WAR IS HELL

          The airwaves and newspapers have been filled for the past few days with the self-righteous, sanctimonious proclamations of representatives from the Pentagon, Congress, the State Department and on and on.  They were all shocked to learn that some young members of the United States Marine Corps had desecrated the bodies of a number of Taliban terrorists by urinating on them.

          The complaints generally came down to two assumptions.  First, such crass acts were certainly against the “rules of war,” and even worse, all they did was make the Taliban mad and that would negate our plans for a negotiated peace.  Personally, I think the Taliban are already mad since we are killing so many of them.

          And who came up with the idea that there were “rules of war?”  The only rule I know of is “kill or be killed.”  And wasn’t there a famous person who once said, “War is Hell”?

          Let’s review for a moment.  First, the Pentagon recruits these young men, puts them through a really tough training period where a Marine sergeant gives them a rifle and tells them that they are now a “killing machine.”

         Isn’t that what wars are all about?  Admiral Halsey had it right at the beginning of the war in the Pacific when he had a huge billboard erected at the entrance to Tulagi harbor which read “Kill the Yellow Bastards.”  It was seen by all who passed that way.

          So, following their training to become “killing machines,” these Marines are shipped to Afghanistan to engage in some terrifying firefights with Taliban terrorists.  Marines have been killed and wounded in these fights and this one was particularly fierce.  At the end of this most recent firefight, these Marines were at an emotional peak.  If they relieved some of their tension by relieving themselves on dead Taliban terrorists, so be it.  Whatever it takes.

\     There is even talk about punishing these Marines for their lack of social graces.  That would be an abomination!  We need to give them medals for their bravery and willingness to wage a very dangerous war against our enemies.

          We should not, we cannot, judge these Marines for their actions until we have personally experienced some of the fighting they have been through.  To those sanctimonious politicians, “Put a cork in it!”  (That’s an old Navy expression for “Please shut up and go away.”)

                                                          Carl B. Foster

                                                          Warrensburg, MO