White House and Pentagon Cowards Betray Real War Heroes, Again, Failing to Support the Troops

Still, criticism over the scant number of medals awarded led the Pentagon to review the citation process; findings are expected in the coming week. One of the most vocal critics has been Joseph Kinney, a 57-year-old Vietnam veteran from North Carolina, who says the dearth of medals has a demoralizing effect. Kinney, who has testified before Congress on the issue, spoke with NEWSWEEK's Dan Ephron.

NEWSWEEK: Why are we seeing fewer medals?
Joseph Kinney: I personally believe they (the administration) were terrified of doing anything that would make this look like a real war. I'm convinced they didn't want people knowing how lucky they were from the start. And I think they were doing everything they could to make this look like a little police action and not a real war-- It's a travesty these people were not recognized.

Months after returning, Lynch finally began speaking to the public. Her statements tended to be sharply critical of the original story presented by the Pentagon. When asked about her hero status, "That wasn't me. I'm not about to take credit for something I didn't do... I'm just a survivor."

She denied the claims that she fought until being wounded, reporting that her weapon jammed immediately, and that she could not have done anything anyway. Interviewed with Diane Sawyer, Lynch stated, concerning the Pentagon: "They used me to symbolize all this stuff. It's wrong. I don't know why they filmed [my rescue] or why they say these things". She also stated "I did not shoot, not a round, nothing. I went down praying to my knees. And that's the last I remember." She reported excellent treatment in Iraq, and that one person in the hospital even sang to her to help her feel at home.

"If we had some heroes to celebrate, it would put more of a face on this war. We'd be able to understand more about what's going on. The war is pretty abstract. It's hard to celebrate dead people. I remember when our parents got our first TV, watching the “Sands of Iwo Jima.” There were 27 medals at the time awarded there, all within six weeks. We used to have parades for military heroes up and down Fifth Avenue. There hasn't been a military hero paraded in New York in 53 years. We've gotten away from that culturally and I think it's something we ought to think about it."


How to fix the problem? Kinney suggests that combat experienced vets be brought in, more involved, that the Generals are too worried about their careers. That's for sure, Bush has weeded out all the Generals with guts to speak up and advise the truth. All that are left are Generals who say what they think needs to be said to keep their jobs.

This is another example of how the soldiers are being screwed by the Bush administration and the culture of obsequiance and managed image that must be tightly controlled. Just as caskets are not allowed to be shown when they arrive in the states, heroes-- true, examples of exemplary bravery and courage-- are also not allowed to be shown. Real heroes stand out from the average. They also show the danger the risk, the life threatening aspects of being at war. Maybe the military has decided it would be bad for recruiting-- that the lure of having the opportunity to become a real hero is outweighed by the deadly reality real descriptions of the situations real heroes face will be a turnoff to a generation of vido game playing enlistees who expect to go into battle playing heavy metal on their Ipods.

Maybe Karl ROve and Bush's misguided advisors have decided that, like Kinney says, awarding real medals of honor to real heroes will accentuate the fact that this is a brutal bloody war. Maybe the pathetic generals running this war with eyes closed, with all their strings pulled by George Bush and his moron appointees, like Donald Rumsfeld, who "war hero" John McCain has called the worst in history, don't like real heroes getting attention they could be getting.

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