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Jewish World Review Feb. 10, 2005 / 1 Adar I, 5765 Of Men and Mice By James Lileks
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
It's bad enough that we have to kill the Taliban, but must we employ men who enjoy sending them to the pits of heck? That seems to be the reaction to the unguarded comments of Lt. Gen. James Mattis. Speaking at a panel in San Diego, he let the secret out.
"It's quite fun to fight them, you know," he said. "It's a hell of a hoot. ... It's fun to shoot some people.
"You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil. You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them."
Predictably, his remarks gave some the vapors. But this is a surprise? Would you prefer some Leslie Howard type who puts down his flower and sighs his soldierly lament:
"Oh, many are the times I've had a fellow in my sights but stayed my hand, as I've contemplated the forces of history that brought me to this sad, battered land. As I looked down the scope, I imagined that I saw him look at me, and in our gaze we posed the same question to each other. He is the foe, yea, but he was once some mother's child. Of course you could say the same thing about the chap whose head he just sawed off. But once you start, where do you stop? So I just try to graze them a little, or shoot them in one of those organs you can do without."
Please. War requires warriors, and sometimes the sharp tip of the spear will lack the refined edges you find in civilian life. Nevertheless, Mattis had his remarks amended by some cheek-biting people up the chain.
"Lt. Gen. Mattis often speaks with a great deal of candor," said Marine Commandant Gen. Michael Hagee, noting that the candid soldier in question "agrees he should have chosen his words more carefully." Translation: We are dealing with a regrettable excess of truth.
The story went 'round the world from Web sites to wire services. But oddly enough, it did not cause undue alarm. Even the Saudi mouthpiece Arab News gave Mattis a fair shake in its English edition, quoting his good reputation for respecting Arab culture, ending with a supportive statement from someone who had served under him.
But the CNN report on his remarks ended with criticism from someone who hadn't.
Which brings us to Eason Jordan, CNN's news chief. He's sitting on the biggest story of the year, it would seem. At a recent gathering of overclass hangers-on at Davos, Switzerland, Jordan said U.S. troops shoot journalists on purpose.
CNN later said Mr. Jordan had been quoted out of context, but other attendees — the ever-available David Gergen, Sen. Chris Dodd and that notorious tool of the vast right-wing conspiracy, Congressman Barney Frank — have corroborated the gist of his remarks. In any case, it's not the first time Jordan has made the assertion; last November he was quoted thus in the London Guardian: "The reality is that at least 10 journalists have been killed by the U.S. military, and according to reports I believe to be true journalists have been arrested and tortured by U.S. forces."
Slamming the United States at international conferences is hardly brave. If it's the honeyed thanks of sheiks and Eurocrats you seek, plant your tasseled loafer in the hindquarters of Donald Rumsfeld's Wehrmacht.
In the olden days such rote tripe would have gone unreported. But these are not the olden days. The Jordan story has been roiling the blogs for some time — possibly because some on the right are suspicious of CNN, and see Jordan's remarks as emblematic of that organization's biases and offshore courting of anti-American sentiment.
But perhaps the blogs recognize a simple truth: Either Jordan is right, in which case it's news he should report, or he's spinning humid fictions that conform to the darkest suspicions of America's foes. And surely that's news as well.
Check your local channel for details. Not to say you'll find them — but hope, like hatred of America, springs eternal. It's almost as if some people enjoy killing our reputation for sport. Heck, it's a hoot.
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© 2005, James Lileks | ||||||||||
