Yes, Henry. There Really are Heroes in Iraq
Rep. Waxman Tries to Diminish All Heroes for Want of None
By Mark I Posted in Featured Stories | War — Comments (39) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
Rep. Henry Waxman’s (D-CA) much publicized hearing today was titled “Misleading Information from the Battlefield.” The hearing purported to get to the bottom of how the circumstances surrounding the capture and rescue of Pvt. Jessica Lynch and the death of Cpl. Pat Tillman came to be misreported by the military. Waxman asserts that there was official misconduct and a cover up of the truth in each instance. But one does not need to dispute the actual circumstances of these soldiers’ stories in order to see that in holding his hearing, Waxman was after much more.
For the purposes of this piece, I will stipulate to all of Waxman’s “facts.” I will agree that Lynch did not go down fighting, as was first reported in the Washington Post by Susan Schmidt and Vernon Loeb, and that that myth was not the creation of Schmidt and Loeb. I will submit that generals in high levels of command knew within days of his death that Tillman was the victim of friendly fire--fratricide in military speak--and that they conspired among themselves and even ordered subordinates to withhold that fact from his family. There is nothing new in these “facts.” None of this could be learned in Waxman’s hearing today because all of it was already known. These facts were uncovered and reported by Pentagon investigations. The same military that Waxman is excoriating for not getting the facts straight is the source of the straight facts in both of these high profile cases.
But that is the key to understanding these hearings. These cases are high profile and guaranteed saturated media coverage of Waxman’s little show. There was no intent to get to the bottom of anything. Waxman was simply using Lynch, Tillman, and their families to further erode the American people’s support for the war in Iraq and to further pressure the Bush Administration into abandoning the noble work being done there. Waxman used today’s hearing to make three points above all others: that the work being done there is not noble; that there are no heroes in Iraq and Afghanistan, only victims; and that the Bush Administration lied about everything to do with Iraq, from the reasons for invading, to what our soldiers are doing there, to how they are dying.
Read on…
Waxman’s opening statement from the hearing focuses primarily on the Lynch and Tillman cases, although he does mention some other names. Two of the names not mentioned are Sgt. First Class Paul R. Smith and Cpl. Jason L. Dunham. They, of course, are the recipients of the two Congressional Medals of Honor awarded thus far in the Global War on Terror. Both were so honored posthumously.
Why Waxman failed to mention the two greatest heroes of the Iraq War is puzzling. The broad implication of the title of the hearing, “Misleading Information from the Battlefield,” is that the military deliberately publishes information that it knows to be incorrect about the exploits of its soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. Misleading is just a polite way of saying untruthful, or lying. By that reckoning, any after action report from the pentagon is suspect. If Chairman Waxman’s committee is to be taken at its word, it follows that the reports that were relied upon to award the Medal of Honor to Sgt. Smith and Cpl. Dunham cannot be trusted either. And that’s precisely the way Waxman wants it.
Waxman wants the American public to question everything they hear from the Pentagon and from the Bush Administration. True, many Americans already take a second look at any information that comes from the White House, but I would wager that an overwhelming majority put great stock in the military’s reports of the exploits of its soldiers. Remember, it was the Army that uncovered the inaccuracies and misreporting by Army officers in the Lynch and Tillman cases, and made those findings public. Correcting the record is not good enough for Waxman, however. He wants to paint doubt with a broad brush onto the genuine stories of heroism from Iraq and Afghanistan, of which there have been far too few reported on by the mainstream press, by implying in his hearing that this is a widespread problem with the military. When in fact, it is the military that investigates these incidents and publishes the results of those investigations for all to see.
Does it make a difference in the end? It is hard to say. Perhaps in the deep, dank fever swamps of the rabidly anti-war left, soldiers like Lynch, Tillman, Smith, and Dunham are already viewed as murderers, torturers, and mindless killing machines. Their new status as congressionally sainted victims of the same war they prosecuted may not change that. Perhaps the majority of Americans will continue to trust the military to accurately report on the actions of our soldiers. But as a result of these hearings, and the resulting media coverage, many others will now view the action reports from the military with skepticism first. Still others will call into question the citations already awarded for bravery and valor in Iraq and Afghanistan up to and including the Medal of Honor recipients. To the extent that happens, all of the heroes of the Global War on Terror are diminished.
