Tuesday, August 17, 2004
Better Angels.....
"You will not lie, cheat, or steal, nor tolerate those who do." Those words form the core of the West Point honor code, legendary in its rigor. ~ arkhangel
The following is a required afternoon reading assignment via Better Angels Of Our Nature
Excerpts follow:
The post continues... There is much more and this brief summary doesn't do it the full justice it deserves. So, please go read it all in it's entirety. Over the Bridge
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The following is a required afternoon reading assignment via Better Angels Of Our Nature
Excerpts follow:
Over the Bridge Posted by Arkhangel, 8.15.2004.
No matter what happened on that bridge, the soldiers were ordered to lie about it. And they were ordered to lie about it not just by their team leader, but by the entire leadership of their unit, from their company commander all the way up to their battalion commander.
[...]
Frankly, this never should have happened. This never should have taken place. We never should have been on that bridge in Samarra, in that Najaf cemetery, sleeping fitfully, dashing to cover whenever we hear the ominous thud of the mortarman's call.
We never should have been sent to Iraq without any clue of how to win the peace, the hearts, and the minds of an Iraqi public who knew full well that we supported Saddam when it suited us, that we backed a rebellion against him when it was convenient, and that we left their brothers to twist slowly in the wind when it wasn't.
We performed proudly, and even now, as I write this, I'm every bit as proud of the good we did over there as I was the day I stepped off that plane. But we never should have had to make it up as we went along, and that's exactly what we did.
[...]
There's only one man who's responsible for all of this, for the vast mess that is Iraq tonight, and his name is George W. Bush. But you wouldn't know it from the news tonight, or from watching him speak.
I'm not surprised. The man has spent his whole life escaping responsibility when it called out his name, so why should this be different?
It should be different because a good man's career lies ruined. It should be different because tonight, 930 of my brothers and sisters in arms lie dead. They'll never see their daughters walk down the aisle, they'll never celebrate their graduation from college, or see a midsummer night again.
Why did this happen? Why?
The post continues... There is much more and this brief summary doesn't do it the full justice it deserves. So, please go read it all in it's entirety. Over the Bridge
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