Haditha RANT

For a more balanced view...

http://hotair.com/archives/vent/2006/05/31/haditha/

If it turns out that the killing was revenge, they deserve the worst, but if it was due to fog of war which no one can understand unless they have been in combat action- then it needs to be explained. I am so sick of the media spouting out rumors and incomplete pictures of this war. Please remember these are 18,19,20 year old kids who have been well trained in everything except how to react in a 100% rational way to a completely horrific inhuman occurance. A BOMB went off and blew up their vehicle...ok how many Americans have ever heard a bomb go off...ok now imagine it going off just a few feet from you. I was a Marine myself (94-98) and I had absolutely no war experience...I was trained, but never had to "go"; I would never presume to say I know or understand what these guys are going through.
I have detonated bombs (mines) and thrown grenades in a training environment and the percussion of it is nothing you can be prepared for. I cannot imagine the horror they are going through...especially when the enemy is USING the children and women to scout and gain intelligence for them. At times, they use them as human sheilds and shoot from behind them. In secured cities, children will come out and count the patrols so they can run tell insurgents. The people, at times, will purposely allow military to step on or run over an explosive device without warning them. It is almost impossible to tell who the enemy is over there, most of the time. The media also fails to mention the Iraqi people who are so thankful for the military presence and for the liberation of their country. They hug and kiss and cry and cheer for our troops, and they are thankful for the work the military are doing...why is this RARELY if ever in the news......So, back to the bomb (IED improvised explosive device), it goes off, kills one guy and another guy, it blows his eyes from their sockets and crushes and breaks many of his bones to include his back and perforates his eardrums. The other guys were probably momentarily blinded, definitely deaf from the noise but left with a ringing in their ears, and...they were still receiving fire. So now, they need to react to the death of a buddy who was blown to pieces, another who looked as if he was going to die and get him airlifted out, count who was left, find out where the fire was coming from, and secure the area all in a matter of minutes from almost being blown to bits, they were confused (the explosion would throw their equilibrium off)...that is just to name a few things about the "fog of war". Imagine your ears ringing and trying to determine who was shooting at you and your unit who you must protect at all costs.... Remember, the terrorists know about our media and our affection for women and children...they have none..so they are using it and our ignorant media to paint a sordid picture of what we are trying to accomplish over there. Are mistakes made? Absolutely. Do some of our guys lose their sanity in all this...most definitely. To react rationaly would mean to collapse in complete horror over what they have seen and had to do--that is not an option, so they have to be desensitized in order to get the job done. There is no training for what these insurgents are doing...it completely blows their minds that they would use women and children... we could not fathom the experience. How dare the media focus on everything but the valiant service of 99% of our troops whose lives are on the line...these are sons, daughters, fathers, mothers, they are part of us. None of them goes out to commit heinous war crimes - the terrorists DO! Let the military report the bad news when it happens...AFTER their investigation. The media needs to focus on keeping America behind its troops before we end up with a situation like post Vietnam. THEY are commiting heinous crimes against our troops by not getting the WHOLE story and reporting it accurately all for what...RATINGS. The media needs to leave the investigation to the military believe me, they are harder on their troops than any other judicial systems. If they want news, look at the HEROs and tell their stories.