Mark Steyn: Events at Haditha don't change need for victory

Chicago Sun-Times ^ | Mark Steyn

[croak]

Here are a couple of observations from two parents of American heroes fallen in Iraq. The first is from Cindy Sheehan, the mother of Army Spec. Casey Sheehan, a brave man who enlisted in 2000, re-upped for a second tour and died in 2005 after volunteering for a rescue mission in Sadr City:

"We've been talking about Martin Luther King Jr. this night. My son was killed the same day he was killed, on April 4. I don't believe in any coincidences. Casey was born on John F. Kennedy's birthday. He was born on the day, and died on the day, of two people who were assassinated by the war machine in my country."

The second observation is from Martin Terrazas, the father of Marine Lance Cpl. Miguel Terrazas of El Paso, who was killed by a roadside bomb at a town called Haditha:

"I don't even listen to the news."

[AmishDude]

It surprises me that there haven't been more atrocities. In previous wars, particularly the ones in Europe and Korea, the enemy was a soldier. You'd look across the battlefield and realize that the kid in uniform was like you: When the war was over, if he survived, he'd go back to his job in the foundary, or the general store, or on the farm.

In this war, these people are animals. They are not ordinary soldiers, there's no one to hold accountable for their atrocities. You can't even get morale up by marking battlefield progress. The battlefield keeps moving.

[AmishDude]

foundary=foundry

[Rummyfan]

Mark Steyn
Events at Haditha don't change need for victory

June 4, 2006

BY MARK STEYN SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST




Here are a couple of observations from two parents of American heroes fallen in Iraq. The first is from Cindy Sheehan, the mother of Army Spec. Casey Sheehan, a brave man who enlisted in 2000, re-upped for a second tour and died in 2005 after volunteering for a rescue mission in Sadr City:



"We've been talking about Martin Luther King Jr. this night. My son was killed the same day he was killed, on April 4. I don't believe in any coincidences. Casey was born on John F. Kennedy's birthday. He was born on the day, and died on the day, of two people who were assassinated by the war machine in my country."

The second observation is from Martin Terrazas, the father of Marine Lance Cpl. Miguel Terrazas of El Paso, who was killed by a roadside bomb at a town called Haditha:

"I don't even listen to the news."

The New York Times' Maureen Dowd, the Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist of the most important newspaper in America (well, OK, the most self-important newspaper in America), has written that "the moral authority of parents who bury children killed in Iraq is absolute." She wrote this in a column about Sheehan. She doesn't seem to have found the time to write any columns about any other parents of fallen soldiers and their absolute moral authority. Elizabeth Edwards, the wife of "moderate" "mainstream" Democratic Party vice presidential nominee John Edwards, sent out a letter headlined: "Support Cindy Sheehan's Right To Be Heard." Mrs. Sheehan doesn't have much difficulty being heard. The remarks above were made a week ago at a meeting in Melbourne. That's to say, dozens of organizations pay to fly her around the United States and Canada and over to Britain and Europe and all the way to Australia to ensure her "right to be heard," now and forever. She is the subject of a forthcoming movie, in which she will be played by Susan Sarandon.

But I would hazard that Martin Terrazas is far more typical of the families of American forces in Iraq: A man who can't bear to pick up an American newspaper, or listen to a radio news bulletin, or watch a political talk show, because every square peg of an event is being hammered into the round hole of the same narrative, the only narrative our culture knows: This is Vietnam, it's a quagmire, we can't win, and the longer we delay losing and scuttling and getting the hell outta there, the more wicked things we will do. And, lookie here, whaddaya know, here comes the Sunni version of the My Lai massacre.

I don't know any more than you do about the precise nature of events triggered in Haditha by Cpl. Terrazas' death. But assume every dark rumor you've heard is true, that this was the murder of civilians by American service personnel. In the run-up to March 2003, there were respectable cases to be made for and against the Iraq war. Nothing that happened at Haditha alters either argument. And, if you're one of the ever swelling numbers of molting hawks among the media, the political class and the American people for whom Haditha is the final straw, that's not a sign of your belated moral integrity but of your fundamental unseriousness. Anyone who supports the launching of a war should be clear-sighted enough to know that, when the troops go in, a few of them will kill civilians, bomb schools, torture prisoners. It happens in every war in human history, even the good ones. Individual Americans, Britons, Canadians, Australians did bad things in World War II and World War I. These aren't stunning surprises, they're inevitable: It might be a bombed mosque or a gunned-down pregnant woman or a slaughtered wedding party, but it will certainly be something. And, in the scales of history, it makes no difference to the justice of the cause and the need for victory.

