A SOLDIER'S PERSPECTIVE
THE WEB'S LEADING MILITARY BLOG SINCE 2004
Commenting on an NBC Nightly News report in which soldiers complained about the type of support coming from the American public at large (not you guys), Washington Compost blogger, William M. Arkin, aims to further give troops the middle finger. The Washington Compost has once again proven that the only thing that rag is good for is catching bird dropping at the bottom of a cage.
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.
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” [sic] epithets being thrown around these days, no one in uniform is being spit upon. [emphasis added]
What Arkin is trying to convince his readers of is that EVERY soldier is a rapist and murderer. Perhaps Arkin simply chose not to mention the fact that Iraq war veteran and amputee Joshua Sparling (a friend of mine from his time at Walter Reed) was spat on by the leftists marching on the capitol this past weekend. I’ve been personally spat AT, though they missed me so I’ve never been spit ON. Not only are our Soldiers being spat on literally, we’re being spat on figuratively (you have to watch this video). Arkin should open his eyes, wax his ears, and shut his mouth.
Instead of looking at us as volunteer troops expressing our patriotism and loyalty to this country through military service, Arkin labels us as mercenaries.
…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. The notion of dirty work is that, like laundry, it is something that has to be done but no one else wants to do it.
Tomorrow, I’ll borrow a copy of the Washington Compost so I can see who the advertisers are in my area that support the paper. I’d hate to think I was supporting this kind of insanity by patronizing these businesses.
Contact Information:
William Arkin
Email: William_Arkin@ksg.harvard.edu
Ph – (617) 496-0351
Remember to keep it legal.
WaPo also has an Ombundsman. The Ombudsman serves as the reader’s advocate. She attends to questions, comments and complaints regarding The Post’s content.
http://www.washpost.com/news_ed/ombudsman/index.shtml
The current Post Ombudsman is Deborah Howell . You can reach her by e-mail at ombudsman@washpost.com or by phone at 202-334-7582.
Hattip to HotAir.
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I am posting this in case someone by the name of susan just goes to th
Tracy
Just through my quick readthrough of this article I found two outright lies.
Quoting Arkin “no one in uniform is being spit upon” Well, CJ you just said you have been, I’ve been in contact with another soldier that has been, and Joshua Sparling said he was spit at this past weekend at one of the anti-war protests.
Quoting Arkin again: “but even at anti-war protests, the focus is firmly on the White House and the policy”
Okay, so why do they protest outside of Walter Reed????!!! Those are wounded soldiers, not the White House! Not exactly focusing on the White House.
Reading things like this make me so angry.
Tracy
oh, I also meant to say that with the above untruths Mr. Arkin either 1) outright lied or 2) didn’t check his facts.
Either one is unacceptable.
Donna
What a rag! Don’t they realize if it weren’t for our military, they could not spend their opinions whether good or bad in such a manner! Shame, shame on the author and the paper!
PJ
I really admire you guys in uniform for putting up with this kind of crap. I don’t think I’d be so calm about it. I’d love to see a group of real patriots stage a protest at the Washington Compost and spit on copies of this article. That would be worth seeing!
Flag Gazer
Following this idiot around the blogosphere, I found a link to wikipedia entry that states that spitting on soldiers is an urban myth – even during Vietnam. I personally witnessed it during Vietnam, more than once, and my mother was the recipient one time.
They are making up their own history and reality and getting others to believe it – dangerous.
White Rose
The events of this last weekend on my personal blog have shown me a lot. Not only did I get death threats and wishes from non-Americans, I also got them from Americans. (I know this because of my site meter.) I have not even gone to basic yet and have through the internet experienced the hate that come from some of those that I will soon be severing to protect.
OH, and thanks to those of you that came over to lean a hand with all that. Even if it didn’t influence them, it did me. Thanks for the support.
Terri
I read about this over on Blackfive and of course Uncle Jimbo gave him an earful. I left a message on the board under his article and sent him a scathing email as well. I think this guy needs a one way ticket to maybe Iran.
Tracy
Don’t look now, but he’s got a “rebuttal” to everyone’s reaction to his first post.
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/earlywarning/2007/02/the_arrogant_and_intolerant_sp.html
Uncle Jimbo at Blackfive gives him another earful regarding this.
Miriam
I think they get more shrill as their support weakens even though it weakens their grassroots support by doing so. I’m sorry people even think to spit on our soldiers, but this isn’t the ’60s now matter how much that crowd wants to recapture their youth.
Donna
I just sent my e-mail to the Post telling them how much I disapprove of this guy’s article. It makes me angry everytime I think of all this especially people spitting on our soldiers. What kind of people would do such a thing?! Don’t they realize that our troops lay their lives on the line for them so they can then go out and protest and bad mouth our troops and then they go spitting on them!
Flag Gazer
Tracy – thanks for the link back to the new article. This guy is a piece of work. Unfortunately, I think he is loving the attention.
sealpatriot
Mercenaries? Since when were soldiers of our military or any military as a matter of fact paid enough money to be called mercenaries? How is it that he says noone wants to do this job, but he acknowledges that it is a volunteer force? He may be saying some crazy stuff, but it is his right to say it! I am just glad that not everyone says stuff just because they have the right to say it, and that there are plenty of people who choose to decide what they will say with the best judgement they can provide. Apparently, this Arkin guy isn’t one of them.
Terri
Uncle Jimbo over at BlackFive made a video blasting Arkin and his trash. I’ll forewarn you though, Uncle Jimbo didn’t edit the language in the least, so if that offends you, it’s probably best not to watch it. I must say though, that I agree with everything he said.
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