Letters to the Editor
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Paglia's ridiculousness
But things will be vastly different: no more happy facade of pacification and reconstruction; no more corrupt protectionism of commercial contractors; no more costly police or military training of volatile, faithless local recruits; no more intrusive neighborhood patrols with our soldiers blown to smithereens by cheap booby traps. It will be real war, heavily applied by air force, with maximum damage inflicted at minimal cost to our troops.
This paragraph shows Paglia has no concept of what's going on in Iraq, and has no credibility. The "costly" police training is what might save Iraq; many of the "faithless" local recruits are the Iraqi patriots willing to stand up for their country. Who would the "maximum damage" in Paglia's "real war" be inflicted on? The populace? The police? Who? Didn't we already have the "real war?"
It's hard to respect Paglia as anything but a moderate Republican who calls herself a "Democrat" so she can be paid by Salon for a column that wouldn't be published if she was honest about her real identity. But, her complete misunderstanding of reality in Iraq is something that can't be ignored.
I am a freelance writer and just returned from a monthlong embed with the 82nd Airborne...that's a drop in the bucket compared to what our soldiers spend there, but in that short time I can promise you I am well aware that Paglia has no idea what she's talking about, and in the words of an 82nd NCO, she and other living room patriots should "keep their crazy ideas to themselves."