War sucks. People die. Mistakes inevitably happen. Since war is like playing with fire, mistakes can end up with members of your own forces dying from your own force’s mistakes. This is an unfortunate but inevitable truth of war.
Using these mistakes for political purposes is just more of the dirt of politics. Throwing dirt around has been a part of politics for a long, long time. Expecting it to stop is like believing in the tooth fairy. But using cases like the 13 marines killed in the Afghanistan withdrawal for political dirt is inexcusable because, for the sole purpose of political gain, it adds to the pain and suffering of innocent citizen victims. Shame.
For sure, mistakes need to be addressed. Some of the mistakes — the horrors of war such as the My Lai massacre or the torture and abuse at Abu Ghraib prison as well as the mistakes of the poorly handled withdrawal from Afghanistan are important enough to have serious public discussions about. There is no doubt about that. The death of the 13 marines does not rise to that level.
Charles Sherwood
Avon
