Monday, August 07, 2006
Tell It To The Marines
(popular email floating on the internet - no attribution to a Marine as an author, but it's still a great read)
"Tell it to the Marines!" As Israel continues its systematic destruction of Hezbollah in Lebanon, the usual suspects are already looking to protect the terrorists from their just desserts.
UN kleptocrat Secretary General Kofi Annan is looking to the five permanent members of the Security Council (the US, Russia, China, France, and Great Britain) to take the lead in a peace-keeping mission to Lebanon, to separate the two warring sides. Stories like this make me wonder if Annan and his ilk are so stupid that they don't remember history, or so arrogant that they think we don't. Because I can't see a third explanation.
First up, it's a fool's errand. There is no "peace" to "keep." If anything, the situation would call for "peace-makers," a military force to go in and forcibly separate the two sides -- and that would indeed be insane. Peacekeepers are for enforcing a cease-fire or some other cessation of hostilities, and we are nowhere near that yet.
Secondly, the United States should have absolutely no interest in protecting Hezbollah. Far too many people tend to forget that as of September 10, 2001, Hezbollah had killed more Americans than any other terrorist group in the world.
Thirdly, any American contribution to such a force would most likely involve the Marine Corps. And to send them into that situation would be a terrible, terrible idea. In 1983, the United States sent forces into Lebanon in order to keep the peace after Israel, fed up with endless attacks by Hezbollah, attacked and devastated Lebanon. (Sound familiar?) And during that attempt at peace-keeping, Hezbollah sent a suicide bomber in a truck loaded with explosives into the US base in Beirut, killing 242 United States Marines.
The Marines have long memories. Their official motto may be "Semper Fidelis," but another term often associated with them is "no better friend, no worse enemy." Hezbollah earned its way on to the list of Marine enemies the old-fashioned way, and while events might have moved them down the list a little, not one damned thing has changed to move them off the Corps' shit list of folks who just need killing. To send them back into Lebanon to once again protect Hezbollah from the logical and just consequences of their actions would be a grave insult to the men and women of the Corps.
Don't get me wrong. I have absolutely no fear that, if ordered, the Corps would do exactly that if ordered to. The one defining element of the Corps, as stated above, is "Semper Fidelis" -- "always faithful." If ordered by their Commander In Chief to go into Beirut and protect Hezbollah from reaping the whirlwind they have sown, the Corps -- down to the last man and woman -- will salute, say "yes, sir," and march off and do just that. But that fierce loyalty to the Corps is a two-way street. We -- as a nation -- need to be worthy of that awesome faith and trust they bestow on us. As they protect us, we need to protect them. And part of that is respecting their history, their sacrifices, and not putting them in such a situation as defending those who slaughtered Marines by the scores barely two decades ago.
Finally, Hezbollah is not a state. It is a criminal, terrorist organization, and as such deserves no protection from the United NATIONS. Israel is taking out the world's garbage in Lebanon. Instead of trying to protect the filth, the world should be offering to at least hold the door.
"Tell it to the Marines!" As Israel continues its systematic destruction of Hezbollah in Lebanon, the usual suspects are already looking to protect the terrorists from their just desserts.
UN kleptocrat Secretary General Kofi Annan is looking to the five permanent members of the Security Council (the US, Russia, China, France, and Great Britain) to take the lead in a peace-keeping mission to Lebanon, to separate the two warring sides. Stories like this make me wonder if Annan and his ilk are so stupid that they don't remember history, or so arrogant that they think we don't. Because I can't see a third explanation.
First up, it's a fool's errand. There is no "peace" to "keep." If anything, the situation would call for "peace-makers," a military force to go in and forcibly separate the two sides -- and that would indeed be insane. Peacekeepers are for enforcing a cease-fire or some other cessation of hostilities, and we are nowhere near that yet.
Secondly, the United States should have absolutely no interest in protecting Hezbollah. Far too many people tend to forget that as of September 10, 2001, Hezbollah had killed more Americans than any other terrorist group in the world.
Thirdly, any American contribution to such a force would most likely involve the Marine Corps. And to send them into that situation would be a terrible, terrible idea. In 1983, the United States sent forces into Lebanon in order to keep the peace after Israel, fed up with endless attacks by Hezbollah, attacked and devastated Lebanon. (Sound familiar?) And during that attempt at peace-keeping, Hezbollah sent a suicide bomber in a truck loaded with explosives into the US base in Beirut, killing 242 United States Marines.
The Marines have long memories. Their official motto may be "Semper Fidelis," but another term often associated with them is "no better friend, no worse enemy." Hezbollah earned its way on to the list of Marine enemies the old-fashioned way, and while events might have moved them down the list a little, not one damned thing has changed to move them off the Corps' shit list of folks who just need killing. To send them back into Lebanon to once again protect Hezbollah from the logical and just consequences of their actions would be a grave insult to the men and women of the Corps.
Don't get me wrong. I have absolutely no fear that, if ordered, the Corps would do exactly that if ordered to. The one defining element of the Corps, as stated above, is "Semper Fidelis" -- "always faithful." If ordered by their Commander In Chief to go into Beirut and protect Hezbollah from reaping the whirlwind they have sown, the Corps -- down to the last man and woman -- will salute, say "yes, sir," and march off and do just that. But that fierce loyalty to the Corps is a two-way street. We -- as a nation -- need to be worthy of that awesome faith and trust they bestow on us. As they protect us, we need to protect them. And part of that is respecting their history, their sacrifices, and not putting them in such a situation as defending those who slaughtered Marines by the scores barely two decades ago.
Finally, Hezbollah is not a state. It is a criminal, terrorist organization, and as such deserves no protection from the United NATIONS. Israel is taking out the world's garbage in Lebanon. Instead of trying to protect the filth, the world should be offering to at least hold the door.
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