William Arkin along with Dana Priest just released an epic bit of hype and marketing called Top Secret America in the Washington Post. Arkin is relatively undistinguished as a journalist, but he did have one brush with notoriety when he made some truly bone headed and crass remarks about the military. On his Washington Post blog in 2007 he dropped a pile of foolishness entitled “The troops also need to support the American people” which was so sorry that even the Post has flushed it down the memory hole. It was a screed bemoaning the fact that some of our troops serving in war zones had the audacity to complain that the public, and of course the media, were not supporting their mission. Mr. Arkin, who did serve briefly, seemed to think that these ungrateful wretches ought to just shut up and go about their business of getting blown up.
The Post may have been too embarrassed to have his drivel on their site, but I wrote a piece answering his charges at the time (euphemized profanity warning) so here is the thinking of this top notch journalist cleaned up a bit for this august site.
I’m all for everyone expressing their opinion, even those who wear the uniform of the United States Army. But I also hope that military commanders took the soldiers aside after the story and explained to them why it wasn’t for them to disapprove of the American people.
Wow Billy, I was unaware that enlistment in the military involved surrendering your 1st Amendment rights.
Friday’s NBC Nightly News included a story from my colleague and friend Richard Engel, who was embedded with an active duty Army infantry battalion from Fort Lewis, Washington.
Engel relayed how “troops here say they are increasingly frustrated by American criticism of the war. Many take it personally, believing it is also criticism of what they’ve been fighting for.”
These soldiers should be grateful that the American public, which by all polls overwhelmingly disapproves of the Iraq war and the President’s handling of it, do still offer their support to them, and their respect.
Heck they ought to be thankful not to be hung for the illegal war they are helping the Bush crime family perpetrate right Billy?
Through every Abu Ghraib and Haditha, through every rape and murder, the American public has indulged those in uniform, accepting that the incidents were the product of bad apples or even of some administration or command order.
The indulgence of the public, but more importantly smarter-than-us lefties is another thing I am thankful for every day. I mean you have to realize that without the rapes and murders, soldiering kinda sucks. And how kind of you to smear the military command structure as enablers or even commanders of rape and murder. Why I remember the civilian-slaughtering course at Bragg, and the rape rooms., oh wait that was freakin’ Sadaam.
Sure it is the junior enlisted men who go to jail, but even at anti-war protests, the focus is firmly on the White House and the policy. We just don’t see very man “baby killer” epithets being thrown around these days, no one in uniform is being spit upon.
Yeah the “I support the troops, just not their mission” BS. I do think you should consider spitting on a few troops though, the reaction would be edifying for you
So, we pay the soldiers a decent wage, take care of their families, provide them with housing and medical care and vast social support systems and ship obscene amenities into the war zone for them, we support them in every possible way, and their attitude is that we should in addition roll over and play dead, defer to the military and the generals and let them fight their war, and give up our rights and responsibilities to speak up because they are above society?
And there you have it “obscene amenities”. What type of deranged hater do you have to be to even think that, let alone publish it.
But it is the United States and instead this NBC report is just an ugly reminder of the price we pay for a mercenary – oops sorry, volunteer – force that thinks it is doing the dirty work.
And you thought the obscene amenities bit was the worst bile sloshing around in his foul melon. I will have to include him in the next White House press briefing. Arkin is a dung beetle and the fact that he is considered a serious journalist at the Washington Post speaks volumes about that rag and the dying industry it represents.
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