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.

[don-o]

Andy Rooney poll:
1. Harmless old coot.
2. Menace to society.
3. Freakish waste of carbon.
4. Living proof of everything that is wrong with the "Lame stream Media".

Vote for one or all. Feel free to add your own.

Keep' em coming. We may get a Top Ten out of this

[A. Morgan]

Andy Rooney might be a world class JERK, if he wasn't stunk to my shoe.

What if these jerks wrote story after story and nobody read them? If the liberal wants to create their own version of Viet Nam .. I say we let 'em have it bye not buying any newpapers, or watching the nightly news.... and not buying ANY products that advertise on same.

[BossLady]

Looks like Andy has been off his Hormone Replacement Therapy for a week or so.... :o

[don-o]

Andy Rooney poll:
1. Harmless old coot.
2. Menace to society.
3. Freakish waste of carbon.
4. Living proof of everything that is wrong with the "Lame stream Media".
5. Oxygen thief.

Vote for one or all. Feel free to add your own.
Keep' em coming. We may get a Top Ten out of this

[LoudRepublicangirl]

Im sick to death of these people...they are killing our brave soldiers with ink pens and microphones....

You are right. The pen is mightier than the sword. I am hoping that Andy Looney goes down like so many others who put their ugly feet in their ugly mouths.

[onyx]

If we had an honest, unbiased news media,
I am convinced this country would elect
politicians "Right of center."

Too many major American news media outlets hate America.
They are a huge part of the enemy within.

[Peter J. Huss]

Maybe Rooney thought he was posting to the DU, but got confused and posted to the Buffalo News instead?

[Kozak]

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.

I could stomach it right up to here, then I had a projectile vomit.

PS anyone who signs up for "a job" or joins the reserve for the "benefits" not thinking they might be called to actually fight gets what they deserve. I only feel sorry for their comrades who depend on them.

[don-o]

Andy Rooney poll:
1. Harmless old coot.
2. Menace to society.
3. Freakish waste of carbon.
4. Living proof of everything that is wrong with the "Lame stream Media".
5. Oxygen thief.
6. Pious old fart

[E=MC²]

Well, I see what looney-tooney does in his free time...makes up demonrat slanted questions for push polls.

[Ima Lurker]

It's too late for that Mystery, he blew his brains out of his a-- years ago. He was not funny at his best and now he is just pathetic.

[GeorgiaYankee]

In the fine tradition of Tokyo Rose..

[don-o]

Andy Rooney poll:
1. Harmless old coot.
2. Menace to society.
3. Freakish waste of carbon.
4. Living proof of everything that is wrong with the "Lame stream Media".
5. Oxygen thief.
6. Pious old fart
7. Off his Hormone Replacement Therapy

[Poodlebrain]

I wonder what the answer to his question 4 would be from any service person ever assigned to a war zone. Does Rooney think he would have gotten different answers from WWII soldiers than from those currently serving in Iraq?

Your comment is too kind.

[xzins]

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.

Rooney is a traitor. He should mention that during the Clinton years the army went from 17/18 Divisions down to 10. Therefore, more jobs were lost out of the military than anyone is able to put back into it.

So far as the # of suicides is concerned, I was a chaplain in the Army....a professional counselor for them. The rate fluctuated year by year....and it is not statistically significantly different. NOTICE: He didn't mention how many committed suicide in other units in the Army NOT involved in Iraq .... in short, he gives us numbers and not the Armywide rate. I have included a piece below that says the rate for GIs in Iraq is 15.8. Statistics -- they don't say what the overall Army rate is. Would you be surprised to learn that the rate climbed during the year long deployments to Bosnia/Kosovo? Why? My guess would be clinical/chronic depression + some significant losses that occurred in the lives of those long-term deployed soldiers. (Lost marriages, fiancees, businesses, careers, etc.) The so-called 11.9 rate for the 8 year period listed -- how many think it was 11.9 each year for an average of 11.9? Not many? Good. It probably had a low of about 10 and a high of about 14.

Rooney is a traitor who is attempting to destroy the morale of Americans, soldier and civilian alike.

Since the war in Iraq began in March 2003, 24 soldiers have committed suicide, an average of about two per month. The suicide rate for Army soldiers in Iraq in 2003 was 15.8 per 100,000, an increase from the Army average of 12.2 for 2003 and 11.9 from 1995-2002. That rate was still below the national average of 21.5 suicides per 100,000 for males ages 20-34, which roughly matches the age range of the bulk of the soldiers in Iraq.

[don-o]

Gotta go for now. Keep 'em coming, and I will get us a definitive list, later.

[wayoverontheright]

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.

What convoluted reasoning.

The soldiers in Iraq are no different than the firemen and policemen who went back into the WTC to save lives. They see themselves as defending America, and so do I. I have a friend who just came home from there who would dispute everything this fauxpatriot says.

I suppose you have to renunciate your citizenship psychologically in order to be a member of the Left, and Rooney has thrown his over the fence.

[Coop]

Once again I sent a letter to 60 Minutes. Andy Rooney is disagraceful, and I think this one is going to blow up in his face.

[KellyAdmirer]

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

Funny, if they had asked that of "our hero" John Kerry in Vietnam, Kerry would have said, "I want both right away!" And he got both in record time, too.

[Coop]

disagraceful = disgraceful

No, I'm not Italian. :-}