David Hackworth (who actually wore a military uniform) on Muzzling Soldiers Is Nothing New:
Politicians and military commanders were lying about how wars were progressing long before the sword and the shield first clashed. And the long distances and delayed communications made censoring what was reported to citizens no big stretch.
After all, from the Greek Wars to Gettysburg, it took months for letters and casualty lists to travel by runner, boat, pony and finally, rail. By the time the bad news arrived from the front, the dead were buried and the battle long over.
As Hackworth further points out, the new crew is doing the same damned thing.
But one thing no one can control is the Net. Today there's a laptop in almost every bunker, manned by grunts who are a whole lot smarter and faster than their watchdogs. Which means that despite a hogtied press corps, we're getting the unspun word from Iraq – and the news ain't good.
The brass are going nuts trying to stop this electronic tsunami of truth that's washing over the land courtesy of a generation of sharp kids who've been armed with computers since age 4. Kids who glory in staying three irrepressible steps ahead of their minders via blogs, dummy ISP addresses and cute tricks like sending e-mails to cutouts for forwarding to guys like me.
Threats of UCMJ punishment, jail time and general harassment have been alleged against DoD as part of general backlash against those who tell the truth.
So the brass have reverted to the weapon they've used to silence warriors since long before Caesar was running Rome: intimidation. The troops are being warned: Shut up; and if you don't button it, you'll be drummed out of the service.
Sgt. Al Lorentz wrote a piece from Iraq (See "A Sergeant Speaks the Hard Truth," Special Reports, Sept. 30, 2004, SFTT.org). He now faces disciplinary action for "disloyalty" and "insubordination." He could end up with 20 years in the slammer if found guilty.
For a chickenhawk or a member of the 101st Keyboard Commandos to comprehend why Sergeant Lorentz would feel so compelled to speak out at risk of legal action is almost impossible. Its called betrayal. Sgt Lorentz was betrayed by his government. The Sergeant agreed to risk life and limb in defense of his nation, with the trust that his nation would never ask him to do so unnecessarily or without the tools necessary to get the job done.
One would first have to grok the mindset of a man or woman in uniform, ready to go where and when they're told with little or no advance notice in order to comprehend the scope of this Administration's betrayal. One would have to understand the willingness of a tired, overworked and severely underpaid 19 year old to train and train and train again – in spite of injury, hunger or bad weather. A person would have to experience the feeling of knowing that you are constantly under the watchful eye of your Uncle Sam, even when you think no one is watching you slowly get drunk in that dive bar on the bad side of town. You'd have to walk a mile in the boots of a Gunny, forcing himself with superhuman self-restraint to not beat the snot out of his new butter bar lieutenant for making the same stupid mistakes over and over again. You'd have to be there to see the young Marine, who gave it all he had, working his ass off for months above and beyond, only to find out that he'd lost that "meritorious" promotion to corporal to the offspring of some staff officer. You'd have to see the disappointed look in his eyes when he went back to his platoon, still wearing that Lance Corporal chevron on his collars without complaining – day after day.
You would have to know the feeling that even when you are on leave, you are never really completely on leave. You are always on duty and always subject to recall, whether in uniform or not. It ain't like a job writing for a conservative website, where you rally for war all day long and then go home at the end of the day and that's it – you're home. When you wear a uniform, there is a constant presence around you that reminds you, like it or not, that you that you are always on call. Always a phone call away from deployment – or possible harm – or some bullshit duty you don't really want to do, but will accomplish regardless.
You would have understand the constant self-sacrifice and discipline necessary to accept the full deal – the other stuff – the package that comes with the uniform and the training to comprehend why its such a big deal that a non-commissioned officer like Sergeant Al Lorentz would be willing to sacrifice his future to tell the truth. You have to comprehend all of this before you'll understand why someone like me is constantly on chickenhawk patrol or why someone like Sgt Lorentz would risk it all in order to be heard.
But chances are, if you carry the shameful stain of the chickenhawk, or the callouses of a proud member of the 101st Keyboard Commandos, this is all so far beyond your comprehension that I shouldn't even have bothered. Col Hackworth said it well. Again. Read it.