February 4, 2005
IF IT WEREN'T FUN MAN'S HISTORY WOULDN'T BE ONE LONG STATE OF WAR:
Shooting some people is 'a hoot,' general said (JOHN J. LUMPKIN, 2/04/05, Chicago Sun-Times)
A decorated Marine Corps general 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.His boss, the commandant of the Marine Corps, said Thursday that the comments reflected ''the unfortunate and harsh realities of war'' but that the general has been asked to watch his words in public.
Lt. Gen. James Mattis, a career infantry officer who is now in charge of developing better ways to train and equip Marines, made the comments Tuesday 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 upfront 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.''
Posted by Orrin Judd at February 4, 2005 12:02 PM
Better send out a memo to the other services before they start an inter-service spat over who has more fun. I bet it's the A10 pilots.
Posted by: some random person at February 4, 2005 12:19 PMTheir job is to kill people and break things. Unlike USPS workers, they should be allowed to do so without having to be disgruntled about it.
Posted by: John Resnick at February 4, 2005 12:27 PMAn A10 would probably be OK in convoy shooting but not so hot in city warfare where you can't always see the results. I think the biggest hoot would go to the snipers.
Posted by: Tom Wall at February 4, 2005 12:34 PMQueen Victoria's Little Wars has some comments along this line, regarding the attitudes among British troops and soldiers.
I made the mistake of listening to CBS Radio's top-of-the-hour news summary on the way home from work last night. Top story at 7 pm Eastern, this general says it's joyous fun to shoot Taliban wife-beaters and Al Qaeda terrorists. But! When he was leading Marines in the assault on Fallujah, he ordered his men to be careful to avoid shooting women and children! And! Ibrahim Hooper is outraged, wants the general cashiered for his insensitive Muslim-hating remarks.
Well, just equal time for balanced views, I guess.
Posted by: Random Lawyer at February 4, 2005 1:05 PMI'd like to watch somebody read one of Patton's speeches to these folks...
Posted by: Mike Earl at February 4, 2005 1:08 PM"All good Americans love the sting of battle."
Yeah Patton hit it right on the nose for that one.
"All good Americans love the sting of battle."
Yeah Patton hit it right on the nose for that one.
Oh, My...
I'm going to have to leave the room, or I'm going to throw up!
That Mattis man must be related to that Summers man.
Posted by: John J. Coupal at February 4, 2005 5:05 PMJust got back from a social gathering with four other lawyers. One guy (an alumnus of The Citadel and marginally to the right of Genghis Khan, I hasten to add), found Gen. Mattis's remarks unobjectionable. The rest (Democrats of various degrees of leftiness) found it shocking and dismaying. But at least there was a civil exchange of contrary opinions, in addition to much beer.
Posted by: Random Lawyer at February 4, 2005 7:29 PMPeople in the armed forces enjoy battle?
Say it ain't so.
Posted by: Ali Choudhury at February 4, 2005 7:52 PMFirst commenter above. During the First Gulf War, a young A10 pilot had one great day. Killed ten tanks or something like that. For a long time I had a tape of the post-game interview. He was as high as a kite.
Posted by: Robert Schwartz at February 5, 2005 5:10 PMThat's why we send in the Marines and not Mothers Against War and Racism.
Posted by: Harry Eagar at February 6, 2005 7:32 PM