Silver State Libertarian Leanings

I don’t do much linking to other blogs, but this story deserves all of our attention. Ilario Pantano knows what it’s like to have the people he so honorably defended turn on him. We put Ilario on trial for actions considered “exessive” by people who sat safely in their homes while he risked his life to defend that safety. Now the media and the military have turned on Ilario’s friends, and once again, he doesn’t plan on taking it lying down.

Three years ago, I was leading Marines in Fallujah. Two years ago, with lawyers that many of you helped pay for, I walked into a courtroom at Camp Lejeune to face off against prosecutors in a fight for my life.  

Today, I am back in the fight, and ask for your help in defending a team of true American heroes. Drawn from the elite ranks of “Force Recon,” the hand-picked men of Marine Special Operations (MARSOC) are literally the best of the best, and instead of being honored they are being investigated for simply doing their job. Our commandos became the latest victims of rushed judgment and political posturing when they were accused of using “excessive force” to defend themselves during a suicide car-bomb triggered ambush targeting the Americans because some purportedly innocent Afghanis got caught in the cross-fire.

There is much, much more. I urge you to stop whatever you are doing and go read this, right now.

We, as a nation, have asked these young men and women to go do the things we are not willing to do. They wake up every day, from barely a nights sleep, on the ground, and go do things that would leave most of a traumatized for life. And they volunteer to do it. Many of them volunteer multiple times. Our payback for their years of selfless service is to arm chair quarterback every decision they make.

Many of these young men and women are barely out of highschool. We have deemed them not responsible enough to drink alcohol based on their age. Yet we expect them to be responsible enough to make split second life or death decision correctly every time.

I got in a car accident yesterday. It was a very minor one. Just a fender bender with a little bumper damage. I made a bad decision. I was backing up and did not act properly and did not make the correct split second decision. It happens to all of us from time to time. The difference is, no one died. Nobody but myself and the other driver even know about our bad decisions. So, if we make bad split second decision every day, how do we ruin the lives of others just because their decision carries more weight?

I’m not even saying the Marines in this situation made a bad decision. It looks to me like they did as they were trained. But I’m sure Soldiers and Marines make bad decisions in combat from time to time. When they do, innocent people die. It is part of combat. It is a part of combat that these men and women will have to live with the rest of their lives.

How do you, in a split second, decide who to shoot? These terrorists don’t wear uniforms and they use women and children to blow up our soldiers. How do you, in a split second, decide which un-uniformed men, women, and children are trying to kill you, and which ones aren’t? And we expect 100% accuracy. Anything less could wipe your entire service record clean of every honorable thing you have done and replace it with a life sentence in the brig.

Until those of us with sound mind make our voices heard, this is not going to stop. The newspapers, television stations, and the public are in no position to decide what was excesive at the time. These are highly trained men and women who are forced in make tough decision in a split second. It’s time we started trusting the decisions they are making, rathing then second guessing. They deserve every ounce of support we can give them.