Sentimentality, Wasted
In a monumental tribute to bad taste and the exploitation of a parent's tragic misunderstanding, the Washington Post has outdone itself with this opinion today, "A Life, Wasted".
The piece was written by Paul Schroeder managing director of a trade development firm in Cleveland, and the unfortunate father of a slain U.S. Marine, Lance Corporal Edward "Augie" Schroeder II. Certainly Mr, Schroeder's loss tugs at the heart strings of most of us; Americans, mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters. And his involvement, as the Post presents it, as a begrieved and concerned average American father, seems legitimate enough. Unless, of course, you know what the Post should tell you, but rarely ever does in their daily maelstrom of contempt for the Bush administration.
Paul Schroeder is no average American, at least in the sense that most average Americans would consider themselves average, which is not necessarily what the Post associates with average. He was, in fact, Ohio's first trade liaison to China, serving at the behest of former Governor Richard Celeste, who was famous for being appointed as the Director of the Peace Corps by Jimmy Carter, becoming embroiled in his father's fraudulent bankruptcy declaration, nearly being indicted with a great many of his political appointees, and approving his wife's "informal" judicial litmus test, demanding that any judge appointed must be in favor of abortion on demand. (For all this, he was later appointed by Bill Clinton as ambassador to India.)
Mr. Schroeder's life's work and major passion, China, undoubtedly often put him at odds with many policies of the Bush administration. It is no wonder that the loss of his child would further exacerbate any animosity and lead to the heart-felt and well-intentioned, if not well thought out condemnation of the war in Iraq.
Indeed, Mr. Schroeder is bitter and angry, as he should be. The fault does not lie in his grief, but in the Post's contemptuous exploitation of it. Even if we pardon their deception in passing Mr. Schroeder off as an unbiased man, far from the realm of politics, noble in his grief, how can we pardon the publication of Mr Schroeder's assertions, made in the deepest throngs of devout sadness, which come across as immutable laws of physics yet derive from nothing more than mere opinion:
Though it hurts, I believe that his death -- and that of the other Americans who have died in Iraq -- was a waste. They were wasted in a belief that democracy would grow simply by removing a dictator -- a careless misunderstanding of what democracy requires. They were wasted by not sending enough troops to do the job needed in the resulting occupation -- a careless disregard for professional military counsel.
Once again, the Post has handed us emotive speculation when we need facts and perspective. All war is hard. All wars create death. In every war since the beginning of time, commanders and soldiers in the field have groused about a lack of men, materials, and ammunition. Patton was famous for it in WWII, but it didn't stop him from plowing across Europe and it hasn't stopped our recent military success in Iraq. That is not to disregard the personal scarifices of the fallen and their families, but in context, and with perspective, Iraq has been far less lethal than any previous war.
Again, the restoration of Europe to political order and the creation of democracy in Japan was not an easy task. Many young Americans persihed on far away shores after the the greatest military conflicts had subsided. But the job still got done even as papers like the Post lamented the "exorbinant" costs and claimed the Marshall Plan would never succeed.
The piece was written by Paul Schroeder managing director of a trade development firm in Cleveland, and the unfortunate father of a slain U.S. Marine, Lance Corporal Edward "Augie" Schroeder II. Certainly Mr, Schroeder's loss tugs at the heart strings of most of us; Americans, mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters. And his involvement, as the Post presents it, as a begrieved and concerned average American father, seems legitimate enough. Unless, of course, you know what the Post should tell you, but rarely ever does in their daily maelstrom of contempt for the Bush administration.
Paul Schroeder is no average American, at least in the sense that most average Americans would consider themselves average, which is not necessarily what the Post associates with average. He was, in fact, Ohio's first trade liaison to China, serving at the behest of former Governor Richard Celeste, who was famous for being appointed as the Director of the Peace Corps by Jimmy Carter, becoming embroiled in his father's fraudulent bankruptcy declaration, nearly being indicted with a great many of his political appointees, and approving his wife's "informal" judicial litmus test, demanding that any judge appointed must be in favor of abortion on demand. (For all this, he was later appointed by Bill Clinton as ambassador to India.)
Mr. Schroeder's life's work and major passion, China, undoubtedly often put him at odds with many policies of the Bush administration. It is no wonder that the loss of his child would further exacerbate any animosity and lead to the heart-felt and well-intentioned, if not well thought out condemnation of the war in Iraq.
Indeed, Mr. Schroeder is bitter and angry, as he should be. The fault does not lie in his grief, but in the Post's contemptuous exploitation of it. Even if we pardon their deception in passing Mr. Schroeder off as an unbiased man, far from the realm of politics, noble in his grief, how can we pardon the publication of Mr Schroeder's assertions, made in the deepest throngs of devout sadness, which come across as immutable laws of physics yet derive from nothing more than mere opinion:
Though it hurts, I believe that his death -- and that of the other Americans who have died in Iraq -- was a waste. They were wasted in a belief that democracy would grow simply by removing a dictator -- a careless misunderstanding of what democracy requires. They were wasted by not sending enough troops to do the job needed in the resulting occupation -- a careless disregard for professional military counsel.
Once again, the Post has handed us emotive speculation when we need facts and perspective. All war is hard. All wars create death. In every war since the beginning of time, commanders and soldiers in the field have groused about a lack of men, materials, and ammunition. Patton was famous for it in WWII, but it didn't stop him from plowing across Europe and it hasn't stopped our recent military success in Iraq. That is not to disregard the personal scarifices of the fallen and their families, but in context, and with perspective, Iraq has been far less lethal than any previous war.
Again, the restoration of Europe to political order and the creation of democracy in Japan was not an easy task. Many young Americans persihed on far away shores after the the greatest military conflicts had subsided. But the job still got done even as papers like the Post lamented the "exorbinant" costs and claimed the Marshall Plan would never succeed.
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