Understanding Airmen

[Tom Odom]

I don't buy into the argument that we should make ourselves available as target simply to adhere to some machismo version of fighting because the failure to do so taints our image in the eyes of our adversary. Who cares?

The argument is about legitimacy in the eyes of the population. Who has it? And who gets it? There is no machismo attached to fighting in ways that help secure that legitimacy. Peck again uses "hearts and minds" as a red herring, implying that we are trying to love our enemy to death. We and our host nation allies try to convince the population that we are legitimate and the insurgents are not.


best

Tom