Battle-Hardened

Tom Toles and the Washington Post has taken a lot of criticism for this cartoon:
Critics contend Toles is making light of the people in the military, especially those who have been wounded in the line of duty.

When I first saw the cartoon, that was not my reaction at all. When I saw it, I first noticed the wounded person. When I saw it was a cartoon about the military - because of the "Dr. Rumsfeld" - I knew it was a cartoon about all the service people, men and women, who are being maimed while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

And I "got" the point Toles was trying to make by showing Rumsfeld label the soldier as "battle-hardened."

And what is that point?

Too often, the Bush Administration has issued comments that spin away the realities of war.

Remember Rumsfeld's comments about inadequate armor to protect our soldiers in Iraq? How he said you "you go to war with the army you have, not the army you might want or wish to have"?

More recently, Rumsfeld claimed that the military is not having a problem recruiting or retaining soldiers. However, he didn't acknowledge the role of the Pentagon's "stop loss" policy on retaining soldiers or the effect of lowered standards (or should we just say "relaxed" standards?) on boosting recruiting numbers.

We all know that war is a horrendous experience for the men and women we send into battle. And even that description may be an understatement for those who come home terribly disfigured or maimed. We know it is an understatement for soldiers who come home dead - and for their friends and family.

However, respect and honor for our service members should not be used as a political tool to stifle dissent over how a war is prosecuted - or whether we should have gone to war in the first place.

Our military serves a democratic (albeit republican) form of government. Thus, the soldiers fulfill missions that are prescribed through open and free debate of their society's citizens.

To try to stifle that debate is to undermine the foundation of democratic self-governance - and to undermine the government that the military represents.

It seems that is the greatest way one can show disrespect and dishonor to our military.