Sunday, October 10, 2004

Marines in Iraq say your government is lying

Phenomenal Washington post story with the on-the-record comments of Marines in Iraq
"The reality right now is that the most dangerous opinion in the world is the opinion of a U.S. serviceman," said Lance Cpl. Devin Kelly, 20, of Fairbanks, Alaska.

Lance Cpl. Alexander Jones, 20, of Ball Ground, Ga., agreed: "We're basically proving out that the government is wrong," he said. "We're catching them in a lie.
It's pretty amazing to hear this (and many other things in the piece), particularly since these guys know they'll probably be disciplined for telling the truth. At least they have a sense of humor about it.
Asked if he was concerned that the Marines would be punished for speaking out, Autin responded: "We don't give a crap. What are they going to do, send us to Iraq?"


2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Riffler gets full marks for obscurantism on this gem of a post. Here's what Riffler DIDN'T quote from the article:

"The views of the mortar platoon of some 50 young Marines, several of whom fought during the first phase of the war last year, are not necessarily reflective of all or even most U.S troops fighting in Iraq."

I suppose having your geopolitical opinions informed by 20 year old Lance Corporals is common among the leftest intelligensia?

riffle said...

anonymous wrote:
"I suppose having your geopolitical opinions informed by 20 year old Lance Corporals is common among the leftest intelligensia?"

As for how things are going in Iraq, I think the honest expressions of Marines are of more value than that of individuals like 'anonymous' typing in the US or spin from Bush administration officials.

Of course it's not a scientific survey, but remember: I can't be punished by my superiors for speaking my opinions, nor can anonymous. The Marines who spoke out in this article can be punished, particularly if the say something that's not congruent with the spin from the White.

But these guys spoke out anyway, despite the likely consequences.

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