“Supporting” the Troops--Why has the mass media already convicted the "Haditha" Marines?

FrontPageMagazine.com ^ | June 5, 2006 | Lt. Col. Gordon Cucullu

[Coop]

(I seem to recall hearing that the Moderators are rotating positions, each filled by several persons)

Really? That's fascinating. And about as conclusive as your hearsay above. If you have a question/accusation about the Lead Moderator, perhaps you should ping him/her. Or them, since you seem to think the mods rotate through the position. It's the polite thing to do.

[Coop]

Hearsay is fully admissable in the court of public opinion.

And yet it still ain't an exhibit, Detective!

[BeHoldAPaleHorse]

Oh, yes, I am catching on. Perhaps more than you might wish.

You insist on an extremely high standard of conduct for others and complete exemption from that standard for yourself. That's all I really need to know.

[BeHoldAPaleHorse]

And yet it still ain't an exhibit, Detective!

In the court of public opinion, it is. Good day.

[Coop]

No, you just get bent out of shape when people use your ridiculous standards against you. Although I can't blame you, because they are quite ridiculous.

The Marines are guilty because my corpsman buddy is depressed and says so! And Coop and the rotating moderators are pickin' on me because I'm a dissenter (read: mini-Murtha)!

[Coop]

In the court of public opinion, it is.

Fine. Then in the court of public opinion, you're Poohbah. Which means you are really bad at that opus thing. Good day, Leatherneck.

[BeHoldAPaleHorse]

Fine. Then in the court of public opinion, you're Poohbah.

Actually, I'm starting to believe that you are Poohbah--you're both rather alike in your thin skins.

[Coop]

And, like Poohbah, you have difficulty departing...

[trisham]

My connections at Camp Pendleton are through a son of a long-standing friend, who's a corpsman there (i.e., he is in the Navy). He's getting, if anything, even gloomier as time goes on.

****************

Has he been to Iraq? My nephew, a Marine, is on his second tour of duty there. He's pretty upbeat.

[boxerblues]

Actually, I'm starting to believe that you are Poohbah--you're both rather alike in your thin skins.

coop thin skinned??? Hold the press's

[BeHoldAPaleHorse]

Has he been to Iraq?

Gearing up for a third tour now. The GMT he's getting now about things such as "don't file misleading or dishonest reports" and the billionth or so reiteration of the ROEs is the main thing depressing him--there seems to be too many examples that are drawn from actual experiences in Iraq.

Ever had your illusions about how one's fellows are without exception virtuous, honorable sorts of people? That's what this kid's going through. (I can't believe I'm calling a 24-year-old man a kid--amazing what being 61 does for your sense of age.)

[Mrs. Darla Ruth Schwerin]

The last line of this story, sums it all up quite nicely. There are politicians out there who are so hungry for advancement they will sacrifice military personnel to get ahead. For how can those in question truly defend themselves against the backdrop of the hysterical media, the occupied town of Haditha complete with hysterical Iraquis, and any other hysterical person, place or thing who plops their little self into the picture? Are the odds stacked against the Marines, or what?

[trisham]

Gearing up for a third tour now. The GMT he's getting now about things such as "don't file misleading or dishonest reports" and the billionth or so reiteration of the ROEs is the main thing depressing him--there seems to be too many examples that are drawn from actual experiences in Iraq.

Ever had your illusions about how one's fellows are without exception virtuous, honorable sorts of people? That's what this kid's going through. (I can't believe I'm calling a 24-year-old man a kid--amazing what being 61 does for your sense of age.)

*************

He must be a good kid. Part of what he may be going through is simply the maturation process, when one realizes how different the world is from what we thought as children. Being in a war is a particularly abrupt way to gain that experience.

[BeHoldAPaleHorse]

He's a very good kid--a fine young man. I have hopes of my niece marrying him when she gets out of the Navy in a few years.

BTW--did you "accidentally" give away your age when you called him a "kid" as I did? ;)

[John Lenin]

Haditha is a “miniature Taliban-like state,” where the insurgents call all the shots. Who lives or who dies today is the most terrifying decision they make. With that power little wonder that civilians cooperate either out of fear, coercion, or the desire to be on the side of the knife wielders. Insurgents set the economic rules, the social mores – totally Sharia Islamic rules, by the way, and what news the people receive. Headscarves for women are mandatory, alcohol banned, music forbidden, and relations between the sexes closely monitored. Break the rules? You have a one-way trip to the bridge at dawn.

Liberals told us Iraq was a secular paradise when Saddam was in charge. How can this be ?

[trisham]

BTW--did you "accidentally" give away your age when you called him a "kid" as I did? ;)

**************

Not according to Freud. :)