One thing is for sure. In the final analysis, the circumstances of Lynch’s capture and rescue and Tillman’s death are not relevant to their status as American heroes. They, and every member of the armed forces serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, are heroes in their own right by dint of their service alone. They are heroes because they volunteered to serve their country when so many of their countrymen are unable or unwilling. They are heroes because of their dedication to their mission and to their fellow servicemen. They are heroes because they valued your safety and mine more than they valued their own. And they are heroes because the overwhelming majority of them set a bright example for us to follow. It doesn’t, and it shouldn’t, take a Congressional investigation to establish the validity of those facts.
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Yes, Henry. There Really are Heroes in Iraq 39 Comments (0 topical, 39 editorial, 0 hidden) Post a comment »
The point of the piece is not to dispute the circumstances of Tillman's death. Rather it is to point out that those circumstances were already known and not revealed during today's hearing.
Waxman and his committee are only trying to capitalize on the facts, uncovered by the Army, and in so doing, taint America's perception of all reports of heroism by soldiers in Iraq. That was the driving thesis behind the piece.
Tillman's family can want Congressional investigation until doomsday. That doesn't change the fact that the facts were established by the Pentagon, not Congress. Congress is simply using Lynch, the Tillmans and the entire Tillman tragedy to score cheap political points.
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Develop alternatives to existing policies and keep them alive and available until the politically impossible becomes the politically inevitable. Milton Friedman
but the fact is that millions have been expended and heads of the guilty and the innocent alike have rolled over the death of a single E-4. These sound bytes, eg "Commander tells Ranger to lie" (Battalion Commander tells Ranger not to tell dead soldier's brother that it was fratricide - how this can be lain at Rumsfeld and Bush's footsteps by anything but insinuation is beyond me), mask the fact that this man's celebrity has resulted in his death getting attention that no soldier of comparable rank (indeed no soldier) would ever warrant. The Army wasn't ready for the scrutiny his death would bring and to pretend that behind this all lies some sort of sinister conspiracy is disingenuous and disgusting. It impugns the honor and integrity of hundreds of enlisted and officers who have risked their lives in the service of this country. Waxman is a repulsive figure and he needs to be held accountable for these smears.
The Army wasn't ready for the scrutiny his death would bring and to pretend that behind this all lies some sort of sinister conspiracy is disingenuous and disgusting.
That's it in a nutshell.
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Develop alternatives to existing policies and keep them alive and available until the politically impossible becomes the politically inevitable. Milton Friedman
I think these Senators and Congressmen need to hear first hand these stories. It is CONGRESS'S responcibility to make sure the military and any other part of government does it job properly and with HONOR.
I don't know about you but I have friends serving in Iraq right now and if I found out that the army lied about anything that happened to them I would be pissed off. My friends are heroes and we should make sure they and all other people in the military get the upmost respect and when you do things like this you are spitting on them.
This might of been done for political reasons, but the congressional investigation SHOULD OF been done anyways and ALONG time ago. Who is accountable for what happened? Please tell me that because I haven't heard of 1 person punished for what has happened. I can understand why people think Democrats are using the troops for political purposes, but isn't that exactly what the Pentagon did when they lied about Tillman's death and Lynch's capture?
where an initial report was run with by the press before it was authenticated. If it was anyone else the press release would have said "died conducting combat operations" and that would have been the end of it. That's what I meant when I said the Army wasn't ready for the death of a celebrity. You couldn't retract something before the investigation was complete, which took some time, and so the Army look blundering and foolish. Typically the careers of general officers do not hinge on their response (or guilt by association) to the death of an E-4.
It's not the fact of his death that made him a hero. It was what the facts of his enlistment that made him a hero.
"It's a book about a man who doesn't know he's about to die, and then dies...
...But if the man does know he's going to die and dies anyway. Dies, dies willing, knowing he can stop it, then...
Well, isn't that the type of man you want to keep alive?"
Karen Eiffel, Stranger Than Fiction
This hearing was announced several days ago. The Army, DOD and Bush administration must have known what Waxman was up to. This was the equivalent of receiving a note from your enemy that says "On Wednesday of next week I plan to attack your fortifications at this position." In situations like that, you'd better be ready to mount a competent (if not crushing) defense.
