U.S. Army Pfc. Michael Padilla provides overwatch from the mountains of Maiden Shar in Afghanistan's Wardak province, Sept. 1, 2013. Padilla is assigned to Company A, 3rd Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Rachel M. Copeland
What War Means -- Frank Bruni, New York Times
IN the feverish debate about a strike against Syria, there was a phrase that rankled, a shorthand that shortchanged the potential consequences and costs of military engagement.
“Boots on the ground.” It’s what the Obama administration told us that we needn’t worry about. It’s what lawmakers and pundits said that voters could never abide.
No “boots on the ground.” Definitely not “boots on the ground.” It was as if we were talking about footwear: rest assured, folks, wingtips and Birkenstocks are out of the question. But we were talking about lives, about American servicemen and servicewomen, the kind who were dispatched for dubious reasons to Iraq and less dubious ones to Afghanistan, some of whom didn’t come back, some of whom will never be the same.
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My Comment: Could not have said it any better.
