| czar |
Posted
on 07-Jul-03 01:58 PM
Grounding Planes the Wrong Way
Coalition troops looted and vandalized the Iraqi airport that now must be rebuilt
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101030714-463062,00.html?cnn=yes
Those planes sitting on the tarmac in Baghdad were at least 15 years old and valued at no more than $ 70 - 80 million give a take a few million. A tad more than pocket change for sure. "Hey mom, we like, blew up this ole Eye-raaki jumbo's, like, sitting on their runway and it was, awesome." Wunderbar.
One has to question the discipline of not just the ground forces, but the mindset and capabilities of commanders who sit back and sip soda while their grunts run amok. Its not the just issue of youthful bonhommie run 'a little out of hand,' but something more that bears serious examination.
With the increasing use of the US military might as a primary means of state craft, perhaps its a necessity to evaluate their suitability to task in this modern era. Just how well prepared are field officers and the rank and file to work as representatives of their increasingly reviled nation ? The complexity of international conflict where the Americans have now stepped in, nearly 20 countries at last count, requires a finer grasp of local cultures, history and nuances of local politics than the average Joe-American soldier posseses.
Most Americans have almost no exposure to the wider world and even less understanding of it. Addled as they are with mindless sitcoms and ever trashier TV programs that they watch so assidiously, it provides little in the way of knowledge of the wider world. The average foot soldier has 12 years of schooling and has largely grown up on a diet of TV, soda and burgers. That decade plus two of education in the US provides barely sufficient grounding in the the three R's, let alone the world beyond the 50 states. Yet it is these very same grunts that this nation turns to in these times to work solutions on the ground. Solutions to problems that have, in some cases, been intractable for decades, if not millenia. Are they up to the task ?
So long as the conflict raged in war torn and arid Afghanistan, most people would consider such a place unworthy of their concern, other than heroin addicts worried that their supply was threatened. But wait, given the 'with us or against us' policy backed by the dictum of 'pre-emtptive' action, that could rapildy change to 'coming soon to a country near you.' As the Iraqis found out in a hurry. A thought provoking, if not downright knee shaking, proposition for most I'd assume.
Its not just the fear of pax Americana, but it is most objectionable to be at the mercy of such brash and uneducated louts. Texas rangers come to town. Great in reel life, but not in real life. Surely, much better than the forces of the Turks or Persians who hacked their way through Iraq in the centuries past one might argue. Not quite. This lot has night vision, satellites and stealth fighters to rain down 2000 lb daisy cutters that can penetrate and destroy hardened underground bunkers. Of course it can be argued that one is equally dead, whether scythed by scimitar or JDAM.
In the unfolding drama in Iraq, the GI's are finding out that their C-n-C's simplistic math is near impossible to add up. That those adulatory crowds aren't there, instead, they're shooting li'l boy blue through the head. The world is lot more complicated than 'Friends' and 'Seinfeld' for the GI Joe and it isn't getting any better for their efforts.
Disclaimer: All are urged to read with above with due caution as they are but the musings of a fellow who has yet to aquire a 'thesaurus' and definitely doesn't have a Ph. D, nor aspires to one. Additions and corrections by foreign policy mandarins are welcomed.
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