For three years, coalition forces in Iraq behaved so well that a salivating Vietnam culture had to make do with the thinnest of pickings: one depraved jailhouse, a prisoner on a dog leash with a pair of Victoria's Secret panties on his head and an unusually positioned banana. "Just look at the way U.S. army reservist Lynndie England holds the leash of the naked, bearded Iraqi," wrote Robert Fisk, the dean of the global media's Middle Eastern correspondents. "No sadistic movie could outdo the damage of this image. In September 2001, the planes smashed into the buildings; today, Lynndie smashes to pieces our entire morality with just one tug on the leash."

Down, boy.

But now at last the media have their story. They're off the leash. And, if the worst rumors are true, those 10 Marines will come to symbolize the 99.99 percent of their comrades who every day do great things for the Iraqi and Afghan people. In 2004, in the wake of Abu Ghraib, I wrote that "there is something not just ridiculous but unbecoming about a hyperpower 300 million strong whose elites -- from the deranged former vice president down -- want the outcome of a war, and the fate of a nation, to hinge on one freaky jailhouse; elites who are willing to pay any price, bear any burden, as long as it's pain-free, squeaky-clean and over in a week. The sheer silliness dishonors the memory of all those we're supposed to be remembering this Memorial Day."

Two years on, it's even worse. If you examine the assumptions underlying speeches by professors, media grandees, etc., it's hard not to agree with the Wall Street Journal's James Taranto, that these days America can only fight Vietnam, over and over: Every war is "supposed to become a quagmire, which provokes opposition and leads to American withdrawal.'' That's how the nation demonstrates its "moral virtue" -- i.e., its parochial self-absorption.

Last week, Cindy Sheehan said in Melbourne that "Bobby Kennedy was assassinated by the war machine in my country." This week, Bobby's son, Robert Kennedy Jr., said in Rolling Stone that Bush stole the 2004 election. Next week, it'll be something else.

But there is more pain and more truth about America in those seven words of Martin Terrazas. A superpower that wallows in paranoia and glorifies self-loathing cannot endure and doesn't deserve to.

Thanks Pokey!

[Rummyfan]

In the run-up to March 2003, there were respectable cases to be made for and against the Iraq war. Nothing that happened at Haditha alters either argument. And, if you're one of the ever swelling numbers of molting hawks among the media, the political class and the American people for whom Haditha is the final straw, that's not a sign of your belated moral integrity but of your fundamental unseriousness. Anyone who supports the launching of a war should be clear-sighted enough to know that, when the troops go in, a few of them will kill civilians, bomb schools, torture prisoners. It happens in every war in human history, even the good ones. Individual Americans, Britons, Canadians, Australians did bad things in World War II and World War I. These aren't stunning surprises, they're inevitable: It might be a bombed mosque or a gunned-down pregnant woman or a slaughtered wedding party, but it will certainly be something. And, in the scales of history, it makes no difference to the justice of the cause and the need for victory.

Steyn's right (as usual!). Whatever happened the Marine Coprs will sort it out, and the chattering classes can go to hell AFAIC!

[mylife]

Every war is "supposed to become a quagmire, which provokes opposition and leads to American withdrawal.'' That's how the nation demonstrates its "moral virtue" -- i.e., its parochial self-absorption.

Thats how the Left demonstrates its moral virtue.

Its time the right demonstrated its morale virtue by being steadfast and seeing through what has been started.

I'm sick of all the wobbly kneed reaction to the haditha incident. Lets get a fair trial under way and move on.

[mylife]

Let us all the while forgive the Arabs their endless beheadings and brutality. lets all celebrate their diversity /sarc

911,Khobar towers, USS Cole, Tanzania,Kenya,Chechnya,Beruit, Iran,Mogadishu... One indident doesnt erase the thousands of years of Arab brutality

NEVER FORGET!

[RightOnTheLeftCoast]

"Makes you wonder who's birthday she was born on. Probably Tokyo Rose, or maybe Quisling."

Sorry, didn't find anything so delicious. However, she was born on the same date (July 17) that the Potsdam Conference had begun 12 years earlier. Now that's poetic-- the conference at which Eastern Europe was sold down the river by Roosevelt and his Soviet-agent advisers like Alger Hiss.

July 17 was also the day Flight 800 blew up, in what may have been an act of Islamic terrorism. ...How do you like that coincidence, Cindy? Whose tool are you?

