(Also available in Orange)
For the past year or so, he's been laying low in a European posting, counting down the days until he could leave the Army and resign his commission. He's only a few months out from that date - he's "short," in other words - and for the past several months I've been keeping my fingers crossed, hoping against hope that he wouldn't be stop-lossed back to Iraq. His stepfather, my friend, has been telling himself that his stepson has been "under the radar" in Europe, and that the Army had probably forgotten about him.
The Army hadn't forgotten about him. Today, his stepfather got this e-mail from Steve:
Well, it happened. I've been hit with the Army's Stop Loss policy.
He's headed back in. They're sending him back into a combat zone for at least a year.
Damn. Looks like that beer is gonna hafta wait.
The other day, I was eating lunch in our company's lunchroom when a guy I work with, a vet who flew dozens of missions over North Vietnam, told of a wedding he had been to recently. He said he had chatted up a young officer on leave who was between tours in Iraq. He said he had asked the officer how things were over there. "Not good," was the reply. The officer didn't elaborate.
In a dark moment after that conversation in the lunchroom, I got to thinking that the BushCheney administration must especially love the Stop Loss order for a benefit that even they may not have foreseen:
Keeping in uniform those who have witnessed the horrors of Iraq helps to stifle the truth about the occupation of Iraq.
Callous, but true. Officers in the U.S. military traditionally observe a "code of silence" while they serve; they refrain from openly criticizing their civilian leadership. That's why it was big news last year when several retired generals broke ranks (so to speak) and leveled strong criticism toward the administration's handling of the situation in Iraq.
Some of the generals challenging Mr. Rumsfeld have said they regret not speaking up while they were on active duty.
But the fact that every one of those generals was retired merely underscored the hold that the Code of Silence has on even the highest-ranking among the military brass. Imagine what it would take for an enlisted grunt to speak out against the war.
And what would they say, if they could?
"Most people I know think these retired officers are right and wish they had done it while they were in uniform," said one Army colonel who served in Iraq and who was granted anonymity because he was concerned about hurting his military career.
But they won't speak up. Because they're still in uniform. And the Pentagon is doing everything it can to keep them in uniform. Which will keep them silent.
In the Mob, they have their own code of silence - it's called omertá. And, in the Mob, as they say, once you're in, you're in. The only way out is in a box.
Sounds familiar.
Bumper Stickers & MORE
