Let me begin with this statement: If the allegations of a massacre at Haditha are true and Americans don't have a major problem with it, I will have to do some serious soul-searching. I consider myself to be a dedicated, but fairly moderate Democrat. I think that most people who know me would agree with that assessment. I had mixed feelings about the war in Iraq when it started, but then again I was only in 6th grade. I've since come to realize that our brave troops, the most patriotic and outstanding Americans who deserve every ounce of respect we can muster, were sent into a mission without nearly the proper amount of planning necessary.
There weren't nearly enough troops sent in. The servicemen sent in were not provided with the proper body armor. Generals who objected to the dangerous, cursory, and inadequeate planning -- such as Eric Shinseki -- were at first ignored, and then attacked and smeared. The neo-conservative planners of the war, who had been urging the overthrowal of Saddam Hussein since the 1990s when they were at Bill Kristol's Project for a New American Century, apparently hadn't given a second's thought as to how to deal with the country once the intial military action was complete.
In short, it was a mess. Almost all Americans know that by now, and that isn't the point of this post at all. I am writing this because I simply can't stand watching the self-righteous, right-wing pundits and demagogues wrap themselves up in a flag that most of them couldn't be bothered to serve, and try to convince the American people that the alleged events at Haditha, Abu Ghraib, and elsewhere are o.k., simply because it was done by Americans.
The servicemen in Haditha deserve the presumption of innocence, but for people such as Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, and Sean Hannity to attack distinguished former Marine Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) for talking
about the horror of the alledged acts is simply appauling. Many conservatives blamed the media for discussing Abu Ghraib, believing that the American people couldn't love their country and their military, while still admitting that some of its members had made enormous mistakes. The same issue is raised now: should we address this problem and improve our country and military, or decide that America is infallable and to hell with the Iraqis we apparently cared so much about liberating.
I love our country, our military, and our people passionately. I have, however, like every other American, disagreed with those three entities before. Did Sean Hannity hate America when on May 10, 1999, just before Bill Clinton's war in Kosovo, he said "I don't think Clinton has the moral authority or ability to fight this war correctly." No, Hannity was voicing his opinion on a very important issue, an issue that would put many lives on the line. But when Tom Dashchle said "I'm saddened that the President failed so miserably at diplomacy that we are now forced into war," Hannity said that Daschle didn't "support the troops and the President [.]" He also said that "every Democrat in this country ought to be ashamed of what this man did [.]"
The brave, admirable combat magazine Investor's Business Daily posted an editorial on their website which summed up the right-wing position. The first paragraph says it all.
The press is salivating over the prospect of an Iraqi My Lai in the town of Haditha, with ABC trotting out Rep. John Murtha to brand U.S. troops war criminals just in time for Memorial Day.
Wow. Perpaps I'm out of the mainstream, but I feel like punching something. The military clearly isn't to blame for the mess in Iraq, and they certainly aren't to blame for Haditha either. But what kind of country do we live in where we can't accept that what went on is very, very wrong. Conservatives will point to the presumption of innocence that I agreed earlier in this post that the Marines should have. However, if we look at Abu Ghraib, we see the same calous uncaring attitude from right-wingers. Talk show host Jay Severin remarked yesterday that "[W]e took terror prisoners, and we treated them essentially to a
week in Las Vegas. I have to pay good money to have that done to me."
I don't think that is what America believes. I don't think America wants people like this on their television. I think Americans really don't want people like this running their government. If I'm wrong, it will be hard to get over. If I'm wrong, I don't know what to do.