Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Typical of the regime...

I was handed an article today from an old campaigner that came out to the range. Just a short 3 paragraph blurb buried in the back of The American Legion Magazine. I was unable to find a link to the article so I'm reproducing it here. Again this is from the August 2010 issue of The American Legion Magazine and is their sole copyright.

Hoping to win more hearts and minds in Afghanistan, the United States and its NATO allies are planning a commendation to recognize "courageous restraint" among troops in the field. According to a NATO statement, the goal would be to "celebrate the troops who exhibit extraordinary courage and self-control by not using their weapons."

The notion that there needs to be a commendation for restraint seems to be based on the false and faulty premise that U.S. forces haven't used restraint to date. In fact, they comprise the most lethal force in history, which makes their restraint all the more impressive.

Plus, the people who know best - those who have served - worry about the unintended consequences of rewarding and thereby encouraging "courageous restraint." As American Legion National Commander Clarence Hill Observes, "Too much restraint will get our own people killed ... The proposal to award medals for holding fire is troubling because it is symptomatic of a growing culture in the military that will punish troops making split-second decisions while they are expected to defend themselves and their comrades."

Or as one of the former marines here put it, "UN-fucking-believable".

The only question that I have is the comment about "unintended consequences". The consequences are there for anyone to see. This system will only cause more deaths of our troops while serving to encourage and embolden the "peace loving" muslim terrorists. I honestly believe whoever thought this grand scheme up fully realizes what he or she is doing and what it will cost on blood and suffering to our side.

1 comment:

Mike W. said...

We're at WAR and they're giving out medals for not shooting back?

What the fuck?!