[antimedia] antimedia: Some thoughts from an American fighting man....

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Posted by antimedia:
Some thoughts from an American fighting man....
http://www.antimedia.us/posts/1169267694.shtml


   ....somewhere in the war on terror.

     For the most part, we all hate the ROE crap. Very few soldiers are
     likely to go out and start shooting civilians without provocation.
     There have always been ROEs, and they have been obeyed historically
     99.9% of the time. Incidents like Mai Lai and the supposed crimes
     in Haditha are remarkable precisely because they are so rare. The
     new and restrictive ROEs, the hearts and minds variety, are stupid
     and unncessary. The rule should be "if you feel threatened open
     fire" or some close relative of it.
     There is definitely a sense out there that we are being forced to
     fight a half assed war. There is also a sense that the politicians
     and media people are just waiting to leap on us and label us
     criminals if we make a mistake. I think it's remarkable that
     re-enlistment rates are at an all time high in all four branches
     and we continue to meet our recruiting goals. In spite of a
     âunpopularâ war!

   Enlistments are a clear indication that the young people of this
   country support the war and believe the sacrifice they will be called
   to make is worth it. This puts the lie to so many of the liberal memes
   it's not even funny.
   Down the drain goes they "they're dumb" and "they don't have any
   choices" meme. (You listenin' J Frickin Kerry????) Out the door goes
   the "not enough troops" meme. (It's the ROE, stupid!!!) Out with the
   trash goes the "they're murdering savages" meme. (What's the
   percentage of killers in the general population, huh?)
   So what's the solution to Iraq and all the rest? Turn our boys loose
   and let them do what they've been trained to do.

     Personally I think we could get this whole thing over with in 6
     months if we pulled all the hostile journalists out of the country,
     imposed a near total media blackout and then returned the ROEs to
     their more traditional role. If we could really âtake the gloves
     offâ even for a short period, I think we could work miracles.
     At any rate, obviously the majority of us arenât overly frustrated
     with the war effort just yet. The aforementioned retention and
     enlistment rates provide ample evidence of that. That said, the
     dems could exacerbate the current problems very quickly with the
     result of plummeting retention rates, morale and combat
     effectiveness.

   Now that would be the double whammy, wouldn't it? Surrender and
   destroy morale at the same time? Only in America!
   I've been wondering for some time now about the internals for the
   polls that get touted. I suspect that some part of the discontent with
   the President and the war has to do with the frustration of those of
   us who wish more was being done, not less. This namby-pamby "warfare"
   we fight now is a joke. The bad guys are blowing up retarded children,
   chopping heads off of innocent teenagers, raping women and
   slaughtering indiscriminately. Meanwhile, we have to ask permission to
   fire and we go on trial for murder anyway. It's stupid and it's
   suicidal.
   The only way to stop a bully is merciless brutality.

     Of course military coups are certainly not in the cards. I can
     imagine something like a general strike, I doubt it would (or
     could) ever happen, but if the dems go through with their plans to
     institute a draft, all bets are off.
     On a slightly different note, I think we should be taking a much
     more aggressive approach to the terroristâs websites and
     propaganda. Weâve got enough computer savvy people on our side that
     we could be taking out every propaganda page within seconds of
     their posting footage of IED or sniper attacks. A little judicious
     use of viruses and worms targeted at enemy computers would also be
     a good idea (some clandestinely sent to Al Jazeera wouldnât be a
     bad idea either). If Hajiâs computer crashed every time he tried to
     log on to an internet connection theyâd rapidly lose one of their
     most important tools. Of course, youâd know more about the
     viability of such a program than I would.

   I suspect some of that may be going on already, authorized or not.
   It's always been this way. The guy's on the ground know more and make
   a great deal more sense than a hundred "experts" in Washington.
   For all the dingbats out there that think we make this crap up, I
   certify that this is a verbatim copy of part of an email I received
   from a genuine professional fighting man whose rank, name and serial
   number I know and whom I have met personally. The email is archived,
   so, yes, I can prove it.