Roadside Bombs & IEDs (catch all)

[Gian P Gentile]

A simple opinion piece; yes, it made points, but it lacks substance.

I don't want to appear arrogant and aloof here but do you think, Jedburg, you could do better with a 650 word limit? Right i certainly could have given more detail in a 6000 word piece, but then no oped page in the world would run it. With 6000 words maybe i could have changed Jedburg's mind of claiming that i used a "false analogy."

I am not a defeatist Jedburg, but a realist who has sadly had to talk on satellite phones with moms, dads, and wives after memorial services for soldiers in my squadron who had been killed by ieds and try to explain to them why it happened. Perhaps you should look into the mirror yourself and what you might see is an idealist who refuses to accept the fundamental cost of doing business in Iraq; dead American soldiers, marines, airmen, and sailors from IEDs that are a condition of the battlefield. I am not at all saying that the cost is not worth it, but rather trying to point out what the cost actually means in blood and treasure for our continued presence in the land between the two rivers.

gentile

[Rank amateur]

I am not at all saying that the cost is not worth it,

It's interested that if someone mentions the cost of the war, many assume that the individual must be opposed to the war.

I lost sight of what I'm always saying people should not lose sight of - war is a social phenomena

If I've learned anything in my brief time here, it's that war is a very human endeavor.

[Schmedlap]

I don't want to appear arrogant and aloof here but do you think, Jedburg, you could do better with a 650 word limit? Right i certainly could have given more detail in a 6000 word piece, but then no oped page in the world would run it."

There is no disrespect or other uncivil motive intended in asking this question, but what message in this oped was so important to convey that it was worth the highly likely risk that the article will have unintended or incorrect interpretations trumpeted by the likes of moveon.org and other fringe groups? While the disclaimer at the end of the article makes it clear that the views presented are only those of the author, it nonetheless seems obvious that the authority of the author's view (by virtue of being an LTC with command experience in Iraq) will give the interpretations of this article greater credibility to be exploited by groups that have a purely political agenda.