Whose Canvas Is It Anyway?

A retired USMC colonel who is also a Democrat US representative from Pennsylvania paints a picture:

LATROBE, Pa. (AP) -- Most U.S. troops will leave Iraq within a year because the Army is "broken, worn out" and "living hand to mouth," Rep. John Murtha told a civic group.

The members of the all-voluntary US Armed Forces as a set of duped victims scrounging for sustenance in the "wilds" of Iraq (and of Afghanistan); Colonel/Representative Murtha believes that this is who fights America’s wars right now and believes that this is how they are supported. That’s the image which Colonel Murtha and many members of his party seem to have fixed in their heads and wish for the public to visualize as well and accept as truth. But is it an accurate vision?

If Colonel Murtha is still beset by the idea of what the military was like during his own career, it’s no wonder he has such a low opinion of how the military takes care of its people and of the morale of its members. The bulk of Colonel Murtha’s career spanned the Vietnam years—the draft years--and their aftermath: the years in which unwilling draftees, drug addicts and small-time criminals feed a certain, deserved reputation of the military.

One of the reasons that most military members—even Democrats—revere the memory of Ronald Reagan is that when he became president, things began to dramatically change for the better. The aforementioned chaff was nearly totally weeded out and that particular president was able to tell military men and women what their mission was and was willing to back his words up with action: by giving those men and women the tools to accomplish that mission and by removing from their midst those who were unwilling to "lead, follow or get out of the way."

Regarding the eradication of drug addicts from the military: I was a young airman--only nine months in service and nine months after President Reagan became the Commander–in-Chief--when mandatory urinalysis was implemented and nearly all of the dope-heads were relieved from duty, busted down in rank and/or drummed out of the service. I saw units shut down (temporarily) rather than be operated with key positions manned by the dangerously impaired. Major John came in not long after I did and had a ring-side seat to the circus and to the transformation as well.

Ask any veteran who served between 1975-1982/3 what the Army (or the rest of the Armed Forces for that matter) were like. Drugs everywhere, low pay, morale was non-existent, equipment was falling behind or scarce, there was no great sense of mission or purpose. Only the heroic measures of a few dedicated officers and NCOs saved us from absolutely bottoming out. We needed the Reagan Era build up (hell, even Jimmy Carter, not the brightest or strongest to even stumble across the White House threshold, realized things had gone down too far, too fast, by the last two years of his miserable term in office) but almost as important, we got our elan back - we were told we mattered, we were the shield of liberty against Soviet totalitarianism.

When I hear Colonel Murtha talk about a broken down, rag-tag American military that can’t even manage to properly feed, clothe and equip its personnel, I wonder whether he’s talking about 2005 or 1975.

However, should we listen to the retired colonel (or even to me, the retired NCO) or should we listen to those who, like Major John, have recently been on the receiving end of a supply line in a war zone?

…I served in Operation Enduring Freedom V (Afghanistan, March 2004-March 2005). We stood at the end of the longest sustained supply line in the history of human conflict. We were in war-torn Central Asia. Af-frickin'-ghanistan. We had decent food, e-mail, phone (OK, sometimes they weren't always working, but almost all the time) excellent medical support, good pay, regular (if slow) mail. We had a PXs at most of the larger bases, and coffee places sprang up too. We had so damned much ammunition that we needed to build a bigger ammunition supply point at Bagram, AF. We had so many vehicles that we were constantly squabbling over where to put them all - and we had enough up-armored ones too. Our supply warehouses were stuffed with clothing, boots, body armor and the like. "Living hand to mouth" is the worst lie of the bunch.

Uncle Jimbo--posting at Blackfive--issues a call-to-arms, as it were, to getting the word out: the truth about the military, who its members are, how they live and what they believe about their superiors and about their mission.

