Body Count arguments - Afghanistan
I am often appalled at the sheer chutzpah of ISAF spokesmen in what they say and horrified by the failure of the media to challenge these outrageous statements.
Here's one example:
Quote:
"Recording an ongoing body count is hardly going to endear us to the people of Afghanistan," says British Royal Navy Capt. Mark Durkin, spokesman for the 42-nation, NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, or ISAF.
Did anyone ask the simple question... why?
Then this one:
Quote:
Body counts were "kind of a politically sensitive issue," says former Lt. Col. David Accetta, director of the 82nd Airborne Division's media operation at Bagram Airfield in 2007. Death tallies aren't "any kind of measurement or metric of success," says Mr. Accetta, who has since retired from the military.
...aren't any kind of measurement? You must be kidding. Is there no limit to the stupid things people will say in blind support of a stupid policy?
I often wonder why soldiers so often allow themselves to fall into the trap of lying to the very people who pay them? Why would the truth be so unpalatable that officers will find justification in telling a barefaced lie or simply refusing to tell the truth?
Can we as soldiers really expect the respect of the public (which we so earnestly crave and desire) when we lie to them about such a relatively simple mater?