Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Duty, Dishonor Country

Frank Schaeffer, whose son was a Marine who served in Afghanistan, Iraq and other places on how Bush dishonors our military by hiring mercenaries (i.e., contractors).

It's a good piece, but W also dishonors our military by sending our troops on foolish missions that waste American and foreign lives. 60 Minutes did a piece on civilian deaths through American bombing raids in Afghanistan. Most of it focused on the review process that goes on before a raid is carried out; one witness, a former top Bush National Security Council staffer who approved raids in Iraq, said that if there was a chance of killing a "high-value" target like Saddam Hussein or one of his top officials, the raid would go ahead if no more than 30 civilians were likely to die. He had approved more than 50 such strikes; none of them eliminated the target. One of those interviewed for the story did note the essential truth: that we carry out air strikes in Afghanistan because we have too few troops there.

The damage done to the American military by Bush and his cronies will be long-lasting. It will damage not only the services, but the nation. It will be one of the President's great shames. Unfortunately, in that category it has a lot of competition.

1 comment:

Leanderthal, Lighthouse Keeper said...

Bush and cronies aren't capable of feeling shame. The narcissism and hubris are too thick for shame to penetrate.