Given the opportunity, the left/media would love to hang a loss or a tie on W and the whole idea of US military power. If they can create a loss in popular opinion they gain all of the casualties as martyrs to their belief that the employment of US power is fundamentally wrong. They already have pounded the meme that we are now handcuffed and unable to use military force against anyone else because we have exhausted the military and destroyed it's morale. That lie is put to rest as soon as these armchair pacifists are confronted by the swelling pride of those who have earned victory on the ground. They reenlist in record numbers and they come home to tell the truth about their good works, ignored by the defeatist press that owes the truth but delivers only the death and destruction. [SNIP]

Someone has to stand up and say BULLS**T!, and here we are. The rise of the milblogs is the best antidote to the poison spread by the left/media, but we have to raise up and make sure everyone hears. The troops will start coming home next year, not because we were forced to admit that not one more should die for a lost cause, but because we won. That message must dominate and we have an election cycle to do just that. The left/media will have a challenge to maintain this fiction of defeat as the troops enjoy parades all summer and when interviewed talk about the schools they built and the wells they dug. But they need our help, and that means everyone. Many readers here also write and every voice adds to the message, but we also must directly oppose those who oppose the truth. Newspapers, TV stations and all media must be taken to task for defeat-mongering and failure to show the positive.

Greyhawk’s brainchild, MilBlogs and Milblogging feauture hundreds of blogs authored by military personnel. Some are veterans like myself; however, the vast majority are active duty in Iraq right now. There are critics of the war among them—the idea that all members of the military would have the same opinion and subscribe to the same ideologies is laughable to anyone in the know—but I dare anyone to find some GI among them who has voiced a legitimate need and found it not addressed. Horse's mouth and all that.

As a bonus, watch FoxNews tonight. Of all the mainstream media outlets, FoxNews has lead the way in counteracting the defeatist image that certain (most) other Big Media outlets and some members of our legislative branch of government seem intent on inserting in the minds of the public. Tonight “Winning in Iraq: The Untold Story” will be broadcast at 6PM PST, featuring the “stars” of this drama, peace-loving Iraqi people themselves. Those who believe that FoxNews is hopelessly right-wing probably will skip it, but I challenge fair-minded people to take a look.

Should we believe the words of a retired military colonel, sixteen years out of his commission, who was one of the presiding officers of a military that was indeed “broken and worn out?” Or should we believe the present-day members of the strongest and most motivated armed forces in history who are reenlisting in droves (as of July 2005)?

Sgt. 1st Class Edwin Allbaugh, a member of the 75th Ordnance Company in Michigan, said he re-enlisted because his job makes a difference and "I work with a great group of guys." Allbaugh's unit, which disarms and destroys improvised bombs, is about to deploy to the Middle East.

1st Lt. Rusten D. Currie:

This war is indeed different. It is not Tripoli, or Luzon, it is not reminiscent of Foy, or Gettysburg, it is not Berlin, or Tokyo. It is towns that yet again we didn’t know existed before we got here. It is towns that we still can not easily pronounce. It is specs on the ground where history was born, it is a place where far too many of our young have grown old beyond their years. It is a place where far too many of us paid for freedom with blood. It is a place where my faith in God and humanity have been shattered. It is a place where my faith in God and humanity have been reaffirmed. It is a place where I come to grips with my own life, and the possibility of my end. Yet, despite it all and despite world opinion it is a place where I have found the faith to believe in something that I am willing to fight to the death to defend. To the agnostic, or the atheist here there is more at stake. To the agnostic and atheist this life is all there is, so to be willing to risk it all, to be willing to die for our way of life to me that is just huge. I really want to believe, and despite it all I falter. Yet despite it all I…we are holding the line, and more importantly we are crossing said line, and pushing back with all that we have, so that those of you at home don’t have to sleep with one eye open.

Choose wisely.

(Thanks to Protein Wisdom, to A Silent Cacophony and to The Belmont Club)

UPDATE: Mark Steyn:

If the reaction to Murtha's remarks by my military readers is anything to go by, he ought to be grateful they're still bogged down in Iraq and not in the congressional parking lot. [SNIP]

These sad hollow men may yet get their way -- which is to say they may succeed in persuading the American people that a remarkable victory in the Middle East is in fact a humiliating defeat. It would be an incredible achievement.

Comments

[Steve]

Nice one.

