(edited for copyright please limit snips of articles to 4
paragraphs: thnx proud patriot moderator Democratic Underground)
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/earlywarning/2007/01/the_troops_also_need_to_suppor.htmlThe Troops Also Need to Support the American People
William M. Arkin on National and Homeland Security
I've been mulling over an NBC Nightly News report from Iraq last Friday in which a number of soldiers expressed frustration with opposition to war in the United States.
I'm sure the soldiers were expressing a majority opinion common amongst the ranks - that's why it is news - and I'm also sure no one in the military leadership or the administration put the soldiers up to expressing their views, nor steered NBC reporter Richard Engel to the story.
I'm all for everyone expressing their opinion, even those who wear the uniform of the United States Army. But I also hope that military commanders took the soldiers aside after the story and explained to them why it wasn't for them to disapprove of the American people.
Friday's NBC Nightly News included a story from my colleague and friend Richard Engel, who was embedded with an active duty Army infantry battalion from Fort Lewis, Washington.
Engel relayed how "troops here say they are increasingly frustrated by American criticism of the war. Many take it personally, believing it is also criticism of what they've been fighting for."
By William M. Arkin | January 30, 2007; 8:51 AM ET