European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 5, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                              July 2007 stars and stripes Mideast edition Page 13 opinion civilian leaders marching orders out of line by John Crisp with Little in 2000 the military Academy abandoned the army its Mas cot since and reassured its historical the Black in the late 19th Century nearly every sol Dier was familiar with the am big Long eared offspring of a Donkey and a this double natured beast per formed much of our country hard labor in pre mechanized its Virtues were catalogued by novelist William Faulkner the mule was depend Able and Able to Bear almost any Burden and endure nearly any on the other the flip Side of tenacity is and the mule was known also As some times mean spirited and not very in perhaps his most famous Faulkner said that a mule will labor patiently and willingly for you for 10 years just for the privilege of kicking you so even in the late 19th the mule was probably a Semi facetious Choice for a but a mascots symbolic Power changes Over and by 2000 the age of the mule had the army has As the modern Al Volun Teer Force is More professional and better trained in the technical Capaci ties that modern warfare taken our military is clearly the most powerful and capable Force on weve got to Stop treating it like a the heavy burdens of our War in Afghanistan completely justified and our War in Iraq extremely dubious have been borne almost entirely on the shoulders of our Mili tary and their to sum up what Many others have bad decisions by inept and misguided civilians near the be ginning have turned the War in Iraq into a meat grinding Nightmare of extended and multiple undermanned units and inadequate Uncertain com Bat objectives and poor treatment for the wounded upon return to the the civilians continue to compound these miserable imagining that just a Little More Force will resolve when nearly everyone understands that the Only solution is political rather than through it our military has responded to this mishandling with the dependable tenacity of a As it has done everything that has been asked of it with sin Gle minded in few Branch bureaus or agencies of the Federal government function with the level of compe tence and Success that our military achieves when it is Given Clear objectives suitable to its but somewhere theres a limit to mule like compliance with increasingly questionable and misguided from the safety of some senior officers have objected to our policies in like Eric of were ignored and then saw no Choice but to a grassroots organization called Appeal for redress is providing a venue for soldiers in the lower ranks to object respectfully to our course in and to Date More than have done at these objections Are unlikely to have much Impact on our policies in but in our a lot depends on a willingness to comply with the important constitutional principle that subordinates our military forces to civilian for the most the military has willingly stayed on the right Side of the in spite of its Over Extension and misuse in Pursuit of bad i suspect that its loyalty to the Constitution and the Rule of Law will cause it to continue to do but civilians have put the military in a dangerous dilemma from which it cannot constitutionally extract even though Many like their fellow recognize the futility of the administration is unwilling to change course in leaving the Protection of our Mili tary in the hands of Congress and the Vot our soldiers Are powerful and doggedly persistent in Pursuit of a Good but our military has also the fragility of a Force made up of intelligent volunteers who Are used to thinking for Treyve done their its time for the civilians to begin to do Happy Independence Scripps Howard news service columnist John Crisp teaches in the English department at Del mar College in Corpus this generation of warriors faces different Odyssey by Arthur Cyr the fourth of july celebrates com local As Well As parades featuring people in uniform firefighters and police As Well As the military and oth ers traditionally Are a military uniforms remind us of the role of War in our history and our from ancient parades have been vital to the reintegration of warriors into War is profoundly disruptive and disturbing As Well As even the rare Man who finds combat invigorating and rewarding is in severe need of an Hon Oring Welcome after the killing chronicler of the Trojan was extremely sensitive to the great classic is presented in two the Iliad focuses on the fighting and related interplay involving greeks and trojans the Odyssey describes the very Long voyage Home of greek Leader Ulysses and his they traverse allegorical Geog a struggling to put the horrors of kill and the dangers of being be Hind George Patton a very great american combat was extremely mindful of this he and James who led the first air raid on were featured in a special Cere Mony in the los Angeles coliseum after the surrender of nazi Patton celebrated the accomplishments of the third army in the victorious drive across in honouring his he stressed in particular the who lost their lives in that final year of the Patton made such state ments regularly in the few months remain ing until his own such confirmation is particularly important for warriors representing modern de our egalitarian ethos and efforts to abide by the Rule of Law contrast starkly with the traditional martial in world War Allied troops were often welcomed warmly by Peoples Liber ated from Axis understand our Media gave special emphasis to this the korean War created very Strong Bonds Between the United states and the people As Well As the very effective military of South the first Gulf War liberated an oppressed pop the Vietnam and Iraq wars have been during military personnel were often discouraged from Dis cussing the subject with opposition to the War became hostility to our own there was no collective Wel come Many Middle aged vets of that War suffer without a Trou bled and the Iraq War has evolved without this a recent trip to Washington provided a reminder of the visibility of the uniformed especially on Public the constant rotation of personnel Back to Iraq is unfair As Well As enormous psychological strains Are added to physical and families suffer our current political leaders Are putting their own interests far above the needs of our july fourth is not a Day for i depth for Eig policy but is particularly appropriate for recognizing and honouring individually As Well As collective wherever and whenever you find please also encourage them to run for Public we won the cold War in part because members of the greatest generation who served in the military also served in every president from Harry Truman through George Bush was a what Washington needs above All is the sort of sensible realism such men and women bring to Arthur Cyr is Clausen distinguished professor at Carthage College in and author of after the cold War Nyu press and he wrote this column for Scripps Howard news prickly City by Scott Stantis of there Goleta to be