How do you change the perception?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Sarajevo071
I base my words on stuff I read and saw in many, many testimonies, articles, and movies by veterans themselves. You are asking for proofs... If we have "proof" there wouldn't be cover-ups. What I can tell you is to remind you how Military tried to cover other cases (you heard same stories like all of us) and you know how they tried or they did cover that up.
From damaging Babylon, theft of Iraqi gold and museum artifacts, to the Tillman case, British soldier and American pilots case, Haditha case, Abu Gharib case, Samara case... There is more and I think you heard about all those killings and rapes of civilians by "mistakes" or by orders of free fire. Contractors are without any control or blame, Military is free of responsibility to the International or Iraqi courts...
Regarding "we would simply flatten this country and be done with it" I firmly believe that decade long sanctions that killed 500,000 kids, OIF I and "Highway of Death", and now this coming in frame of "flattening country" but not so obvious so more people will not fight back and with preserving territorial integrity to preserve sucking the oil out.
I am finding very noble of you that you are not one of those soldiers (and I know there are minority) since U.S. Military have long and pretty much good history of noble causes, but this war is not one of them. I agree with you that you stand up for what you believe and I didn’t want to insult you or ANY other real and decent soldier. I was trying to point out some wrong steps that can (and they did) backfire on whole idea of bringing peace and democracy in that parts of Word.
My sensitivity on civilian deaths, rapes and maimed kids toke better of me. My bad. I will try to control my words.
This post, taken from another thread, is a perfect example of a snapshot look from the point of view of the world. How do you combat that? How do you break the impression that the US Military is a secretive organization that is hellbent on covering its tracks on everything bad that happens? How do you make people understand that The US is not in Iraq for oil?
In short, what's your proposed IO campaign?
The High Price of Service
You don't and can't make people understand the points you have set forth. The hand that carries the sword will always be regarded with some degree of trepidation, even in free, advanced societies. The judicious and controled use of force is simply alien to many people and frightening to them, arousing irrational suspicions and fears. High recruiting standards, high expectations and high standards of training combined with hard but consistent discipline is the only way to maintain a steady course that keeps the undeserved suspicion, fear and antagonism at bay. There is no other way. When the criticism gets harsh, then too the discipline must get harsh and the training even harder. That's a fundamental law of physics - for every action, there is an equal, opposite reaction.
In the Post by SWJED on General MaCaffrey's report, Gen. M. makes the following statement in his report: "The American people hold that the US armed forces are the most trusted institution in our society". That translates to one and one thing only: the sole duty of career Officers and NCOs is to make their men the best they can be. When the military is needed, they are loved, when not, they viewed with distrust and even anger. We are on the backside of a war in which politicians yet again made some serious tactical blunders and the military is paying the price. Your only consolation is knowing that you and your brethren stand between We The People and some very real, lethal forces that want us, our children and our way of life dead.
Challenging IO environment
First, I don't think any NCO or officer below 3 stars has a full understanding of why we're in Iraq, we just have our opinions. We went there allegedly to find WMD, and it wasn't there. Strike one in the IO battle. We went there to sever the non-existent link between Saddam and the Al Qaeda, strike two. Then we had the normal, none the less serious, crimes and mistakes that were the result of imperfect men (all of us) in combat. Several of them were in the headlines for months (several strikes, but the game goes on).
It is hard for leaders to speak with a credible voice after they sacrificed their integrity in front of the world. Furthermore, our national leaders used securing our oil interests in speeches previously, though never stated it as the primary reason, yet the association of our VP with Halliburton and the President with the oil industry isn't helpful. It doesn't have to be true, just believable. Anyway whether our people like it or not, oil security is important to the world's economy, not just ours. However, we can't say that publicly to an audience that taught to think within a politically correct box.
Revisit your points, and then put them in perspective. First they are your opinion, not fact. Second, your opinion is competing against a number of other opinions. Unfortunately if you refer back to the first paragraph your (our) opinion isn't looking good in the best commercial contest. The others have supporting arguments that are in the headlines daily. It sort of puts us in a position where people wonder what the heck we're talking about.
How to over come it? To be frank I have by doubts that we can under the current administration, and unfortunately with the unreasonable pressure from Congress to pull out soon, our only option may be to get our credibility back under this administration.
One option we have, and to date have done a terrible job with, is making the bugger stick somewhere else. Our soldiers are not intentionally killing civilians; as a matter of FACT they are risking their lives to save Iraqi civilians. People get this, but they need to hear it more.
They also need to hear (much more often) that the a--holes we're fighting do not have a plan for Iraq, they are only seeking self power, and they are resorting to terribly vicious means to achieve it. We need to show front and center on the headlines (for weeks at a time) when a suicide bomber intentionally puts children in his car so he can by pass check points to get to a position where he can kill more children. We need the names of the children, conduct interviews with the family members, for change put the enemy on the defensive. And perhaps (just an idea) interview the suicide bomber's family (concurrently with family members of those killed) to gradually kill the social acceptance of this tactic.
The biggest challenge in the IO war though is convincing the home audience that the sacrifice is worth it. With relatively very little effort we can put the bad guys on the defensive on the moral front (will we do it? I don't know), but equally important is showing we have a "viable" plan and we're making progress. If we can't show that, then it is unrealistic to expect support for continued operations, because you're then asking the American people to invest their blood and dollars into hope, not a plan.