You cannot qualify war in harsher terms than I will. War is cruelty and
you
cannot refine it…
Lieut.-General W.T. Sherman, U.S. Army,
(Letter to the Mayor and City
Council of Atlanta, Georgia, regarding his
intention to force the civil
population to leave the city, prior to his burning
it), 12 September
1864.
War means fighting, fighting means
killing.
attributed to Lieut.-General N.B. Forrrest, C.S.
Army.
Mad, is he? Then I wish he would bite some of my other
generals.
King George III on General James Wolfe, the
conqueror
of Quebec in 1759
According to AP and Reuters, Marine Corps Lieut.-General James Mattis has been “counseled” after observing, among other things, that “it’s a hell of a lot of fun” to shoot Afghans who “slap women around for five years.” General Mattis also said that “..it’s a lot of fun to fight…it’s fun to shoot some people, I like brawling.” The general made his remarks during a panel discussion to laughter and applause during a panel discussion on Tuesday in San Diego.
General Mattis, recently promoted to three stars, formerly commanded the 1st Marine Division, and was in charge of operations around the terrorist stronghold of Fallujah in April of 2004, after four American contractors were hacked to death there, but was ordered to halt operations prior to taking the city.
In any case, General Mattis's remaks Tuesday have stirred up lots of hand-wringing, horrified expressions and vapors on the part of the chattering classes. After this grave, grave offense by General Mattis, something called the “Council on American-Islamic Relations” described by AP as a “Muslim civil liberties group” called on the Pentagon to “discipline” Mattis for his remarks.
General Mattis, recently promoted to three stars, formerly commanded the 1st Marine Division, and was in charge of operations around the terrorist stronghold of Fallujah in April of 2004, after four American contractors were hacked to death there, but was ordered to halt operations prior to taking the city.
In any case, General Mattis's remaks Tuesday have stirred up lots of hand-wringing, horrified expressions and vapors on the part of the chattering classes. After this grave, grave offense by General Mattis, something called the “Council on American-Islamic Relations” described by AP as a “Muslim civil liberties group” called on the Pentagon to “discipline” Mattis for his remarks.
Hello ? What does the “Council on American-Islamic Relations” think Lieut.-General Mattis does for a living ? Sell neckties maybe ? Discipline General Mattis indeed. The thought is revolting. They ought to invite him to the White House and give him a few more medals to add to his Bronze Star (with device) and all his other fruit salad.
The military forces, and in particular the Marine Corps, are not a social program, a job corps, a peacekeeping force, a disaster relief organization, or a group to provide pretty bands for public events. True, all of these functions are performed by the military, but the main reason we have Marines – and people like General Mattis -- is to kill people in big bleeding batches in order to coerce other persons and countries into doing our bidding. There is no prettying it up. War is murder, albeit legal, often justifiable, but murder pure and simple. Anybody who thinks or pretends otherwise is either fooling themselves or a hypocrite.
Considering our politically correct and hypocritical age, full of people who enjoy beef but who can’t bear to hear how it is produced, General Mattis probably got off lightly. Of course, the Pentagon had to go through the motions of “counseling” him. Hopefully, the ritual sackcloth and ashes for the media idiots, the stupid lawyers and all us nice people who are continents away from the sharp end is all that happens to General Mattis. The day the Marine Corps is composed primarily of persons who don’t like to brawl and don’t think it’s fun to shoot Bad Guys is apt to be a bad day for the USA.
The military forces, and in particular the Marine Corps, are not a social program, a job corps, a peacekeeping force, a disaster relief organization, or a group to provide pretty bands for public events. True, all of these functions are performed by the military, but the main reason we have Marines – and people like General Mattis -- is to kill people in big bleeding batches in order to coerce other persons and countries into doing our bidding. There is no prettying it up. War is murder, albeit legal, often justifiable, but murder pure and simple. Anybody who thinks or pretends otherwise is either fooling themselves or a hypocrite.
Considering our politically correct and hypocritical age, full of people who enjoy beef but who can’t bear to hear how it is produced, General Mattis probably got off lightly. Of course, the Pentagon had to go through the motions of “counseling” him. Hopefully, the ritual sackcloth and ashes for the media idiots, the stupid lawyers and all us nice people who are continents away from the sharp end is all that happens to General Mattis. The day the Marine Corps is composed primarily of persons who don’t like to brawl and don’t think it’s fun to shoot Bad Guys is apt to be a bad day for the USA.
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