Soccer Dad: Baby killers, not - military monday 5

June 26, 2006

Baby killers, not - military monday 5

One of the most popular posts here at Soccer Dad is this picture:

Pfc. Oscar Buonafina, of Reseda, Calif., from Company C, 215th Forward Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, a driver currently tasked as a chaplains assistant, allows a child at the Salhiya Orphanage to play with his Gameboy, during a Task Force 3-8 Cavalry medical humanitarian assistance mission Dec. 9. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Susan German, 122nd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment)

But the story of Pfc. Buonfina isn't isolated. in his case he was on a mission:

Soldiers from Task Force 3-8 Cavalry were conducting a medical humanitarian assistance mission at the orphanage located in the Salhiya neighborhood of the Karkh District of Baghdad Dec. 9.

The visit allowed medical staff to check on any ill children, as well as provide medical supplies to the staff, Maj. (Dr.) David Harford, the task force surgeon.

But if you know where to look you see many more examples of the humanitarian efforts of American soldiers whose job isn't just to fight the bad guys, but to help the innocents.

If you know where to look there are a number (not a huge number) of photographs and articles about these humanitarian efforts. Today when I went to the army.mil website I was greeted with the following photograph:

by Tech. Sgt. Jeremy T. Lock

June 23, 2006

Capt. David Best, a platoon leader from the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, checks up on his favorite Iraqi family during a foot patrol in Badush, a town to the west of Mosul. �The family has kind of adopted me," he said. This photo appeared on www.army.mil.

If the brutality that too often gets reported were a regular part of the American campaigns in Iraq or Afghanistan we wouldn't have these pictures. Then the American military would not be boasting of its compassion.

Not only does the Army website have photographs of soldiers helping, treating or playing with Iraqi, Afghan or other children, so to does the website Defend America. A quick search there and we can learn of the soldiers who built a playground for Iraqi children out of scrap metal or the soldiers delivering essential and toys to orphans. The latter article quotes Cpt. Scott Ginsburg who says

�There are two sides to war. There is a lethal side and a non-lethal side, and obviously our job is to form great relationships with the people.�

It's good to know that American army can be involved in the former when necessary without ignoring about the latter.

UPDATE: I read this article in the orthodontist's office the other day that alleges

Rumsfeld is especially enamored of McChrystal's "direct action" forces or so-called SMUs�Special Mission Units�whose job is to kill or capture bad guys, say Pentagon sources who would speak about Special Ops only if they were not identified. But critics say the Pentagon is short-shrifting the "hearts and minds" side of Special Operations that is critical to counterinsurgency�like training foreign armies and engaging with locals.

I think that there's a lot of "engaging with the locals" I just don't think that the MSM has much interest in covering it.

Technorati tags: Military Monday, Humanitarian Aid.