Down with Tyranny makes Bob Herbert's "Sacrifice of the Few" available

[BurtWorm]

The following is entirely from Down with Tyranny, which includes the entire Herbert column, ordinarily available online only with subscription to Times Select:

http://downwithtyranny.blogspot.com/2006/10/quote-of-day-bob-herbert-talks-to_13.html


"You'll excuse me. This is not easy to talk about. Part of our job, our duty, was that we loaded, you know, bodies. We were in charge of the airfield, and we would load these heroes into the aircraft.

"My platoon sergeant had a policy. He didn't want lower-ranking soldiers involved. He told us, 'I don't want privates doing this. You guys are going to carry this with you, whether you realize it or not, for the rest of your lives. If I can protect the privates, I will.'

"I don't know if I could ever explain what that was really like. I loaded those guys--and I know all their names--onto a plane. And you don't know how heavy a guy in a body bag can be. It's not just his weight. He may be 180 pounds, but it's a lot more than just a 180-pound guy. You're loading his entire life."

--Army Sgt. Mike Krause, quoted by Bob Herbert in his NYT column yesterday


One thing I wish I could communicate to Sergeant Krause is that one way of appreciating the sacrifice being asked of the few Americans directly involved in the Iraq war effort--I think it's the best way, perhaps even the only way, but I'll settle for "one" way--is to have done everything in our power to prevent them from being asked to make that tragic sacrifice. The people who did so still need to answer for their actions. I wonder how people like George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld would react to this column. And I don't mean "react" as in releasing a statement for publication. I mean react in their gut.

Meanwhile, here in the reality-based world, what do we do to stop the madness? This is a grim but important column, so I'm presenting it here in its entirety:


October 12, 2006
Op-Ed Columnist

Sacrifice of the Few
By BOB HERBERT

Clarksville, Tenn.

Sgt. Mike Krause remembers the time, not too long ago, when he came home on a brief leave from Iraq. He was walking through an airport, in uniform, and other passengers, spotting him, began to applaud.

"It was awesome," he said. "They were cheering and clapping. It was great. But you know what? I said to myself, 'That guy's flying to Toledo on a business trip. This lady over here is flying off on vacation. Their lives are normal. But soon I'll be getting on a plane to go back to the most abnormal place on earth.'"

Just how abnormal is made explicit when the sergeant, just 24 years old, describes the worst task he had to perform in Iraq. He spoke hesitantly. "You'll excuse me," he said. "This is not easy to talk about. Part of our job, our duty, was that we loaded, you know, bodies. We were in charge of the airfield, and we would load these heroes into the aircraft...."

[BurtWorm]

1. kick