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What do you think?

2005-02-05|12:53 a.m.

On Tuesday of this week, Lt. Gen. James Mattis, a career infantry officer who is now in charge of developing better ways to train and equip Marines, said 'It's fun to shoot some people,'' and poked fun at the manhood of Afghans as he described the wars U.S. troops are fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan while speaking to a forum in San Diego.

According to an audio recording, he said, ''Actually, it's a lot of fun to fight. You know, it's a hell of a hoot. ... It's fun to shoot some people. I'll be right up front with you, I like brawling.''

He added, ''You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil. You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them.''

His boss, the commandant of the Marine Corps, said Thursday that the comments reflected ''the unfortunate and harsh realities of war'' and that the general has been asked to watch his words in public.

Now one of the things I have not done a lot of in this journal is state my opinion on issues such as this. However, for some reason I feel compelled to write a little on this.

First off, his statement "You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil. You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them." is really a sweeping generalization, isn't it? Is he saying that all Afghan men slap around women? What other racial generalizations does he make that he didn't talk about?

Even if he wasn't making that generalization, an eye for an eye is not an acceptable way to lead. Just as it's not okay to slap around women, hit our kids, kick our dogs, etc... If we use violence as our message, we are no better someone who does slap around women for not wearing a veil. We are sending the message 'it's okay to kill - if it's for something WE believe in."

His message just reinforces an image that the rest of the world already has of America - that we don't care about life, that we are only in it for the oil and for the money... We are all lucky enough to live here and see what the country has to offer. It is our job to lead by example Lt. Gen. Mattis' is not the example I want to lead with.

Do we really want that type of person leading our soldiers? Because I am sure that is the message that he is sending to the impressionable 18 year old recruits.

I would like to hope that the people being called into battle should have MORE respect for life - not less - if for no other reason than they have seen death first hand - both the untimely death of people they serve with, and all of the deaths of Iraqis and the people of Afghanistan.

However, his boss' only comment was "has been asked to watch his words in public." More should be done here. He should be made an example of.

Previously on Ramblin' Bill -- In The Year 2000!

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