Our soldiers in Iraq aren't heroes (But Andy Rooney is! (not))

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[Peter J. Huss]

Our soldiers in Iraq aren't heroes



4/12/2004

By ANDY ROONEY

Most of the reporting from Iraq is about death and destruction. We don't learn much about what our soldiers in Iraq are thinking or doing. There's no Ernie Pyle to tell us, and, if there were, the military would make it difficult or impossible for him to let us know. It would be interesting to have a reporter ask a group of our soldiers in Iraq to answer five questions and see the results:

1. Do you think your country did the right thing sending you into Iraq?

2. Are you doing what America set out to do to make Iraq a democracy, or have we failed so badly that we should pack up and get out before more of you are killed?

3. Do the orders you get handed down from one headquarters to another, all far removed from the fighting, seem sensible, or do you think our highest command is out of touch with the reality of your situation?

4. If you could have a medal or a trip home, which would you take?

5. Are you encouraged by all the talk back home about how brave you are and how everyone supports you?

Treating soldiers fighting their war as brave heroes is an old civilian trick designed to keep the soldiers at it. But you can be sure our soldiers in Iraq are not all brave heroes gladly risking their lives for us sitting comfortably back here at home.

Our soldiers in Iraq are people, young men and women, and they behave like people - sometimes good and sometimes bad, sometimes brave, sometimes fearful. It's disingenuous of the rest of us to encourage them to fight this war by idolizing them.

We pin medals on their chests to keep them going. We speak of them as if they volunteered to risk their lives to save ours, but there isn't much voluntary about what most of them have done. A relatively small number are professional soldiers. During the last few years, when millions of jobs disappeared, many young people, desperate for some income, enlisted in the Army. About 40 percent of our soldiers in Iraq enlisted in the National Guard or the Army Reserve to pick up some extra money and never thought they'd be called on to fight. They want to come home.

One indication that not all soldiers in Iraq are happy warriors is the report recently released by the Army showing that 23 of them committed suicide there last year. This is a dismaying figure. If 22 young men and one woman killed themselves because they couldn't take it, think how many more are desperately unhappy but unwilling to die.

We must support our soldiers in Iraq because it's our fault they're risking their lives there. However, we should not bestow the mantle of heroism on all of them for simply being where we sent them. Most are victims, not heroes.

America's intentions are honorable. I believe that, and we must find a way of making the rest of the world believe it. We want to do the right thing. We care about the rest of the world. President Bush's intentions were honorable when he took us into Iraq. They were not well thought out but honorable.

Bush's determination to make the evidence fit the action he took, which it does not, has made things look worse. We pay lip service to the virtues of openness and honesty, but for some reason, we too often act as though there was a better way of handling a bad situation than by being absolutely open and honest.

[Patriot Papa]

"Woe to those who call evil good and good evil,..." Isaiah 5:20

At his age, you'd think Rooney wouldn't so interested in rushing headlong towards hell. He's so close I'm surprised he hasn't already burst into flames.

[Coop]

It's just beyond belief, isn't it?

[vikingchick]

Andy Rooney needs to return to his pod people on Saturn and stay there...

LOL. The problem is, all the pod people will end up hating him too.

[prairiebreeze]

Rooney insulted our military and our individual troops several times. He also insulted the intelligence of Americans, although anybody who watches him or his station isn't playing with a full deck anyway.

Big day for Andy. I'd recommend increasing the Haldol.

Prairie

[AndrewC]

That senile old fart needs to retire.

And he should change his name to Bruce or some such.(my apologies to folks named Bruce but at the moment I have the burden)

[johnb838]

No soldier (except an absolute fool), no matter how just he thought the war he was fighting was, would choose a medal over a trip home

John Fn Kerry might.

Whyyyy is it that whenever I reeeaaad something that Rooney's written, I hear that nasty old man's whine in my ear as if he were talking?

[Rummyfan]

Bump that!

[kellynla]

"It's just beyond belief, isn't it?"

