20060602
    The media pile-on as a result of the disclosure of allegations that US Military forces may have killed civilians under less than ideal circumstances in the Iraqi city of Haditha has been breathtaking to behold. If someone received such news only through Mainstream Media, one would assume that the guilt of the military personnel involved was an almost forgone conclusion. Worse, following on the heels of the Haditha disclosure were at least two more disclosures of a similar type, though one of them was almost immediately dismissed.
    The rapidity with which so many people, most notably American media pundits and politicians, presumed guilt in these incidents is breathtaking, mostly because it reveals a side of America which few Americans want to acknowledge as even existing. This is a side of American politics, perhaps even more deeply seated in the American consciousness than even politics, which seems to want to presume that anything America does in the realm of foreign activities is by definition bad.
    This presumption typically hits most hard at the activities of the US Military, arguably the one organization least guilty of such a presumption, simply because the modern, all volunteer US Military is an instrument of US will. The military does not act on its own; rather it acts because its nation has called on it to. In order for presumed guilt to apply to the US Military, it must also apply to everyone who lives under its protection and utilizes it for purposes of enforcing the will of the US abroad.
    Of course, those who presume the guilt of the US Military in cases like Haditha or Ishaqi will vehemently deny that the military represents them in any way; in the same way that they deny that they current presidential administration represents them. If this is the case, then why do they continue to enjoy the benefits of a government and a way of life that continues to allow them to say what they are saying even while people are dying for their right to say such things?
    The truth is that the crowd that assumes such guilt in cases like the ongoing investigation into what happened in Haditha reveal themselves to be guilty themselves of rampant hypocrisy. These hypocrites continue to live in a nation that is free because of the sacrifices of the very people they so readily condemn, yet if they were ever to be threatened by the violence that is revealed in places like Haditha, then they would be the first to demand that they be defended by the very people they were previously condemning.
    Ultimately, this rush to judgment against the US Military reflects the fact that far too many Americans have become far to comfortable with the fact that someone else is doing the dirty work of paying for liberty, security, and strength for them. They have come to expect this sacrifice, yet they also have come to expect the freedom to criticize and condemn something they neither understand nor are capable of doing.
    Because of this, it is more important that ever for anyone who does understand to come to the defense of the accused, to at least ensure that they receive a fair hearing of the facts, both in the court of public opinion and in the court of law. If those who do understand the nature of the sacrifice being paid by the men and women of the US Military fail such a defense, then how can anyone expect such people to continue to go on making that sacrifice? To that end, the voice of those that believe in what the US Military is doing and believe in the sacrifice being made on the behalf of their fellow citizens must speak out as loudly- more loudly- that those who criticize. The men and women of the US Military deserve this after all they have done to preserve America against all of its enemies.
DLH
