Monthly Archives: July 2010

That’s what Ethan McCord thinks those in the military are according to a quote he stands by on his Facebook page:

“War paralyzes your courage and deadens the spirit of true manhood. It degrades and stupefies with the sense that you are not responsible, that ’tis not yours to think and reason why, but to do and die,’ like the hundred thousand others doomed like yourself. War means blind obedience, unthinking stupidity, brutish callousness, wanton destruction, and irresponsible murder.”
—Alexander Berkman

Yup, the Russian anarchist and attempted murderer Alexander Berkman. THIS is the man that the anti-war crowd calls their hero and quotes.

Naturally, I thought the quote was kind of stupid and ignorant considering the man never served in combat or went to war at all. He’s never even served in the military, yet Ethan McCord freely quotes him – his right to do, of course.

Some may be asking why the name Ethan McCord sounds so familiar. He, along with fellow anti-war former Soldier Josh Stieber, were the ones that wrote the public apology to the families of the people killed in the infamous Wikileaks video that the treasonous PFC Bradley Manning illegally released. These anti-war folks like to call the war illegal while ironically supporting people who break the law.

My response to the above quote was simple: “Berkman sounds pretty ignorant. Obviously didn’t serve in the American military.” But, boy did it rub the nerves of one of McCord’s leftist, anti-war loons. I call him a loon because he’s all over the map like every liberal loon idiot (which doesn’t describe liberal fan and reader Bob Allen at all, by the way) blaming Halliburton, an “illegal occupation”, and blaming America for the world’s woes.

McCord’s supporter responded broadly.

“What are you talking about Grisham. There is no difference between the way we have been conducting war, and the way other nations have. And I have served and continue to serve.”

No difference, eh? To which nations are we being compared? Iran? North Korea? Iraq, circa 1990′s? So, I made some more points and asked some simple questions:

So Eric, you’re saying that you and I are stupid,callous, murderers? Sorry but that doesn’t describe me or the Soldiers I’ve deployed with and continue to serve with. If that DOES describe you, I highly suggest you stop serving and do the nation a favor.

I’m not sure why he continues to use my last name in responding to me, but that’s okay. We are in the military and that is how Soldiers are generally addressed. His response is where he starts to reveal his true colors:

Grisham. I don’t know you, therefore I can’t comment whether you are stupid, callous or a murderer. I certainly am not. However, during my combat experiences I certainly did things that I probably wouldn’t have done if I was in a more mature or experienced frame of mind. And I certainly saw decisions made and missions conducted that were just so far of the mark of rational thought that it was disturbing. So, most people in the armed services are good people, and I enjoy serving my country for these people. And it is quite audacious of you to suggest that I should stop serving my country. However, there are also plenty of sociopaths and murderrs among our ranks. And I do feel it is our responsibility to speak out against them and their actions, because we are “supposed” to be better than that. All I am saying is Americans are capable of every villainous act that any other group of people are. And like it or not, we have been trained to dehumanize all those who aren’t American. That is why we have terms like “bad guy” or “Haji” or “Sand Nigger.” As a result over 1.4 million Iraqi’s have died as a direct result of our occupation. And of course over 5,000 Americans in OIF. And there is no “Iraqi Freedom,” as a result. There still is not consistent delivery of electricity or running water commensurate to the pre-war levels. This war was illegal and wrong. It was conducted merely for interest of corporate profiteering and benefited no one other than the few who profited. We were “used.” I love my country, but I am not going to rally around the flag and rhetoric in order to ignore the facts.

I love how those that disagree with our actions in Iraq and Afghanistan resort to making cases out of small minorities. My reply:

Eric, your generalizations are just as bad as Berkman the anarchist. I’m not saying there are no bad soldiers in the military, but they are by no means enough of a minority to warrant such blanket statements.

I’ve only been under one command that seemed to allow (by neglect) statements and terms like those you quote above. Every other unit has made strict rules prohibiting them.

Your comment about 1.4 million Iraqis dying is just plain factually inaccurate. If that were true, more than 16500 Iraqis would have to be killed EVERY SINGLE MONTH since the [war started in March 2003]. Even the most ignorant and biased of estimates don’t come close. It’s a false argument used to make our military look bad and you are just propagating the myth. Even Iraq Body Count doesn’t come close to that. It’s a lie created by the idiots in IVAW, Code Pink, and ANSWER.

Saying that there us no Iraqi freedom is also a lie. They have numerous free elections, they now enjoy the modern technology of cell phones, internet, and satellite television that didn’t exist for the common citizen prior to my arrival in Baghdad in April 2003.

There is nothing “illegal” about this war, but we can easily disagree about whether it us wrong it not. It’s a matter of opinion. Please continue to speak out against the few that go beyond our duty to protect the innocent, take the law into their own hands, and give the good guys a bad name. I don’t regret a single life I’ve taken because each and every bullet that left my rifle and pistol was a legitimate Target.

I would throw your words back at you to talk facts instead of rhetoric, which your reply was full of.