One thing that ought to be said is that from what I can tell militaries have down through history lumbered along in a pretty scroungy and broken state and often doing unfathomably dumb things in the time of war. So much filth, thirst and hunger, disease, hypothermia, has been apart of past wars. I think there has been a problem with a certain sand flea among U.S. troops that is getting treated easily but in times past it may have really taken a toll.

So much of what we think is based on premises and expectations. And those are too often shaped by movies that do not, cannot, and could not sell tickets if they did, show scenes of the somewhat boring slog time that the military inevitably includes. All militaries, except maybe the U.S. military of today as the lone exception, move in excrutiatingly slow and sometimes dumb manner. If they are able to do what the U.S. military has done in Iraq in the last 2 1/2 years that is a sign that something has greatly improved. Because, I doubt any military in history, including the U.S. military of a little more than a decade ago, could have accomplished Operation Iraqi Freedom. It is a sign of improvement and progress in the armed forces.

I am venturing out a little to have said all that but maybe baldilocks can say more about what I just said.

[mlah]

sound slike an oppotunity to me.

time to increase defense spending if murtha says it needs at least 50b.

but to make room, let's cut social programs

[Hank_]

I was on active duty from 72-74. In 72 early 73 we had a “broken army” By late 74 when I left active duty it was defiantly on the mend. Even so when we went to the field in 73 most of the unit were reasonalbly good soldiers and some excelent, though in garrison you wouldn’t have realized it.

From every thing I read, the army is nothing like that now.

Has there ever been a war that did not put stress on an army? There is a difference between an Army “managing stress” and one that is broken.

[Warthog]

I don't like to see Marines going back to Iraq for the third time. Parts of fallujah should have been turned to rubble (If not all of it)Rumsfeld is micro managing and seems to be overly concerned with bottom line costs. Mistakes were made, we should have had a larger force in the beggining but that is water under the bridge now. Our military is by no means "broken" but they are being stressed more than they should. Iraq is heading for civil war if we pull out our troops, a change of strategy is needed. I think seperate states for the Sunni's, Kurd's, and Shi'ites is the way to go. (United States of Iraq!)

[Warthog]

Hey Baldi! I enlisted in the Air Force in 79.( I was in basic when the U.S. Embassy in Iran was taken over by the islamic "students") I got to see Utah, Hill AFB and Germany, Sembach AB. Sometimes I wish I re-enlisted but I got out in 84. (AMMO!)

[Francis W. Porretto]

Regarding Murtha, all I can think -- or say -- is that if this decorated war hero were really, consciously trying to ruin the morale of our armed services and decrease their chance to prevail in Iraq (or elsewhere), his words and deeds would be...exactly what they are today.

[Steve Skubinna]

I enlisted in 1975, the military was definitely still hurting from Vietnam, morale was shot from hearing clowns like John Kerry defiantly accusing everyone of war crimes, drugs were still a problem, but at least we didn't have to deal with draftees who didn't want to be there.

I was commissioned in 1979 and things were looking much better. When Reagan was elected there was a definite sense that our time in the doghouse was over, that we could get back to expressing pride in our service.

I well recall the massive discharges of not just druggies but habitual hardcases, screwups, slackers and noloads. I remember the recruiting standards being raised so that only a tiny percentage enlisted without high school diplomas.

It was a hard slog, and there were times I wondered if it was worth it, if America would ever want a strong military again, or value service. During the last election I was afraid that John Kerry actually had a chance, and that if he were elected the military would end up in the wilderness again, where the Democratic leadership wants it to be. Clinton had a definite mistrust of the military, but he was canny enough, and eager enough to be liked, that he at leats paid lip service to respecting those who served.

Lefties cannot understand the general sense of admiration most service members have for Bush 43, and write it up to their already existing prejudices about anyone stupid enough to enlist.

[Timmer]

I had the chance to listen to our new Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Friday morning. SGM William J. Gainey. If I remember right, I can't ahref it so:

http://www.jcs.mil/bios/bio_gainey.html

One of the things that he stressed was how we need to tell our story in Iraq and Afghanistan better because no one else is doing it for us. His point of view? "We're not losing. I've been there and I've fought there and we're not losing." He's not happy with how we're being portrayed in the news and he's not happy with how politicians are using us as political pieces in the middle of a global war on terror.

