Cynthia Tucker's Alternative Universe

Every once in a while I come across an op-ed that leaves me speechless – so utterly flabbergasted that I have to walk away for a day before I can come up with a cogent response. That was the case when I read Cynthia Tucker’s piece on our “worn military” committing “massacres” in the Atlanta Journal Constitution on May 11. Her complete and utter failure to grasp even simple facts still has me shaking my head.

Tucker laughingly described Haditha and the Anbar province as “restive” in November 2005. She must have overlooked the Marines killed in an ambush less than a week before the Haditha incident. It is easy to forget about the multitude of IEDs since they were buried out of sight underneath the pavement while the residents stood by and did nothing. I can see how having no police force can make a city restive especially when the police were bombed out of town by the terrorists. Haditha was a haven for travelers – Zaraqawi was a frequent overnight guest of the city.

The Marines did not demonstrate “strange incuriosity” after the incident in Haditha. It was not a secret. There was no coverup. Testimony this week confirms that every one up the ladder was informed about the incident. They looked at it with the benefit of knowing the facts on the ground in a war zone. They did not have the benefit of sitting back a year and a half later playing “shoulda – coulda- woulda”.

How can you blame our soldiers for civilian casualties in one breath but then admit the “jihadists fire from civilian quarters” and hide behind women & children? How can you decry our soldiers perceived lack of respect for the Iraqi people but not offer the same criticisms for the terrorists that massacre civilians including women and children on a daily basis? Is it only a massacre if US Soldiers are involved?

The Pentagon Report that Tucker throws into the mix is another example of picking and choosing random statistics to fit your agenda. How can you judge the entire military by the results of a statistical sample of less than 1% of the soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan? To claim the report was held back to influence opinion on the troop surge is the height of irresponsibility.

Tucker reaches beyond all bounds of credibility with her defense of Rep. Murtha. Since when did slander and false claims help anyone but the enemy? Calling Marines “cold blooded murderers” and painting them with the brush of My Lai is loving them? Maybe in Tucker’s alternative universe but not in the real world. Murtha cares about his political clout much more than the Marines.

Our soldiers are fighting in a war with an enemy that uses the media to disseminate propaganda. Cynthia Tucker and the Atlanta Journal Constitution just carried the water for them. Again.

Crossposted at Opinion Editorials.