Oh Yes! We Do Know Who Knew What When

Three mainstream newspapers have unloaded the same pile of garbage about the Haditha scandal. Wapo: "The real issue is how far up the chain of command it goes," said one senior Marine familiar with the case. "Who knew it, and why didn't they do something about it?" NYT Editorial: “We still do not know how high up the Marine Corps chain of command the original cover-up went, nor do we know how the president, the defense secretary and other top officials responded when they first learned of the false reporting.” LA Times: “The investigation by Army Maj. Gen. Eldon Bargewell is expected to cover whether any of the Marine higher-ups knew of the intelligence photos and, if so, what actions they took, including whether they shared them with officers at the battalion, regiment and company levels.” Hogwash! The White House knew, the Pentagon knew, Rumsfeld knew, the Generals knew and the way they responded was to order a cover-up. How do we know they knew? Because that’s how it‘s done. The White House, the Pentagon, Rumsfeld and the Generals know how soldiers are trained. They know how soldiers will react in extremis because that’s how they must react in extremis and that is fine because that’s how it’s got to be. The cover-up was in place before the Haditha scandal occurred because when soldiers do exactly what they’ve been trained to do and a scandal ensues, it’s covered up. That’s the way it’s done. That’s the way it’s always been done. And that’s how we know who knew what when. All the guys in positions of power knew everything about everything as soon as it happened. But the weasely part, the part that our soldiers and their parents are having a hard time understanding is that the men in charge won’t take responsibility for the scandals they have caused. When the shit hits the fan and a military scandal comes out into the open, the higher-ups who endorsed, promoted and okayed the actions taken are such cowardly, fainthearted, lily livered putzes that they cower and say the guys in the trenches devised the action all on their own. Our guys are told to do unspeakable things and they believe it’s okay because the wonderful he-men who’ve battled evil all over the world and who know where it’s at in the big-muscled he-man world say it’s the way things have to be done. And then these he-men who talk so tough and say such macho things, run and hide. That’s the weasely part and it stinks.