Witch Hunt of Our Soldiers
by
Pete Fisher
We have seen a rash of incidents where our soldiers in Iraq have
been put on trial for various things from murder, to involuntary
manslaughter, to abuse of prisoners. Between the mainstream media and
the Liberal factions in this nation, I do not know which of two
salivates more heavily when those stories are published. But the meat
of the matter is that our fighting men and women are on trial for
doing a job.
I can understand the looting of artifacts being prosecuted. We are
not thieves. I can understand someone committing horrendous acts of
violence upon civilians being on trial. But we see a man convicted of
tossing 2 Iraqis into a river, Sgt. 1st Class Tracy Perkins
and 1st Lt. Jack Saville who is awaiting trial for
supposedly ordering the deed.
Perkins claims the man performed a throat slitting motion to the
soldiers just prior to him tossing them in the water. Of the 2 men,
one walked away and the other never resurfaced. His destiny is not
known to this day. No body seen or found, yet the original charges
were for his murder.
We have another soldier who shot a man lying in a mosque pretending
to be dead, and other similar stories. And though I believe some of
these men and women acted inappropriately I do not think they should
be on trial here. Men had just fired upon the man in the mosque
incident and his comrade killed earlier by an Iraqi playing possum.
Why is he on trial at all? What was this guy supposed to do? Ask for a
driver’s license and several local references? It was not our forces
that used a mosque as an armory and staging point for cowardly
attacks. It was not our men and women who pretended to be dead so they
could jump up and kill someone. It was the enemy.
The prison abuse scandal as it is called is another thing. We have
the infamous Abu Ghraib. I believe some action should be taken. But
first and foremost it is cowardly and treacherous of the media to beat
this to death all the while inflaming the Muslim world against our
soldiers. It makes their job harder. Freedom of the press is your
right, but remember those freedoms were and still are being won by the
blood sweat and tears of our soldiers. Not some reporter, not an
editor.
Put your selves into their place. I am a 6-year vet myself and I
can speak on this subject with a little more knowledge and experience
than some of my readers. Take an 18-hour day filled with incredible
heat and sand blowing as it were tearing into your pores. The itching,
burning sweat filled way of life over in Iraq. Fully clad with full
combat uniform, ammo, heavy rifles, helmet, and other gear. Or riding
in a tank like a sardine just waiting for a mortar attack. Driving in
a convoy where a roadside bomb can take your life at any second. Not
knowing which of the thousands of faces you look at every day will try
to kill you tomorrow. Tired, away from home, away from all the people
and the entire society that formed your character, your family. Never
knowing fully if you will ever lie with your wife again or hear your
child laugh. Hearing daily from the media as to what irrational and
reckless soldiers they are, hearing daily during the elections from
Kerry that they were not doing the right thing. Watching the protests
they are there protecting the rights to conduct. And it only begins
here. Now place yourself in a position where you cannot sleep much.
The nightmares and dreams of the bodies and faces, the smell of death
permeates your senses and thoughts. Things you have seen and done that
will never go away, never be healed fully, and always haunt the mind.
Hungry for a home cooked meal and the warmth of a soft bed nagging at
you.
And Abu Ghraib is there. Soldiers convicted who seemingly took
orders. And even if they did not, was it torture? I refuse to believe
that. Scaring people with dogs and pyramids of naked men are not good
conduct. But the men they are accused of torturing know what the term
means. Most of them shocked people, raped wives in front of husbands,
and mothers in the sight of their children. The hung them by the hands
and beat them with objects of real torture. They poked out the eyes of
men and women while extracting false confessions from them. But our
soldiers face the typical mindset of Liberals and Mass Media that
disregard the real offenders and makes victims of criminals while
charging ahead and creating ogres from those who are not.
For the inaccurately labeled prison abuse scandal, a bust in rank
and reassignment is enough. For tossing a guy in a river for making
threatening gestures? Give the guy a medal. For the man who shot an
Iraqi Possum? Give him 2 medals. For those who shot a badly burnt kid
to keep him from suffering as did Staff Sergeant Cardenas Alban, give
him medical help or counseling. Most of us would have the same for a
dog or cat who had been burnt that badly. It may have not been what
you or I would have chosen, but we were not there. And war is hell,
which has never been a secret.
But to shrink in the face of public opinion and place these men and
women on public trial to ruin their careers and service is cowardly of
this nation and the media that fuels the Witch Hunt we see going on
here. Because we already see the results of this with terrorists being
made from Muslims and Arabs who watched the news. We see a huge drop
in enlistment throughout the Armed Forces. You scream and rant about
the actions of a few people and cry for their blood in a court of
public opinion. If so, I call you cowards and ingrates. Want a better
job done? Then go to Iraq and volunteer as these men and women have.
Toil day in and day out. Be shot at, bombed, and live on adrenalin for
a year and a half straight while foregoing all your freedoms and
comforts here. And wait for the Draft. If we continue to hang our
heroes out to dry they will stop volunteering to keep your freedoms
intact.
The same people who make videos of victims, who are being beheaded,
mutilate the bodies of those they capture, mostly civilians and
broadcast it around the world so Muslims can dance and throw parties.
Those who slaughter children and innocent adults daily around the
globe are whom you protect. Why would you care about their opinion
over those who fight for you? Shameful and disgusting is this mindset
and you should walk with your heads down.
With every Press Release you create more terrorists and place our
soldiers in danger. With every story you disintegrate the backing of
their nation. With every trial you rip the heart and soul from our
heroes who have already lost so much as it is.
Radical Islam and Saddam are the culprits and criminals. And I also
place the irresponsible media in the same dangerous category. But
don’t you ever blame those who suffer and die to protect your freedoms
and give freedom to others.
Don’t you blame my heroes any more. Get a spine and protect them as
they protect you. And the easy part is, you do not have to suffer
death, loss of limbs or nightmares the rest of your life to do it.
Eschew this Witch Hunt and honor those who honor us.
Pete Fisher is a concerned citizen in the Chicago area who has
written several articles on the economy, educational system, politics,
and religion. He has been featured on several sites such as
RenewAmerica.us,
TheRant.us,
MichNews.com,MullenaxNews.com, Blessedcause.com
and has been circulated on various other sites worldwide. He is a 6
year veteran of the Armed Forces.
Pete can be contacted at:
pfisher2005@aol.com
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