many
   have complained that the sacrifice is too high -- that we shouldn't
   sacrifice any more. Yet almost none of those complaining has made that
   sacrifice themselves (or any sacrifice for that matter!), and the
   people actually making those sacrifices keep re-enlisting and
   volunteering to go into the line of fire for us, giving their lives to
   defend freedom in Iraq and Afghanistan and all over the world.
   They deserve much better than the William Arkin's of the world. (Hat
   tip to [7]AJ Strata.)

References

   1. http://blog.washingtonpost.com/earlywarning/2007/01/the_troops_also_need_to_suppor.html
   2. http://www.albany.edu/sourcebook/tost_3.html#3_i
   3. http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/05cius/data/table_01.html
   4. http://www.heritage.org/Research/NationalSecurity/cda06-09.cfm
   5. http://michellemalkin.com/archives/006779.htm
   6. http://www.militaryfactory.com/military_pay_scale.asp
   7. http://strata-sphere.com/blog/index.php/archives/3308