We've got to tell our story better. That was one of his charges to us all.

[lgude]

Thanks for the post and to all those who have and are serving. I never was in the service but a good friend from HS went through the whole thing. 3 tours in Vietnam and then to Germany after the war where he found the very problem with drugs and the other problems mentioned above. He was part of the remaking of the Army that you discuss at a pretty high level. What I hear being reported here and in Major John's post fits exactly what I've been hearing from my old friend since the 80s.

[RAL]

People who think Bush's Army is broken, should study the history of Truman's miserable Army in the winter of 1950/51.

Marine Col. Chesty Puller to Army Captain at Koto-ri, 1950.--"if your men withdaw one foot from their positions, my tanks will fire on them."

[Tully]

Amen, dear hostess. Amen.

[Sgt Hook]

Imagine my surprise when I awoke to find that I'm broken and worn out. What's a soldier to do?

[The Fastest Squirrel]

Man, Murtha really has my ire. I live and work here in the DC area and am half tempted to go up there and ask him just what the hell he's talking about. I have nearly three years in AFG and Iraq... let me tell you, the Iraqis are listening to what all these jerks are saying. Treasonous.

[Bachbone]

Ret. Gen. Tommy Franks mentioned military men of Murtha's kind in his book, "American Soldier." He had a few choice words, also, for the armchair military "experts" we see almost nightly giving opinions on things they know nothing about. As Gen. Franks said, this war is completely different, by virtue of weapons improvements, than was the first Gulf War. Murtha can be a former Marine, supporter of the miitary, member of the Defense Appropriations Committee, and still be a lousy military strategist.

[chronicler]

I love an intelligent woman's view of the world. Excellent!

[StinKerr]

Has anybody seen Representative Sam Johnson's speech to Congress. Kinda makes you wonder why the MSM has ignored it in favor of Murtah's defeatism.

[penis enlargement]

[The world is filled with large phalluses--figuratively speaking--like you, Mr. Penis Enlargement spammer.]

[V the K]

Excuse me, Congressman Murtha, but if the Army is facing a $50 Billion equipment shortfall, as you allege, isn't it your job to appropriate the funding to meet that shortfall, Congressman Murtha?

You didn't have any trouble coming up with millions in defense contracts for companies represented by your brother's "consulting firm."

[V the K]

Arrrgh, PIMF.

Excuse me, Congressman Murtha, but if the Army is facing a $50 Billion equipment shortfall, as you allege, isn't it your job to appropriate the funding to meet that shortfall, Congressman Murtha?

You didn't have any trouble coming up with millions in defense contracts for companies represented by your brother's "consulting firm."

[V the K]

Okay, I *know* I put bold closers on that last post. What the heck?

[Iron Mike]

What is interesting, and I have seen NO ONE in the MSM mention it (unless you count James Taranto at Wall Street Journal's Best of the Web), is that Congressman Murtha only served a small percentage of his "37 years of service" on active duty. '52-'55 and '66-'67 according to his bio. All the rest of those years he was a reservist. And not the kind of reservist we have nowadays who spends more time activated than as a civilian. No, he was a traditional reservist, again according to his bio.

[Iron Mike]

J--
How come my post was in bold?? I don't understand
M

[Tully]

'cause there's an open bold tag in one of the above posts, Mike. I wonder if this will close it?

[Tully]

That did it. Just a dangling tag.

For every Jack Murtha, lionized by the Dems and the media for having served, there's a Sam Johnson being totally and pointedly ignored.

[teal marie]

Thank you, StinKerr and Tully. I had not heard of Sam Johnson until I followed your link. That was really encouraging to read.
Hope Baldi puts that on her front page. Thank you very much!

