Posted on 06/07/2006 5:20:26 PM PDT by SE Mom
GEN. HAGEE: Good afternoon, and thank you all for coming this afternoon.
First, I would like to talk briefly about what it is to be a Marine and what we Marines hold dear.
You know, we recruit some of the best young people in America. We only promise them one thing. If they are good enough, morally, mentally and physically, they could become a Marine. They too could wear the eagle, globe and anchor. They too could join the most elite military organization the world has ever seen.
We severely challenge them in boot camp and in officer candidate school. Those who succeed in becoming Marines know we have high standards on the battlefield, off the battlefield, on liberty, on leave, wearing the uniform, discipline. We really want to be the best at whatever we do.
Our recruits are taught -- and it is constantly reinforced -- that an important part of being a Marine is accomplishing the mission while adhering to our core values of honor, courage and commitment.
Our high standards, mission focus and selfless service are what enabled Marines to attack successfully in the Belleau Wood in June of 1918, after being told that the war was lost and their attack was futile.
These same military virtues resulted in the successful assault on Iwo Jima in February of 1945.
They're also what enabled the 1st Marine Division to conduct a successful withdrawal from the Chosin Reservoir when surrounded by 10 Chinese divisions during the Korean War.
And since 9/11, they have also enabled an estimated 180,000 Marines to perform so superbly in the very dangerous, complex and stressful environments of Iraq and Afghanistan.
What do you mean by that??
The DI pretty much summed him up.
John Warner knows better- I swear these people get crazed when the spend too much time in the District.
From the press briefing today :
Q Thank you, General. You mentioned a number of times your own accountability for training and for what happens in the Marine Corps. And I'm wondering, given the gravity of what's come to light thus far in the two cases you cited, why shouldn't you resign as an acknowledgment of failure of leadership?
GEN. HAGEE: I serve at the pleasure of the president. And I have not submitted any resignation.
It deserves a thread of its own. Thanks for posting.
Seems like every time we try to explain what it is like in the military, why people join up and why they fight for freedom, the press tune out.
That was a very dishonorable and insulting question.
Thanks...I hadn't read the transcript yet.
Thanks for the ping. 180,000 Marines have performed courageously and selflessly in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the media wants to paint the few that MAY have been involved in Haditha with the same brush.
How about we paint ALL of the media with the same brush as the discredited Dan Rather? Jason Blair? I think we should start a campaign to do just that.
Oh, okay...
I would guess NO...because they were probably thinking about what they wanted to ask...and just listening for "buzz words"...that they can work into a "talking point"...
LOL:) It's REALLY hard keeping track of these threads, isn't it?
The dignity of the general in face of these questions is simply breathtaking. Discipline.
I think every moron that asks a question should be identified. We are not talking about 3 year olds for crying out loud!
I've been doing that for a year. ;*)
YES!!! Especially when you've been running in and out all day. ;*)
My thoughts exactly.
AMEN! And not just the families of the Marines.
Actually, when I saw that question...my first thought was that, that question is one that a lawyer would ask about a murderer...
IOW, the insanity plea is for people that "don't know right from wrong"....
I think it was phrased precisely to make that "statement" by the reporter that asked....
You're right.
Was off today so got to watch the good General on the PBS evening news. They (@ssholes) sure tried like a bunch of stupid brainless kids, to pump him with the same stupid questions. He simply told them we must wait till the findings come in on the Haditha case. I am convinced there are very few reporters that are educated enough to ask intellegient questions. Their really a bunch of robots.
When my grandmother was really angry (rare) with someone, she'd take a deep breath and then say "They're more to be pitied than scorned, dear"..
Read the whole transcript and see what sort of blithering idiots are assigned to the Pentagon by the media. Every single question went in the direction of guilty Marines and what is the Commandant going to do about it.
The Commandant has far more diplomatice skills than I have...my answer to every questions would have been, yes, no, no comment, or stfu.
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