The revolt against the generals.I am getting fed up with the generals and politicians who urge committing large numbers of new troops to Afghanistan Afghanistan (ăfgăn`ĭstăn', ăfgän'ĭstän`), officially Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, republic (2005 est. pop. 29,929,000), 249,999 sq mi (647,497 sq km), S central Asia. . Generals don't don't 1. Contraction of do not. 2. Nonstandard Contraction of does not. n. A statement of what should not be done: a list of the dos and don'ts. get killed, neither do politicians. But thousands of soldiers have lost their lives and many thousands more have suffered terrible wounds in Iraq or Afghanistan. There is a fact that I have stated several times in this column to little effect, but when I state it to strangers they are astonished a·ston·ish tr.v. as·ton·ished, as·ton·ish·ing, as·ton·ish·es To fill with sudden wonder or amazement. See Synonyms at surprise. . That fact is this: most enlisted en·list·ed adj. Of, relating to, or being a member of a military rank below a commissioned officer or warrant officer. enlisted Adjective men had to serve a total of only one year in Vietnam, many officers only six months. Please share this fact with all your friends. I dream of seeing an uprising against all the generals and politicians who blithely offer more soldiers to the meat grinder Grinder A slang term for a person who works in the investment industry and makes small amounts of money at a time on small investments, over and over again. Notes: of their third, fourth, or fifth combat tours, some lasting as long as eighteen months. My worst fear is that this is another example of pulling up the ladder. More than 90 percent of Americans do not serve in the military. They are no more likely to be killed than the generals and the politicians. I am very much afraid that they don't care as much as they should about this terrible problem. Charles Peters is the founding editor of the Washington Monthly. |
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