STRAIGHT TO THE POINT: WAR ISN'T FUN

Miami Herald Staff ^ | Feb. 07, 2005 | Miami Herald Staff

[JesseHousman]

Lt. Gen. James Mattis should have gotten more than a slap on the wrist for bragging about how much fun it was to shoot enemies in Iraq. ''Actually, it's a lot of fun to fight. . . . It's fun to shoot some people,'' the three-star general said at a San Diego conference. ''You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil,'' Gen. Mattis added. ``So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them.''

Gen. Mattis has been praised for his bravery and leadership in combat, but his callous remarks make light of the terrible toll of war. Frankly, it isn't as if the U.S. military doesn't have problems with domestic violence and the abuse of women among the troops. The Marine Corps commandant ''counseled'' Gen. Mattis to choose his words ''more carefully.'' The punishment should have been tougher. The general's attitude is a poor example of leadership and doesn't reflect America's values.

• PRESS FREEDOM

Cuba again earns the dubious distinction of being among the world's top repressors of the press. The Committee to Protect Journalists found that China, Cuba, Eritrea and Burma have locked up more than three-quarters of the 122 journalists imprisoned worldwide for practicing their profession last year. While China gets the top rank, Cuba comes in second with 23 still jailed, most of them since the regime's repressive crackdown in 2003.

Worldwide, the most common ''offenses'' were for violations of laws designed to protect the government from criticism. Cuba's independent reporters were railroaded for publicly criticizing the one-party state. In Burma, the offense of two documentary filmmakers was to show the reality of forced labor and poverty. Give thanks for the U.S. First Amendment, which guarantees free speech and a free press.

• UNAWARE TEENS

Speaking of free speech, it's a shame that so many young Americans don't appreciate the value of the First Amendment. In a survey of more than 100,000 students at 544 high schools throughout the country, nearly three-fourths of the students either didn't know how they felt about the First Amendment or admitted that they took it for granted.

More than a third of the students said that the First Amendment goes too far in guaranteeing a free press, peaceful assembly and freedom of religious choice.

''Ignorance about the basics of this free society is a danger to our nation's future,'' said Hodding Carter III, president and CEO of the Knight Foundation, which commissioned the survey.

The irony is that without free speech, many of the movies, rap music and entertainment that young people hold dear wouldn't exist.

[Piquaboy]

This General is the Black Jack Pershing and Patton of the new century. Black Jack knew how to treat MooseLimbs.