The Army and DOD have PR people. They know how Congressional PR politics are played. (From time to time, the Army plays such politics rather well itself). And, Waxman himself can be an inviting target. Does he remind you of an honest, well-meaning fella? A sympathetic media figure? No---he seems like a modern-day Torquemada. A real zealot and muckraker.
So, I expect the Army and DOD to deal with this guy and his media circus. In fact, it gives the Army, DOD and Bush administration a real opportunity to make the Dems look like overreaching petty jerks. To inflict a real PR bloody nose on the San Fran Nan Congress.
Did the DOD and Army put a hurting on Lead Inquisitor Waxman, by pointing out all the facts that Mark I put in this article? If not, then--sad to say--they deserve all the bruises they get, and hopefully will do better next time.
For, with this Congress, there will be a next time.
"Who will stand/On either hand/And guard this bridge with me?" (Macaulay)
It's comparable to Reid's attack on CNN.
The meme: "You can't believe the officers, because they're all lying to cover up their "failures" or they're just following Bush's orders to lie. We, the Dems, are really the ones who "support" the troops by exposing how they and the public are being lied to by the officer corps."
"The great uncertainty of all data in war is a peculiar difficulty, because all action must, to a certain extent, be planned in a mere twilight, which in addition not infrequently-like the effect of a fog or moonshine-gives to things exaggerated dimensions and unnatural appearance."
von Clausewitz, "On War."
and like any large bureaucracy, there are a whole lot more a**licking weenies than people who actually do anything. We all celebrate the guys with the guns and sand in their boots, but they're what, maybe ten percent? I'm no combat veteran, never even served, but I called BS on the the Lynch story almost from the get-go. The Tillman story is the kind of thing that, as much as we hate it, happens in battle. All that said; it is easy for me to see how some uniformed PR bureaucrat saw this all as a great spin opportunity and everybody around him was afraid to tell command what really happened. Nothing new about it; whether true or not, the role of the PR Weenie in "Memphis Belle" was spot on. Shouldn't have happened but it did; price of a peacetime military. Think back to WWII; how many people in command on 7 Dec 41 were still in command by 1 Jan 43. The skills that get you promoted in peacetime get soldiers killed and stupid PR mistakes made in wartime.
In Vino Veritas
With the current lack of a true Rear Area, we're sitting with a Huge % of combat troops right now. Truck drivers, vehicle recovery crews, construction engineers and scores of others who never expected to actually face combat are seeing it in this war. Which has led, fortunately, to greater emphasis on combat skills in training.
"It's a book about a man who doesn't know he's about to die, and then dies...
...But if the man does know he's going to die and dies anyway. Dies, dies willing, knowing he can stop it, then...
Well, isn't that the type of man you want to keep alive?
I'm looking at the DoD. My number may be too low, but I think yours is too high. And without regard to the actual percentage of combat troops, I'll stick with my assertion about a**licking weenies. Bureaucracies are bureaucracies, no matter what they do.
In Vino Veritas
The majority of DoD employees are not military at all and a significant minority never served. So you number may very well be high.
Looking at the Army (or the Marines) alone, you would get numbers around mine for combat troops (not all are classified as combat troops, they just get to see combat semi-regularly now).
"It's a book about a man who doesn't know he's about to die, and then dies...
...But if the man does know he's going to die and dies anyway. Dies, dies willing, knowing he can stop it, then...
Well, isn't that the type of man you want to keep alive?"
Karen Eiffel, Stranger Than Fiction
"It's a book about a man who doesn't know he's about to die, and then dies...
...But if the man does know he's going to die and dies anyway. Dies, dies willing, knowing he can stop it, then...
Well, isn't that the type of man you want to keep alive?"
Karen Eiffel, Stranger Than Fiction
This is not so shocking in the history of our armed forces. Giving out bogus medals has happened in every war. The tragedy is that there were probably dozens of servicemen who deserved a medal for heroism, and weren't even recommended for it, or the paperwork got lost. Believe it or not, some Marines in WW2 weren't recommended because there was a shortage of typewriters and typists, or the Guard Mail got lost. When generals are caught in outright lies, there should be a big fuss. They should be humiliated by "low class" politicans. There are incompetents, liars, and phonies in every walk of life. The armed forces are no exception. The Army will better after this hearing.
Which is fine by me.