It's an outrage!!!

Please call the Buffalo News tomorrow and tell Jerry Goldberg what you think!

I am so upset now I can hardly think!

The stories and the pictures of the families and the orphans of those Marines KIA this past week were in the Orange County Register yesterday and to have the Buffalo News publish such garbage is despicable!

[Joe Republc]

"...Suicide is the second leading killer of college students - with an estimated 7.5 deaths per 100,000 students per year, according to a study of Big 10 campuses from 1980 to 1990.

Nationally, an estimated 1,000 college students -- out of a total of 15 million -- take their own lives each year."

Yikes!

Along with the hidden truth about the current STD risks, these suicide numbers aren't anything you hear about from folks like Dan, Tom, and Peter on the network news.

Maybe if I call up by buddy Andy, he'll talk about suicide on campus and call for a congressional commission to publicly question university presidents on why this is happening.

When pigs fly....

-- Joe

P.S. Back in the late 70s, I went to a top university located on the St. Chuck river in Boston. I moved into a dorm space vacated by someone who killed himself. I also knew of at least two other students who had mental problems requiring institutionalization.

I believe G. K. Chesterton had something to say on this subject of sanity and single-minded rationalists.

[Dr Snide]

every once in awhile I begin to understand the appeal of a dictatorship. Wouldn't the thought of making Rooney, Kennedy, Couric, etc. disappear be tempting? Now I am not advocating a totalitarian style goverment I'm just saying I understand the appeal when faced with such vile Anti-Americanism as displayed by these morons. I'll also point out that most facist regimes came about only after the left became very active in those counties prompting the reaction.

[prairiebreeze]

Don't let your heart worry about this old turd. His best days were decades ago, and he knows it. He's a cynical, twisted, bitter leftist and simply doesn't have a case to make other than to take stabs at our military. Pathetic.

He's re-domonstrating that HE certainly can be counted among those that simply AREN'T WORTH DYING FOR. Lucky for him, our guys defend the likes of his miserable hide too.

And thank you for your service.

Prairie

[AndrewB]

RE: Military Suicides.

Seems to be an unfortunate fact of life. Average annual military suicide rate - 10.9 per 100,000 soldiers.

[boxerblues]

(In my best old geezer whine) Have you ever noticed that Rooney is a senile old coot, who has no idea of the world around him.

[BossLady]

I'm sure that's why the Saturanians banished him to Earth! ;)

Dear Saturn:

Take him back....he has worn out his welcome!

Your Friends,

The Earthlings

[river rat]

Rooney when into the slime -- long ago..
Spending so much highly paid time before a camera - gave him the impression he was clever....

He is neither clever or cute...
I had to stop watching him years ago..
He has become just another long toothed leftist and defeatist.
He and his like, encourage our enemy -- making them in my mind - one with the enemy..

Semper Fi

[MEG33]

#109 for perspective.

[MEG33]

This hateful demented old lefty should get stuffed..or get canned.He isn't fit to address our armed forces..

[cspackler]

Don't worry, Lok... the spittin's over with... you are appreciated now. With him, it's just drool. Like water off of a duck's back.

[cyncooper]

As for the lack of Earnie Pyles, there are lots of journalists that have been trying to tell the "real" story about the great things the troops are doing for the Iraqi people, but the networks won't run them and the papers won't print them because they aren't juicy enough and don't support the line they're selling.

NBC Forces Out Bob Arnot Who Delivered Upbeat Stories from Iraq(Arnot Charges Bias)

Excerpt:

Hagan reported how "Dr. Arnot said he knew for 'a fact' that Mr. Shapiro's problem with his reporting was that 'it was just very positive.'" Indeed, "NBC sources said that when the statue of Saddam Hussein was toppled in Baghdad, Nightly News anchor Tom Brokaw declined to put Dr. Arnot on the air, even though he was the sole NBC reporter on the scene."

[Cap'n Crunch]

Communists all.

Semper Fi