[Anonymous MSgt]

The trouble with veterans of other wars is the common tendency to project their experience on to whatever war is current.
Iraq is Iraq.
Iraq is not Viet Nam. 'Nam is over, finished, done, and complete. Time to get over it or deal with the trauma, because the events are beyond changing.
As far as a Hollow Force (I enlisted in '81 so been there/seen that), we aren't there yet but avoiding a repeat will take billions of dollars. The AF is already planning a reduction of ~30K people in the next few years to pay for equipment, and all services have aging weapons systems that will either require replacement or refurb.
It is quite possible to have lavishly equipped troops at the front line (good) and gut everything else to do that (bad).
Equipment buys will always take precedence over Operations and Maintenance funds. With the tanker and fighter fleet replacements looming and the unit cost skyrocketing, even my nice cozy Air Force is in for major financial pain.

[Mescalero]

Baldilocks--

You're right on target. I'm a 28-year veteran of the Air Force Reserve, and the only thing I can say in a civil way to John Murtha is "at one time, a long time ago, you were one of us. You are no longer so!"

We all (are you one of us Jack?)know that the Guard/Reservist contingent of the U. S. military is taking a career hit big time. Are you man enough to join us to help our fellow soldiers weather the storm? Why do I get this feeling that you are nothing more than a slimy lizard out looking for a convenient political meal? Rest assured you SOB, you will be our meal in the future. You are a disgrace to the Marines, you are a disgrace to all American military veterans, and therefore a disgrace to the American people!

John Murtha, you would be well advised to either shed your uniform and climb into that endless path of lies espoused by the likes of Ted Kennedy (scion of a family empire built on the backs of prostitutes and financed with proceeds from bootleg booz) and John Kerry (well-known liar before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 1971)or come clean before your fellow soldiers! Either way, Jack, the noose of truth is slowly drawing tighter around your neck.

[Synova]

warthog: Separate states for the major Iraqi ethnic groups (Kurds are mostly Sunni) won't work. In fact, it's the *problem* because while the Kurds and the Shi'ites would just *love* to have their own "countries" the Sunni areas are poor in natural resources (no oil to speak of). It may seem logical to just divide up the squabling children but doing that will do the *opposite* of pacifying the Sunni minority. Plus, there are *many* other groups in Iraq beyond those three major ones and they deserve a system that treats everyone equally.

Quite frankly, we'll know the war is *over* when Iraq becomes an accompanied tour.

And speaking of the terrible conditions of our guys in Iraq. I play an online MMRPG nearly every day with a soldier over there. He gets to run around and kill dragons with his wife and daughter.

Ain't technology grand?

[Skinner]

Itll never happen we just need to concentrate on killing terrorist before they propagate
People who kill innocent people need to be killed We did it to the Japs the Krauts and the waps
WW2 lingo EXCUSE ME!!
Now its time to bring it to the diaperheaded Phanatical terrorist zealots that terrorized us and Know kill there own people The Nazis didnt even kill there own
and they deserve to rot in hell for eternity so where does this put the muslim terrorists ???
GET REAL !! YOU Pathetically ignorrant liberals This is REAL LIFE in REAL TIME and you cant REWIND IT . Youre just like the POPE and the Catholic Church turning theyre eyes to the HOLOCAUST WAKE THE HELL UP OR AT LEAST SHUT THE F>>K UP !!!!!1

[wmscott]

I spent the morning serving breakfast to a bunch of Guard Striker troops returning from the Sandbox. They where all very proud and smiling about going home. When Howard Dean appeared on TV they all bood loudly. Most where argry about how their work is being portrayed in the news. I do this almost every Monday morning at the USO and always go out of my way to ask how it is going. I rarely hear anything but pride in the job done and happiness to be home. Nearly all are mad at the MSM and the Democrats for trying to lose the war for them.

[Tully]

The best way to unify Iraq would be to pay out the oil revenues by shares to the populace. It's amazing how something like that can create a common interest. And it'd cut the bottom right out of much of the Baathist objections.

[Steve]

I am going to be gone until after Christmas. Not that anyone cares neccessarily but I thought I should bring it up since I have been active here at this site.

[JSAllison]

In '75 my unit had a 'sense of mission', we were to be the speed bump that the Group of Soviet Forces, Germany was to trip over on their way to radioactive death on the Rhine. The equipment was rundown stuff left over from vietnam but it was after the time of the draftees and everyone there had either reenlisted or enlisted voluntarily by that point. I like to think I did my bit over the next 20yrs to rehab the part I inhabited.