Waxman is a glory hound. This little show is bad enough. Personally, I think Waxman is in for a rude surprise once Condi gets her hands on him.
Waxman is a hero to the Nutroots. Rice has been deliberately standoffish to his subpoena requests. So, his pride wounded, he's done what she expected him to do: issue a subpoena over the Joe and Val case and the use of intelligence leading up to the war. The usual Known Facts business.
I think she's setting Waxman up for her Ollie North moment and Waxman has walked right into it.
"History will be kind to me, for I intend to write it"-Winston Churchill
...of "Wind in the Willows" that he's missing while he's attending to all of these dramatically produced sideshows?
Waxman could play Ratty. Murtha could land the starring role as Mr. Toad. And, of course, Nancy would play the Gaoler's Daughter who helps Toad escape from prison.
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"We want great men who, when fortune frowns, will not be discouraged." - Colonel Henry Knox
Anon Con, you are so right on! What happened today gotcha politics at its worst. This has been the most transperent war ever faught. The top brass has investigated everything and punished soldiers when appropriate. You can thank Rumsfield and his idea about imbedding reporters for that. But transperency is not good enough for these people; they want blood; they want to use any incident to purpetuate their myths about the men and women who wear our uniform.
I feel for Pat Tillman's family; he was a hero for joining and he is a hero for dying while serving this nation. I don't blame his family I would want answers as well. If they think the military used Tilliman's death to pump up the war, I wonder if they realize Waxman et al, are using them to pump up the anti-war!
as a prop, or for cover on more controversial issues, is standard operating procedure for the left. Conversely, the right stands-up its heroes and high achievers.
One could reach the conclusion that victims are the product of liberalism's embrace. One could also logically conclude that heroes and high achievers thrive in the relentless pursuit of conservative principles.
FYI, Redstate 2.0 has threaded comments. Just click the Reply To This tab when responding to another comment. It's much easier for everyone to follow the discussion within each thread. ;)
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“The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant; it's just that they know so much that isn't so.” – Ronald Reagan
It's not the alleged crime, but the cover-up. Had the Army come out and said "Tillman was killed by friendly fire", or Lynch's rescue was not as dramatic as it had been portrayed, there would have been anger and distress, but it would have been dealt with at the time. By obstructing the truth of the matter, intentionally or not, the Army gave gave Waxman and the Tillman family their openings.
The truth, however painful, is always best.
the US military. They know that there are still Americans
who have more faith in the US military than they do in the
Democrat Party. The Democrat Party leaders know they can not bring this country under their complete control while Americans
still believe in the US military.
Today's hearings are not designed to make the military better. They are designed to discredit the US military.
Sen Reid's refusal to believe the
American General in charge in Iraq, is to convey the same message. One can not trust the US military, one can only trust the US Democrats. How they can possibly believe that message is good for America is beyond me.
I agree totally with you on what the REAL reason is for these hearings.
And Coincidence? Is it just coincidence that Waxman's hearings come a day or two before General Petraeus is scheduled to update the Congress on progress in Iraq? Is it also a coicidence that on the same day as Waxman's hearings, Reid spouts off that in his view, Petraeus is lying - that the surge is not working?
I gotta tell ya. If the Dems had put this much energy, deliberation and focus into actually coming up with some alternative strategies for the Iraq War a year ago, they might have scored some points instead of digging a hole. But silly me, why in the world would the Dems actually want to invest their time and energy into something behind the scenes when they can point their little fingers at people in front of a C-span camera?
"Still others will call into question the citations already awarded for bravery and valor in Iraq and Afghanistan up to and including the Medal of Honor recipients. To the extent that happens, all of the heroes of the Global War on Terror are diminished."
That is precisely what my father (USAF 1965-1969) and his brother (US Army 1965-1969, two tours in 'Nam) were saying back during the summer of 2004.
If citations awarded for bravery and valor are called into question, it is the fault of the Army, not politicians or the news media. It was the Army that lied and covered up. There is nothing unusual about politicians exploiting military screw-ups to get power and publicity. The most important thing is not who looks good, or who looks bad, but that we know the truth.
What do you expect from the democrats? They have no idea what is going on in Iraq or Afghanistan. Tom Harkin even admitted as much today:
When asked what troops were doing in Iraq, Harkin said: "That is a good question. I don't know what they're engaged in, what they are trying to do.
