Kerry Betrayed The Troops 36 Years Ago This Week

John Kerry had his big political break – at the expense of our military – 36 years ago this week. Power Line recently debunked the idea that the Swift Boat Veterans had been debunked. In fact, they have not been effectively discredited. There is some dispute about his medals, but as Power Line points out, the point of the ad is that Kerry was not exactly Audie Murphy. Power Line has some of the ads which constitute the bulk of the Swift Boat Vet’s complaints against Kerry, and which have not been discredited at all.

What has perplexed me for years is that so much of the American public was apparently willing to swallow his lies. The troops accused of acting like Genghis Khan were their sons, husbands, brothers, classmates, the kid next door – how could they believe it? Are there atrocities in war? Certainly. Deliberately killing non-combatants, for example. But in our history that is the exception, not the rule. War is about killing and destruction, and it is shocking to those of us who are just viewing it, not living it. And atrocities sometimes may be avoided only by luck or the weight of bureaucracy:

Had this carnage occurred it would have been front page news around the world, the Afghan version of Viet Nam’s My Lai massacre. And who would have been the mastermind, the bloody cold-hearted murderer who worked efficiently to kill hundreds? Who would replace the infamous Lt. Calley as an example of outrage against the innocent?

Me.

It’s something people at home who Monday-morning quarterback would do well to remember. Decision making in a war zone is not at all like what goes on at your office, where the biggest thing at stake is the corner office and a promotion. You can make every effort to do the right thing and still make a bad decision. And you can do your job correctly and still offend and shock people, because war by its very nature is ugly and shocking.

Ace recently had a video in Insurgent Attack Goes Terribly Wrong (Right) of some jihadis planning what turned out to be a very inept attack, the pep rally prior to the attack, some footage of the attack, and then video taken by our troops of the dead bodies of the jihadis. The soundtrack and caption near the end just adds to the shock value. It answers the propaganda they put out every day, and which is sometimes picked up by our own media. (Remember the infamous sniper video?) Those videos are shocking, but that’s what war is. Vietnam was the first war seen on TV, and this is the first war that can be viewed on the internet. The public is learning about the physically dangerous and emotionally difficult things that soldiers do. This is why they deserve the accolades – they are taking on burdens that the majority of us flinch away from. After taking on those burdens and living with the results afterwards, they deserve honor, respect, and every bit of assistance that they need. They don’t deserve to be lied about and used as the jumping off point for a political career.

And by the way, Congress may not want to hear it, but the surge seems to be working.

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