Dead Men Left drew my attention to this, from the front page of an issue of Socialist Worker: "L/Cpl Nicholas Federici, 19, of 1/8 Marines, said: "We didn't get the job done. Now we're going back in to finish it. It's the same with the whole of Iraq. Either we do it, or our friends and younger brothers will come after us to do it. Now, we're going in full force. The main thing is to hold our ground and kill as many faggots and bastards as we can. Then we'll rebuild the city, keep our military forces in and hand things over to the Iraqi government."
I have known enough soldiers and would-be soldiers (thanks in large measure to proximity to a midwest army camp and the bars its occupants frequent) to know that attitudes like this, while not universal, are not exactly uncommon. For this reason, I have come to detest the "support our troops" mantra. No, I do not support attitudes like this; nonetheless, while mouthing words about "democracy" and "freedom" both America's commander in chief and a broad cross section of society at large support precisely these attitudes, with a nod and a wink. "Troops" like Mr. Frederici who are having a rip-roaring good time killing "bastards" and "faggots" receive care packages and greeting cards from kindergartens, instead of what I think would be a more just reward...a bullet from an insurgent's rifle.