Editorial - 07 November 2011
Baltimore Sun Reader Disparages Troops (Again)
B altimore Sun reader Paul R. Schlitz erroneously claims that U.S. soldiers are not capable of either apprehending non-citizens or providing non-combatants with bottled water. In fact, soldiers are well trained in apprehending non-combatants, in addition to having extraordinary capability in providing food, shelter and drinking water. Witness the military efforts in Haiti and other places around the globe. Few organizations on the planet have served more proudly or efficiently in providing aid to those in distress.
Schlitz also questions whether the U.S. military could effectively combat the flow of drugs, since to do so implies either shooting first and asking questions later or else being able to distinguish between bad guys and good guys. I'm hoping that this really isn't as difficult for him to comprehend as Schlitz is pretending it is. Let me explain briefly. The additional manpower could be used to provide greater scrutiny of vehicle traffic. More vehicles could therefore be searched, and more drugs apprehended. Those without drugs are the good guys. Those with the drugs in the cars are the bad guys.
In addition to providing a physical presence, the military has other capability that's lacking on the border, including tremendous aerial and land surveillance capability.
Lastly, Schlitz makes the bizarre suggestion that the role of the military would be to "to shoot border-crossing Hispanics". This comment is not just insulting to all present and former military personnel, but to all Americans. Our nation has never condoned or approved of our military being used this way in any endeavor, and our military does not as a practice conduct itself in such a manner.
Schlitz's nonsensical rambling does little to discredit the notion of using troops on the border, but it does go a long way towards explaining why so many uninformed individuals, mostly on the far left of the political spectrum, disdain the military. Their disdain is arrived at through misinformation, ignorance, a lack of understanding and a closed mind. All of which is used far too frequently to discredit an entire segment of the population, some would say the best segment of the population, with no basis in reality.
Editor - bethesite.com
