Posted on 02/23/2006 5:02:02 AM PST by Tolik
<...snip...> ...Almost every media stereotype about the American military vanishes when visiting frontline bases. The world still sees dated Abu Ghraib photos, not Iraqi civilians receiving topflight care in the emergency room in the American-run hospital in Baghdad.
We hear that the U.S. Army is worn out — propped up by national guardsmen and reserves. Yet young enlistees differ. They claim instead that more mature reservists are a godsend for reconstruction efforts since so many back home were successful contractors, businessmen, teachers and mechanics. Complaints circulate about the weight, not the dearth, of body and truck armor. I saw hundreds of Humvees on the roads, but not one was unarmored. I shot AK-47s with professional Iraqi soldiers and felt far safer amid their professional live fire than back at home at the local municipal range.
Critics dub our military a "mercenary" force and sometimes call for renewal of the draft. But it is hardly a late-imperial Roman legion filled with foreigners and malcontents, but rather a true volunteer force, whose diversity in age, gender, race and religion would shame a university faculty or newsroom. Most of the colonels I met are as well educated as academics, but far more willing to debate and question their own beliefs...
<...snip...>
(Excerpt) Read more at jewishworldreview.com ...
Let me know if you want in or out.
Links: FR Index of his articles: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=victordavishanson
His website: http://victorhanson.com/ NRO archive: http://www.nationalreview.com/hanson/hanson-archive.asp
"...a true volunteer force, whose diversity in age, gender, race and religion would shame a university faculty or newsroom...."
LOL!
Loved that one!
VDH is right on the money. The Iraq we see in the media is nothing like the one that exists in real life, according to many I've rubbed shoulders with here. I HATE THE MSM!!!
Whodua thunk???
That sentence really jumps out, doesn't it. Especially paired with the news about Larry Summers ouster from Harvard.
I hope Hanson is correct. I know the MSM is infested with liars and traitors. I hope that what we do in IRAQ will last and start something new for the Middle East. Freedom worth fighting to keep.
That really is an excellent smackdown! :-D
ROTFL! Change "hate" to "despise" and we posted almost the exact same thought at the same time on two different threads (mine was about the economy).
As the war enters its fourth year the number of troops lost to all causes is approaching 2,400. That number may ring a bell - it's the same losses we suffered at Pearl Harbor; in the first three hours of WWII.
(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")
(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")
"Yet while things have changed radically in Iraq, the pessimistic tone of our reporting remains calcified."The agenda of the "Media" is discrediting President Bush and his administration."Almost every media stereotype about the American military vanishes when visiting frontline bases."
Though this is not its only agenda, its agenda does DEFINITELY NOT include bringing truth to the people, protecting the United States and the American people, or bringing the American Dream to the Iraqi people!
The "Media" is a Propaganda Machine. Advancing its agenda is its overriding concern. The discrediting of President Bush is foremost in its agenda. The "Media" and its so-called "journalists" will stop at nothing to achieve this nefarious objective.
ping later read
As an aside, I read VDH's Carnage and Culture when it first came out 5/6 years ago and loved it. I started rereading it the other night and find it even more engrossing now that I'm more familiar with Hanson.
Thanks, Tolik
Inspirational...
"VDH is right on the money. The Iraq we see in the media is nothing like the one that exists in real life, according to many I've rubbed shoulders with here. I HATE THE MSM!!!"
I HATE THE MSM TOO! The MSM deludes itself, looks in the mirror far too often to see who is the fairest one of all while selling it's soul and AMERICA'S to the devil.
This is my favorite quote from the article:
"Yet what amazes is not so much the audacity of even thinking the United States could attempt such a thing, but rather that it may just pull it off after all — if only we remain patient."
When I read this sentence I visualize Rummy with a proud little smile on his face.
LOL - GMTA and all that!
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