First, I heard the Army Spec state at Waxman's little performing circus that an Officer told him "not to tell Tillman's brother that he was killed by friends". The media just loved this little sound bite. My response was "Duh". Should the brother really have been told during the stress of combat that Tillman was killed by friends? Should he have identified the guilty parties to the distraught brother at that time? How would the brother have reacted? Who knows..
As to what the Army did next. I am not sure if we know the the motivations for their actions.
I am prepared to believe that the the delay may have well been an innocent effort to ascertain facts before going public. The following personal experiences will illustrate why I give them the benefit of the doubt.
When I was about 8 years old during WWII, the young man next door was killed flying P-38s out of New Guinea. The mother was hysterical but the family was justifiably proud of his service. Much later one of the son's friends revealed to them that he flew into the ground inverted while attempting a "victory roll" over the air-field. Did learning the full truth help them cope with their loss? Did it serve any purpose whatsoever? About the same time the young man across the street was killed flying over Europe. His family never learned the details of his death. So, were they worse off than the family which learned that their son's death was totally unnecessary and unrelated to his duty?
When I was a young flight student I had the duty of escorting the remains of a flight member home for burial. The mother was hysterical and insisted on opening the coffin to see her son. Would it have helped her if I had revealed the full truth that there was only a few bits of her son in that coffin? Fortunately, I was bailed out of that situation by a brother who was Air Force.
How much should the military reveal? Should they describe the death throes of each individual; should they provide graphic pictures of mutilated bodies to the families--to the public?
If I were appearing before that charlatan Waxman, those are sorts of questions I would challenge him and his accomplices with. We know that Waxman was not seeking truth. He was looking to exploit. He should not be given a free pass to do this. To bad the Army & DOD folks always cave when challenged.
On another level, it is documented that miliary and naval forces have killed their own in virtually every war since gun powder was invented. The U.S. military fully recognizes that a high cost has been borne in the past; and much attention and training are devoted to trying to prevent recurrences. But, it is a sad, but real, fact of war.
Finally, Pat Tillman was a hero simply by virtue of his service. With no obligation to do so, he stepped up to serve with the strongest and bravest, asking neither favor nor privilege. It is tragic that his life was lost in the manner that it was. I somehow doubt that he would want his death to be exploited this way.
you have my recommendation. Good post.
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Thou art the Great Cat, the avenger of the Gods, and the judge of words...-Inscription on the Royal Tombs at Thebes
Absolutely true. "I somehow doubt that he would want his death to be exploited this way". Again absolutely true. What you appear to have a problem with is that Henry Waxman is pointing out the truth about the exploitation.
And what was mentioned (above the fold, even) in the OP, was that the PENTAGON pointed out the truth of the coverup and exploitation and Waxman is trying to exploit Tillman's death again in another way.
"It's a book about a man who doesn't know he's about to die, and then dies...
...But if the man does know he's going to die and dies anyway. Dies, dies willing, knowing he can stop it, then...
Well, isn't that the type of man you want to keep alive?"
Karen Eiffel, Stranger Than Fiction
Thank you for your service. And your perspective. Fresh. Air.
Is in reference to Oldflyers post. I still dont have this reply thing down.
Of the post to which you want to respond is a link that says "Respond To This"
"It's a book about a man who doesn't know he's about to die, and then dies...
...But if the man does know he's going to die and dies anyway. Dies, dies willing, knowing he can stop it, then...
Well, isn't that the type of man you want to keep alive?"
Karen Eiffel, Stranger Than Fiction
I hate to post something like this in public, but I am really curious about something. Jessica Lynch and Pat Tillman are heroes and are far more courageous in battle than I could ever be. However, after watching some clips of Jessica Lynch's testimony something just didn't seem right to me.
I believe that Lynch was not reading her own words. She can't even pronounce the word "siege" (which she read aloud). I'd like to know who wrote her statement if it wasn't her.
I was listening to the Dan Patrick Show on ESPN Radio when Pat Tillman's mother came to talk about her son and what happened. She asked for a Congressional Investigation into his death. So I have no problem with the Congressional Investigation because misleading a family into the death of their son should result in the firing of ANYONE involved. Everyone man and woman in the military is a hero and we don't need fake stories to show it.