I read this great editorial in The State Newspaper, Columbia SC of all Places:
The partisans can only imagine how we soldiers must feel over here because few have ever been to any combat zone. A political line they love to use to quash opponents’ views always says something about “slapping the troops in the face.”
We heard it months ago, when the resolution disapproving the surge was passed. When Nancy Pelosi visited Syria and Harry Reid said Iraq was lost, we heard similar whining about facial slappage and disloyalty to country.
For the record, we soldiers don’t care. Let me clarify: Frankly, my dear, we don’t give a damn. We soldiers are not the ignorant, simple lot of lore. We stuff iPods in our rucksacks and watch DVDs in our sleep tents between missions. Soldiers study for college classes between missions and receive Army-mandated training on ethics and values.
Most of us have studied history, political science and social studies in high school and often college. We understand the diversity of opinion. After all, we have a democratic form of government, not an autocracy. Even in the Army, we have regulations that protect free expression of political views, including views opposing this war.
We understand our history, our government and the political process that makes our great American experiment strong. We see all the “negative” press, we hear all the “insulting” comments, and we don’t care.
We volunteer from the American population at large, so we mirror it. We are Republicans, Democrats, liberals, conservatives, pro-life, pro-choice, single, married, gay, straight, black, white, Hispanic. Some hold strong political opinions and argue vehemently with one another, and some are apathetic towards all things political. We are the melting pot that is America.
Only politicians who have been to war know what it’s like to go outside the wire. The last thing we care about on a mission is what Harry Reid said, or who disapproved of the surge, or what group of Republicans traveled to Syria to hold a conference with whom.
When politicians claim that opponents’ opinions slap us in the face, they’re telling us troops that we’re too ignorant to understand the disagreement inherent in democracy, that we’re too stupid to be able to separate political views from our jobs and that we’re too fragile and sensitive to hear all sides. They’re slapping us in the face with ignorance.
Lively debate over the issues, heated disagreements and strong voter participation are bedrocks of our democracy. We don’t care when people with opinions different from ours run their mouths on Fox or CNN, regardless of whether those opinions are for this war or against it. What bothers us is when pundits use us troops as a trump card to insult fellow Americans as unpatriotic. That’s the true slap in our face.
Mr. Hamlett grew up in Greenville. He is deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He can be reached at Brad.Hamlett@us.army.mil.
http://www.thestate.com/140/story/97975.html
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