Anthony B. Robinson, 18 April 2003, Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Good Friday is the right day to assess the current war. Despite what some may be saying, this is not an Easter moment. It is not a moment of victory or triumph, and certainly not a time for "alleluias." It is a moment for sorrow, anguish and reflection.
Anguish and guilt are what at least some of the soldiers in the Army's 3rd Infantry Division, which has borne the brunt of the fighting in Iraq, are now experiencing. They have found themselves fighting a grossly outmatched opponent. The Christian Science Monitor quoted one 3rd Infantry Division soldier saying, "For lack of a better word, I feel almost guilty about the massacre. We wasted a lot of people. It makes you wonder how many were innocent. It takes away some of the pride. We won, but at what cost?"
The Monitor reported that as waves of Iraqis armed only with rifles came against U.S. armored divisions in Najaf, the U.S. commander called in an air strike on the factory sheltering the Iraqis rather than have his troops continue the slaughter. Lt. Col. Woody Radcliff at the 3rd Infantry Division Operations Center said, "There were waves and waves of people coming at them, with AK-47s, and they were killing everyone. The commander (in the field) called and said, 'This is not right.' This is insane. Let's hit the factory with close air support and take them out all at once."
"They have no command and control, no organization. They're just dying," said Brig. Gen. Louis Weber, as assistant commander with the 3rd Infantry. Last week the Division's 2nd Brigade Combat Team killed at least 1,000 Iraqis by direct fire on a single raid into Baghdad, reported Weber.
Should the disproportionality of what that solider termed "a massacre" surprise anyone? I think not. After all, Iraq is a nation whose total Gross National Product equals 15 percent of the GDP of the state of Washington. Half the population of Iraq is under the age of 15. And the annual defense budget was $1.4 billion, as compared with $400 billion for the United States. It has been a little like a pit bull taking on a particularly scrappy kitten. Only the morally atrophied can cheer such a victory, or portray it as Vice President Cheney has as "one of the greatest military campaigns in history."
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