Speaking Up
Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld spoke with a group of soldiers a few weeks ago and a young man spoke of the need for rudimentary supplies that were shamefully not given them by the army that would help keep them from harm. It was a stunning moment to come from such a young man and many joked that he would soon be found on the unemployment line. I thought this moment as telling in how people reacted to it. Many felt the young man would, "get in trouble" I thought to myself that he should speak up when it comes to matters of safety and the preservation of life. If he had not stated the obvious need for life-saving armor and question the one person who could sign-off and get it to him and his comrades, than who would?
It is a reminder to me that there is a time and place for everything, but sometimes caution must be thrown to the wind. When to speak up and say what's on your mind is sometimes a balancing act. Should one grab the moment and speak, bluntly or eloquently, of the matter at hand? But what is one to do when in a situation that calls for plain talk? The situation that young soldier found himself in reeked of plaintiveness. He wanted to come home from Iraq in one piece, and wanted and needed the armor to make that happen. The moment he launched his question was measured by a camera, a microphone and an international audience, and had none of the finessed and nuanced speak and political correctness we are all so used to. The questioning was appropriate when it came to the matter of life and death.
I applaud anyone who speaks up, especially during times when it may not be deemed appropriate. When it comes from the heart and is a relevant matter, one can not be wrong for speaking up and asking pertinent questions.
10 Comments:
Bravo to him.
Unfortunately, it's usually the people who speak up who pay the price.
Those who push a person forward to take the heat when something needs to be said often scatter when the support and "propping up" of the speaker is needed.
Sometimes the same people who supported and encouraged the speaker, are the same people who suck up to the other side when the manure hits the fan.
Speaking from my own experience as a "big mouth".
My mother used to say I had a hair on my tongue.
Meaning that I had to spit out every thought in my head.
LOL.
Radmila, you are so right about the people who urge the speaker to speak their mind often disappear when the price to be paid for doing so comes to fruition.
But I think it so appropriate, whatever the cost, when it comes to matters.
Thanks for commenting.
Barf, you all don't know what you are talking about the young man in question was coached by a reporter, and the Humvee's in his unit were almost all completely done.
BillyBud, the matter at hand - the reinforcing of the Humvees and the lateness in doing so and the possibilitiy of lives lost if not done - was/is the crux. Whether he was coached or that the Humvees were almost completed is not the issue. It is that a young man had the guts to ask the relevant question that many were thinking.
Thanks for commenting.
Billy Budd is right. 1) The question was a deliberate set up by the reporter, who bragged about it later. 2) The humvees were already nearly all up armored--even though the humvee was never intended to be an armored vehicle. 3) Sec. Rumsfeld was not insulting the young man with the "army you have" comment. A full transcript shows he gave a compete, resepctful, detailed answer. 4) The problem of supply shortages arises from the lack of funding by Congress, not from anything Sec. Rumsfeld or even President Bush can do. Remember Sen. Kerry voted for the $87 billion before he voted against it. Only Congress can fund the military.
Please try to understand how the various branches of government work. After 8 years (1992-2000) of constant budget reductions (by the legislature) for defense along with increases in social spending, it's a tough job to get our army back to full power.
Harrison, I appreciate your views.
I think the young man was right in questioning Rumsfeld.
Thanks for commenting.
How about this woman who spoke out?
Iraqi Woman in angst?
Peace.
M.
P.S. I would appreciate your comment on this.
Billy Budd is so blinded by his conservatism that I am wondering if he isn't actually Donald Rumsfeld or Richard Perle.
The question was planted by the media that finally realized that people are dying everyday over there in a war that we didn't have to fight. 10,000 American GI's have been wounded now, many of them are now amputees because they went to war with "The army they had". Rumsfeld is a disgrace and should have been gone after the Abu Gharaib mess.
Shame on anybody who supported this war. Don't tell me it was a humanitarian mission to remove an evil dictator either. If that was the case, why are we ignoring people in Dafir? I can answer that for you. No Oil.
speaking up is our responsibility... all of us. i think many of the problems we face today are due to the fact that we've allowed ourselves to be redifined by those in power... we've become consumers rather than citizens. democracy and freedom mean nothing if we are not all "activists" which is to say, active citizens... and i'd say that includes soldiers and reporters.
to those that would like to just forget about this because the reporter was "coaching" the soldier i just say, come on! it's not ever so simple as that. it is sad to see that the same people that rabidly scream "support the troops, support the troops" are so quick to dismiss the troops that dare to speak out against the admin or the war itself. becoming a soldier should not require that one give up critical thought and the responsibility of citizenship.
denny, where, we're bound
Either Way, Rumsfeld lied about Flight 93 crashing, because he mentioned Flight 93 being shot down!
So anything that points out that jerks failures is OK!
Everyone keeps saying to support the troops, well support the troops by FORCING the Secretary of Defense to do what is RIGHT for the actual troops.
Which is to give the troops what they need like Body Armor (do a search for the DNC police pictures to see the state of the art body armor the troops should have!), Ammo, Water, Food, EQUIPMENT!!
So Fuck Rumsfeld!!
Nice Blog, by the way!!
tracyv
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