"Context: hoodlums are brutalizing citizens in New Orleans; women are being raped in the Superdome; Relief helicopters are being shot at by what can only be called animals on the ground.
General Honore starts things off by cussing at his troops, not the animals his troops were brought in to keep in line. That strikes me as singularly cowardly."
So New Orleans is the only place that these horrible crimes are happening?
I would love to see you call him a coward to his face, especially since you are the one that has never served. Yes, I keep saying that, but unless you have an actual idea of what military life is like, and to put your life on the line everyday, you have no room to call him a coward.
SYLLABICATION: cow·ard
PRONUNCIATION: kourd
NOUN: One who shows ignoble fear in the face of danger or pain.
ETYMOLOGY: Middle English, from Old French couard, from coue, tail, from Latin cauda.
OTHER FORMS: coward —ADJECTIVE
WORD HISTORY: A coward is one who “turns tail.” The word comes from Old French couart, coart, “coward,” and is related to Italian codardo, “coward.” Couart is formed from coe, a northern French dialectal variant of cue, “tail” (from Latin cda), to which the derogatory suffix –ard was added. This suffix appears in bastard, laggard, and sluggard, to name a few. A coward may also be one with his tail between his legs. In heraldry a lion couard, “cowardly lion,” was depicted with his tail between his legs. So a coward may be one with his tail hidden between his legs or one who turns tail and runs like a rabbit, with his tail showing.
Seems to me that the LTG is not the one running away. He is out there trying to maintain some sort of calm and establish security, while you are miles away calling him a coward for using "such foul language."
Let me get this straight, a three-star General is supposed to have his guys in formation, "um, guys, can you, uh, please try to look like soldiers, and um, er, ah, try to make a difference?" Do you really think that would go over too well? If his superiors had an issue with his language, do you really think that he would be a three-star right now? They would laugh at you for even making this an issue.
Also, need I remind you that this is an all volunteer military? We all know what we are getting into before we raise our right hand, and if we are offended by someone that drops an F bomb, or uses G.D. everyday, then they deal with it. They don't call someone a coward for yelling at them.