[mylife]

I heard some asshat journalist on NPR yesterday opining on haditha and waxing nostalgic about the reporters role in vietnam. He concluded that the journalist had done humanity a great service in exposing Mi Lai and ultimatly rousing support for A US Pullout by getting people to see the horror of what the US troops were doing.

Yes he was real proud of himself, it was A moment that defined a lifetime.

Damn Shame no one asked the jerk about the 2 million that died as a result of our pullout.

I see idiots pointing to haditha and forgiving saddam everyday

[monkeyshine]

Great post. Nice to see you around!

[Tax-chick]

The second observation is from Martin Terrazas, the father of Marine Lance Cpl. Miguel Terrazas of El Paso, who was killed by a roadside bomb at a town called Haditha: "I don't even listen to the news."

God bless Martin Terrazas. He can be proud of his son, and his son can be proud of him.

[maica]

Since there are only 365 days in most years, and there are about 300,000,000 Americans living now, there are about 82,000 Americans who share the same birthday as Casey Sheehan. If we multiply that number by the number of high profile deaths in American history, millions of Americans should be able to claim whatever Ms Sheehan is claiming about her tragically dead son. Cindy, get a grip!

[pollyannaish]

if you're one of the ever swelling numbers of molting hawks among the media, the political class and the American people for whom Haditha is the final straw, that's not a sign of your belated moral integrity but of your fundamental unseriousness.

Amen and amen! And frankly that goes for all people willing to abandon this administration and turn the government over to the Democrats over single issues. Fundamental unseriousness abounds in this country.

[mylife]

"if you're one of the ever swelling numbers of molting hawks among the media, the political class and the American people for whom Haditha is the final straw, that's not a sign of your belated moral integrity but of your fundamental unseriousness."

Amen and amen! And frankly that goes for all people willing to abandon this administration and turn the government over to the Democrats over single issues. Fundamental unseriousness abounds in this country.

The knee jerk reactions of this populous just amazes me. Didn't we elect GWB and support this war because we applaud forsight and are willing to stay the course?

[jeremiah]

Sum it up in one point can I, rules in warfare are useless. They apply to only those with conscience. Those with a conscience are unlikely to commit or stomach those that commit atrocities.

I remember being a teenager learning about the war crimes trials after WW II, I thought they were stupid then, and now I know why. War is the killing of the enemy, by any means necessary. Playing by the rules is a sure way of getting your own people killed. The winner of the war is the one that survives and destroys more of the enemy. Isn't abiding by rules a way of leveling the warring field? Isn't that a trick and code word for "everyone should be a winner?"

We all know who started that, and who spouts it to their dying breath......Commies, and todays Democratic party.

[moneyrunner]

Pace Mark Steyn, for whom I have the utmost respect, but I think that - like an inoculation against smallpox - Abu Ghraib has inoculated us against whatever happened at Haditha. Abu Ghraib was such drive-by-media overkill, so much hype and so much breast beating over ... what? A pile of nude men? A naked prisoner wearing a dog collar? A man forced to wear women's panties on his head? Rush Limbaugh had it right when he said that worse “atrocities” are committed during fraternity initiations.

Read the rest here

[pollyannaish]

It amazes and disappoints me. And yes, I reelected GWB because he has been clear on all issues—even those I disagree with him on, he has remained honest and consistent.

I have gotten a bit tinfoily on this recently and don't believe a lot of what I read. Even here. The stakes are high and the opposition fierce. The agendas are less and less hidden.

What it comes down to is this—when "online" and "real life" become too divergent, I trust real life.

[ReleaseTheHounds]

You know, we keep hearing 99.9% of the troops have displayed exemplary conduct... Implying that the other .1% are, naturally, doing improper things. I just did the math: with 130,000 troops stationed in Iraq, I figure there have probably been 500,000 who have been in theater during this engagement. It sounds like maybe 50 have been implicated or indicted for improper actions at Abu Graib or, now, in Hadifah (sp?). That means that may .01% of the troops in Iraq have done something questionable (50 out of the 500,000). So let's stop the exaggeration! Even Mark Steyn gives too much credence to this fallacious number.

[Chgogal]

From the Great One! Enjoy the fast and fun read.

[SuzyQue]

Just for the record - I think this was another young man's mother. Whatever we may think of sheehan (most of which is unprintable), I think she was actually there and married to Casey's dad while he was growing up.

[coconutt2000]

Apparently I was remembering a fake report circulated that Casey was raised without her.

:-) Good to know.