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Monday, January 13, 2014

"LONE SURVIVOR" - THE MOVIE

In my opinion, the current movie "Lone Survivor" carries two important messages:

First, our politicians have sent young men and women to experience death and horrible injuries without pledging their full support by way of Congressional Declarations of War.  For decades Congress has skated on this constitutional responsibility. In skipping a vote to war or not war, politicians have escaped their duty while riding the roller coaster of public opinion. However, fighting men and women are always required to sacrifice their bodies and minds in ill conceived military missions. This chicken shit and half baked way of governing our military has allowed the United Nations or a president to initiate the actions of our armed forces for far too long. Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and the conflict in Afghanistan all lack the necessary commitment, direction, and objectives necessary to militarily succeed. In my opinion, thousands upon thousands of our finest have been killed and maimed to settle civil wars and regional conflicts which were not in our national interest. While politicians lack the stomach to officially declare war, they revel in the micromanagement of our armed forces to serve their political ends.

Second, since the rise of a powerful media class, our military has been forced to employ rules of engagement and other sanctions placed on their ability to effectively wage war. In an early scene of "Lone Survivor" the decision to release the goatherders because of what "CNN" might say dooms the operation and causes over a dozen men to be killed. War is a nasty business of killing and its rules cannot be left to the musings of civilians guided by  "political correctness". Nothing about war can ever be correct or proper, and the worst of our nature is sometimes the only way to survive. The terrible decisions a soldier must make in order to survive should never be subject to what "CNN" might report. Sometimes what happens in the heat and passion of combat must remain a soldiers dark secret. Pompous talking heads and politicians would have little to say if they were veterans of gut wrenching combat experiences.

"Lone Survivor" correctly depicts another American war mismanaged by politicians. The movie also shows a good example of why our military cannot be subject to the relentless anti military scrutiny of CNN and other media bullies. As the winds of public opinion push and pull poll numbers, Americans must demand political leaders to respect our armed forces with the backing of formal war declarations and the ground rules to succeed. Continuing to use our military force as mercenaries for political reasons in undeclared wars is a national disgrace. 

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