A Rule of Thumb for Liberals
Over at Real Clear Politics, Jed Babbin tells you everything you need to know about the subtext of the insanely hysterical coverage of Haditha. Most importantly, balanced and responsible voices must explain that the silence from the Marines, Donald Rumsfeld and other members of the Administration isn't an admission of guilt, it's a requirement in keeping with the demands of military justice.
Liberals don't seem to get it -- or they don't want to. Far easier to exploit the story for whatever political or partisan advantage can be wrung from it, even at the cost of success in Iraq and in the larger war on terror.
Although there's no chance they'll heed them, here are some guidelines that the left would be well advised to follow:
(1) Stop attacking or condemning our soldiers until you have the facts.
(2) Make some effort to put the accusations into perspective. If 24 civilians were unjustifiably killed, it's a terrible, terrible crime and those responsible deserve to be fully prosecuted. But it's also worth noting that our soldiers liberated 25 million Iraqis from Saddam Hussein's murderous regime. That means that American soldiers freed more than a million people for every one that was wrongly killed (if that, indeed, is what happened).
Or, to put it another way, according to this site, 2119 Americans have died as a result of hostile fire. So for each of the 24 Iraqis who may have been wrongly killed, more than 88 Americans have died in the cause of helping Iraq become a free and secure country -- and even more if you count the deaths that weren't attributable to hostile fire, but were nonetheless given in the Iraqi cause.
(3) Treat America's soldiers as respectfully as you do its enemies. Many leftists are appalled at the lack of constitutional safeguards being bestowed upon the enemy combatants sequestered at Guantanamo Bay. Don't our own Marines deserve the same kind of regard for their rights (including a presumption of innocence until guilt is proved) that the left seems to believe is the entitlement of America's enemies?
Just a rule of thumb: Give America's fighting men and women at least the same modicum of respect that you accord to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Be as reluctant to use harsh words, offer sweeping condemnations, or prejudge their motives, intent and actions as you are Kim Jung Il's. Be as willing to offer them the benefit of the doubt as you've been to offer it to Saddam Hussein on the matter of WMD's.
Update: I've cross posted this at The Huffington Post. Check in on some of the comments to it later -- no doubt we'll see entertainingly florid (and profane) denunciations.
Liberals don't seem to get it -- or they don't want to. Far easier to exploit the story for whatever political or partisan advantage can be wrung from it, even at the cost of success in Iraq and in the larger war on terror.
Although there's no chance they'll heed them, here are some guidelines that the left would be well advised to follow:
(1) Stop attacking or condemning our soldiers until you have the facts.
(2) Make some effort to put the accusations into perspective. If 24 civilians were unjustifiably killed, it's a terrible, terrible crime and those responsible deserve to be fully prosecuted. But it's also worth noting that our soldiers liberated 25 million Iraqis from Saddam Hussein's murderous regime. That means that American soldiers freed more than a million people for every one that was wrongly killed (if that, indeed, is what happened).
Or, to put it another way, according to this site, 2119 Americans have died as a result of hostile fire. So for each of the 24 Iraqis who may have been wrongly killed, more than 88 Americans have died in the cause of helping Iraq become a free and secure country -- and even more if you count the deaths that weren't attributable to hostile fire, but were nonetheless given in the Iraqi cause.
(3) Treat America's soldiers as respectfully as you do its enemies. Many leftists are appalled at the lack of constitutional safeguards being bestowed upon the enemy combatants sequestered at Guantanamo Bay. Don't our own Marines deserve the same kind of regard for their rights (including a presumption of innocence until guilt is proved) that the left seems to believe is the entitlement of America's enemies?
Just a rule of thumb: Give America's fighting men and women at least the same modicum of respect that you accord to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Be as reluctant to use harsh words, offer sweeping condemnations, or prejudge their motives, intent and actions as you are Kim Jung Il's. Be as willing to offer them the benefit of the doubt as you've been to offer it to Saddam Hussein on the matter of WMD's.
Update: I've cross posted this at The Huffington Post. Check in on some of the comments to it later -- no doubt we'll see entertainingly florid (and profane) denunciations.
posted by LadybugUSA at 8:41 AM
3 Comments:
Excellent post!
I don't expect the left to follow any of this advice. But #3 is the "rule of thumb" you've cited that most exposes the left for what it is - simply and completely Anti-American.
They want us to lose. They want the current system of government in the U.S. to be destroyed and, presumably, replaced with a socialist system.
Their absolute refusal to treat the United States with the same respect as they grant the enemies of the U.S. is glaring proof.
The sad fact is that, in their efforts to ally themselves with the enemy - any enemy - of the United States, they seem to have latched onto a group this time that, if victorious, would put them to death in short order.
Paul,
You've completely misstated Carol's point. She in no way attempted to use collective virtue to "offset" individual alleged crimes. Rather, she recommends full prosecution.
In fact, the left has consistently committed the opposite offense. They continually use individual (and VERY limited) instances to besmirch the overall war effort - a very dishonest tactic indeed.
Mr. Kemp,
I think we're in agreement, actually. You don't want one aspect to cancel out the other.
I agree.
You don't want the overall virtue of the U.S. military to be used as a cover for any crimes committed by some of that same military.
I agree.
Conversly, I don't want the (alleged) crimes of the few to be used to discredit the entire U.S. military, or the entire war on terror, or the war in Iraq.
Would you agree with that?
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