They are not "Heroes"

[unhappycamper]

http://www.opednews.com/articles/They-are-not-Heroes-by-Dave-Lefcourt-121114-452.html




They are not "Heroes"
By Dave Lefcourt
OpEdNews 11/14/2012 at 10:10:01

In America, our media has engaged in triumphalism and extolled our military so often as "heroes", they present it as almost "shocking" when those "heroes" all too human frailties are discovered and their "heroism" becomes tarnished over tawdry sexual escapades.

"King David" Patraeus of unjustified "surge" fame in Iraq is the latest "hero" emperor caught almost literally without his clothes in an admitted extramarital affair and has resigned as CIA director.

~snip~

Lest we forget the military extolling former pro football player turned Army Ranger Pat Tillman who was portrayed by the military as a hero when he was killed in Afghanistan in 2004, but his death was later discovered as a result of "friendly fire". Then a year earlier during the Iraq invasion of 2003, PFC Jessica Lynch was also portrayed as a hero by the military after being captured by Iraqi forces, kept as a POW and then later rescued by U.S. Special Forces. Lynch testified in Congress in 2007 honestly saying she never fired her weapon and was never engaged in combat, thus refuting the hero status earlier conferred upon her by the military.

Then there are the photos and videos of G.I.'s torturing Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib in Iraq. These episodes were attributed to a few low ranking non-coms acting on their own when if fact their actions were Bush administration officially authorized torture (enhanced interrogation techniques). Those officials were never held accountable for their transgressions.

[BlueCaliDem]

1. Well, it's all about marketing for the MIC in order to keep their

generous budget each and every year. Gotta keep those coffers overflowing, dontcha know!

[IDoMath]

2. There's a point in there somewhere

...but I can't find it. Is it under the ~snip~?

Right now it reads like the Underpants Gnomes' business plan

[Historic NY]

3. Too bad Anton Myrer didn't write a chapter for these idiots...

in Once an Eagle