One of the things I wish the civilians in our government would do better is let us know what’s going on overseas. Really…if you watched nothing but CBS, NBC, or ABC, or read only the Bismarck Tribune, would you think that our troops are doing anything at all aside from hiding in the green zone digging holes and sitting them all day, leaving only to drive around aimlessly until an IED goes off next to their Humvee? Shamefully, if someone asked me about what the guys are doing over there, I would have few answers, and none of them specific. Our soldiers deserve better than that.
I know that people opposed to our President politically like to claim that issuing good news about the troops is “propaganda” and can’t be trusted. Obviously that’s wrong, but those people are 100% wrong about the military anyway. Those are the same people whose overblown statistics are accepted as biblical fact when it comes to trying to damage the war effort or try to pass their silly little resolution through the state legislature calling for “peace.”
If we wanted to get political about our military’s role overseas, which we don’t, a guy could ask why Bismarck soldiers just spent a year in Bosnia trying to help clean up a mess that Bill Clinton created and then didn’t follow through on once the headlines settled. I’m not asking that, and I told my friends serving there that I was grateful for what they’re doing. I meant it.
I’ve got friends who were involved in some of the nastiest close-quarter fighting of the entire war in Iraq, flushing out terrorists (no, not “insurgents” or “militants” or “freedom fighters”) with the 3rd ID. These guys were fighting building to building, sometimes room to room, and it’s amazing the stories they have to tell. Too bad nobody’s telling these stories for them. To find good news, one has to hunt for it.
So if you want to see some success stories to combat the dearth of accurate reporting on the local TV and newspaper, check out the Central Command website every now and then. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at what’s really going on over there.