One of the hallmarks of opposition to the Vietnam War was vilification of the military itself for prosecuting a vile strategy and then deceiving the American people about it. Thankfully, so far, opposition to the Iraq War has not gone that route. Mostly, protestors and critics focus their anger on an administration that deceived, not on the military that simply carries out its mission.
Given that, I was especially shocked to read this, on the Fox website:
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TIKRIT, Iraq -- The U.S. military swept through Iraqi neighborhoods early Saturday, firing at houses suspected to be harboring hostile forces in the wake of an apparent attack on a Black Hawk helicopter that killed six U.S. soldiers.
Backed by Bradley fighting vehicles, American troops bombarded buildings with machine guns and heavy weapons fire.
"This is to remind the town that we have teeth and claws and we will use them," said Lt. Col. Steven Russell, commander of the 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment.
Russell added that an 11 p.m. to 4 a.m. curfew was reinstated after being lifted on Oct. 27, the beginning of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
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This kind of thing, repeated over a whole population, is exactly what loses wars. Not dissent at home, not insufficient troops in the field. Lots of self-styled hawks, including the incompetents at the New Republic and that old Fuddocrat Joe Lieberman, have called for an increase in American troops. Well, it's just fine to say we need boots on the ground, but not if the inhabitants of those boots are firing into houses indiscriminately and enforcing curfews.
I was happily proud of the way the military is handling a worsening situation. But not if their tactics mirror these ones. Because we'll be reading about lots more downed helicopters if they do. And I'll cry even more over the graphic on the Washington Post website, the one that shows each of the fatalities and their ages. I graduated from high school a year and a half ago. Many of them are younger than I.