As a matter of fact, the anti-war site, Iraq Body Count, lists its highest estimates at a mere 105,000 – nowhere near the 1.4 million that the ignorant anti-war left swears by. The site even laments that “it is unfortunate that the most careful and well-resourced survey work in this area (from the UNDP and WHO) has been scarcely visible, while the most flawed and inadequate work has dominated public discourse. This has been largely due to the shocking (but ultimately numbing) effect of their hugely exaggerated death toll figures.” And people like Ethan McCord and his fans continue to try and use these “surveys” to dominate all aspects of the media. Have you noticed too that those who were shoving those numbers in our faces throughout Bush’s term are strangely silent now in keeping tabs on body counts? Anyway, the response to my comment comes quickly:

About the Iraqi body count, I refer you to the work of Les Roberts, published in the peer-reviewed British Medical Journal the Lancet, one article in 2003, the another in 2006, and I believe there are subsequent calculations to come to the current number of 1.4 million. His article fully explains how these numbers were derived. Furthermore, as a private citizen, in a forum such as this I can say whatever I want, as long as I don’t use my official title. And the free elections can’t even serve as a substitute for the destruction of infrastructure and loss of life and security that this people has suffered. Moreover, many of these elections at least in the beginning were manipulated by our state department. And cell phones and satellite TV exist throughout the Middle East, if they weren’t there under Sadam, they definitely would have found their way there. They were there when I arrived in OCT of 2003. Moreover, these tools of communication have nothing to do with “freedom.” That is like saying, well they didn’t have “McDonalds” before. Freedom involves human rights, access to adequate infrustructer, access to education, access to healthcare, the hope of upward social mobilitiy, adequate security and so on. And this war was absolutely illegal, and broke all kinds of international laws. And speaking out against the things we have done wrong, is not speaking out against the fine men and women who do serve our country. I am one of those people. And I certainly am not against shooting when being shot at. But I also am not foolheaded enough to think that we haven’t been the illegitimate aggressor on numerous occaisions. War is incredibly complex. Everyone understands that. Perhaps you should watch the film “What happened at Haditha,” which portrays this complexity adequately. We were supposed to win the hearts and minds and enable them to rebuild their country. We have not directed enough planning, effort, or resources toward that goal. But we certainly lined the pockets of KBR and Halliburton, and found a way to enable a parallel private Armies (e.g. Blackwater). Anyway…..I am sure we disagree on many things. Just because I have served with good people, should not obligate me to blind allegiance to incredibly misguided policies.

It’s interesting that of all the estimates and surveys done on this subject, Les Roberts’ survey is the only one that even approaches the million death mark. The study has been torn apart so many times for its methodology and the fact that there were no safeguards to ensure that deaths weren’t reported more than once by different families who may be of the same tribe or extended family reporting the same person multiple times. Furthermore, I never once mentioned that the writer couldn’t say anything he wanted. I just informed him he should be truthful about what he DOES say and refrain from misleading people. It’s a common tactic for a losing argument – feign being attacked. I responded to most of these point, but some were obviously so asinine that they weren’t worth arguing over.

Again, you come with more rhetoric and no facts. The fact – FACT – is that they were not allowed to own those “tools of communication” but can now is called freedom. And, if they had a McDonalds now, something they never had before, is a change due to government regulation and oppression, then that fits the definition of freedom too. Now, if they didn’t have a McDonalds because the people didn’t want it or because it violated some sort of constitutional practice, THEN your point would be valid and less rhetorical.

Freedom does involve human rights, something nonexistent before we removed SAddam. I personally saw the skeletons of human beings thrown in Uday’s lion’s cage in Baghdad. I spoke with victims of his atrocities, men who were castrated for refusing to allowing Saddam to take their daughters. Don’t even get me started on “adequate infrastructure” when electrical grids everywhere BUT Baghdad and Tikrit consisted of thousands of wires and cables strewn loosely and lowly above the streets and routed through large, dilapidated generators. The streets were the sewers. Farmers weren’t allowed to cultivate their crops without permission from the government, regardless of whether or not they were ready.

Have you been to Iraq? The people love us there now. As a matter of fact, they loved us when I was there. Yeah, we screwed royally in some cases (Abu Ghraib being the grossest example), but we aren’t the killers and murderers you’re trying to portray us as.

You say it’s illegal. Cite the “international laws” that were broken. Meanwhile, I’ll cite several “international laws” that authorized the use of force: UN Resolutions 660, 678, 1382, and finally 1441 in November 2002. Facts, not rhetoric. You used the term, now abide by it.

That includes your so-called 1.4 million figure. Are you honestly saying that at least 16,000 Iraqis have been killed EVERY SINGLE MONTH since March 2003? That’s the only way 1.4 million Iraqis could have been killed. If you are saying that, provide the facts, not more rhetoric.

The reason I bring this into the public forum is to basically further show the kind of person that Ethan McCord is. But, it’s also bring to a public discourse. Do you or someone you know still believe in the 1.4 million number? If so, I want to hear where these facts come from. I want someone to tell me that they honestly believe that over 16,500 Iraqi civilians have been killed EVERY month since March 2003 when the highest monthly death toll doesn’t even reach 2500. I await your input as well as a response from my antagonizer on Facebook.