Our heroes in Iraq
Andy Rooney of 60 Minutes recently wrote a column derogating the military mission of our soldiers serving in Iraq. Rooney offered five questions that he wished a reporter would ask soldiers in Iraq, a group he dubbed "victims" rather than "heroes."
Robert Alt of No Left Turns took the opportunity to elicit answers to the questions from a sample of the soldiers he has met while reporting from Iraq. The answers won't surprise you, but they will move your spirit and bolster your morale. Here's a sample:
Mr. Rooney’s third question was: "Do the orders you get handed down from one headquarters to another, all far removed from the fighting, seem sensible, or do you think our highest command is out of touch with the reality of your situation?" Cpt. Trampes Crow, a civil affairs officer from Alabama, gave a response that was typical of the troops: "Every soldier thinks that headquarters is out of touch… What kind of question is that? Of course he is going to get the kind of answer he wants." Sgt. Black seconded this sentiment: "I think that is just a bogus question and a waste of ink. I think that every soldier going back to the days of spears and slingshots thought that their leaders were out of touch… But with modern communication, they are probably more in touch." Sgt. Porter thought that the "highest command has some sense of what’s going on, but they don’t know exactly what’s going on. But then, we don’t know what’s going on in headquarters, and if we did, [the orders] might make more sense." Spc. Richmond had his doubts, suggesting that "a lot of the commands they give us are out of touch with reality, even if they are for our safety." And 1Lt. Barry Naum of Chardon, Ohio offered something of a historical perspective: "[The orders] seem more sensible than if someone told me to get on a boat and charge on a beach filled with German machine guns. When have orders ever 'made sense' to a soldier?"Alt's terrific column is "The troops respond."
