But in reading the DoD press releases, I detect more than a hint of overt effort to rationalize.
Link
BAGHDAD – An improvised explosive device detonated near a dismounted Multi-National Division - Baghdad patrol, killing two Soldiers southwest of the Iraqi capital Dec. 27.
The unit was conducting a dismounted security patrol on a well-traveled route when a roadside bomb exploded near them; another Soldier was also wounded in the explosion.
In the last two weeks, the unit involved in this attack successfully found multiple roadside bombs and several large weapons caches during ongoing operations aimed at curtailing terrorist activity in the area.
Less than one week prior to this attack, the unit observed terrorists emplacing a roadside bomb alongside a road in the area and successfully detained five suspects. The unit secured the site while an explosive ordnance team successfully disabled the roadside bomb, consisting of two 122mm artillery rounds.Of course it is good to know that these guys were successful in several missions prior to the one in which they got blown to pieces. But to me its like saying you managed to protect your sand castle from the first wave of the incoming tide before the next one washed it away. And since the IED's and weapons they found were intended for them, the relative numbers don't mean anything. It's not like they saved any lives with those successes. It's like completing several passes before throwing an interception that is returned for a game-winning touchdown. You still lose, and the completed passes are little solace. It's good to know that if they were actually assigned to something like ferreting out terrorists in New York City they would be good at it. Or defending Iraq, for that matter, if a friendly government were under siege. But here they are just defending themselves against the tide.
On the page with the press release is a list of related topics:
* British troops find huge cache
* Coalition forces wound 1 suspected terrorist, capture 8 others
* Marine killed in Al Anbar
* IA Soldiers find munitions, detain terrorists
* Company unearths weapons cache, detains terror suspects
* Coalition Forces stop terrorist IED emplacers
* Pushing freight: ATOC moves cargo quickly
* Two MND-B pilots killed in helicopter crash
* Iraqi Army gain NCOs and new medical facilities
* Saddam faces trial for attacks on Kurds
* Terrorist leader captured
* MND-B Soldiers capture murder suspects
* Iraqis urged to form government; security forces diminish terrorists' supplies
* Iraqi Freedom Day
* Iraqi, Coalition Forces conduct Operation Bastogne
And this tidbit:
Freedom Facts ::
Women comprise 25% of the Iraqi Parliament, which is the highest proportion in the Arab world and one of the largest percentages worldwide.
The DoD Public Affairs folks are soldiering on, trying their damnedest to make the best of this no-win situation. Of course when announcing these tragic deaths, it would be wrong to say something like "more useless slaughter"; that would be horribly hurtful to families and comrades. I suspect, though, that there is more than one DoD employee muttering that they can't see the emperor's clothes.
In VN the primary means of disinformation to rationalize was to claim roughly a 100-1 ratio of enemy killed to our losses. But our sand castle still washed away.