[War] US: For whom the bell tolls

[pentaj2 at Scranton.edu]

"For Whom The Bell Tolls"
25 September 2006
President John Williams
USA
==============

"General...If the families of the deceased agree, I see no reason why 
cameras should *not* be covering arrival ceremonies. What do we have 
to hide?" Williams asked into the phone.

"Understood, sir," answered the commander of Dover AFB.

"Now then...Next time we have an arrival ceremony, warn me. I plan on 
hopping over in Marine One and making an appearance. No extra security 
needed, period. None wanted, either."

"Yes sir....You'd be the first to do that, y'know, sir."

"Yeah. I have no idea why it's taken so long."

"They're going to ask why you don't show up at every one."

"Because there isn't time. But when the chance arises, I figure I have 
an obligation."

"Yes sir."

Dover would put out the press release, quietly.

Policy was changing.

For over a decade, the news media had been banned from covering the 
arrival of the remains of US troops killed overseas to CONUS, and the 
arrival ceremonies that accompanied that solemn occasion.

The policy had come from SECDEF. Now, POTUS was ending that ban. If 
the families agreed (and it would be, absolutely, the family's 
decision), pool coverage of the arrival ceremonies would be allowed. 
It would be coverage strictly controlled, but only to maintain the 
dignity and solemnity of the proceedings, not to suppress anything. If 
they wanted to go live, so be it.
---
<19 September: Dover AFB, 1020 EDT>

Quietly, the helicopter touched down, and the passengers got out. 
POTUS was making an unannounced visit. He was met by the commander of 
the base, but nobody else. Nobody else knew except the families, who 
had agreed to the President's presence.

Within a few minutes, they were hidden amongst the crowds, as the 
plane touched down on the runway. When it came to a stop, the ceremony 
began, and the President, alone, stepped forward with the officers who 
would recieve the remains.

As the Honor Guard carried the caskets to the waiting hearses, 
accompanied by the sound of bagpipes playing "Goin' Home", salutes 
were rendered to the honored dead.

As the caskets were loaded into the hearses, the salute was held.

Then, after the doors closed and the hearses began to move off to the 
morutary center, came the moment of truth.

Meeting with the families.

The first part was ritual, the words only a slightly modified form of 
those spoken throughout the centuries.

To one of the mothers, a 45-year-old woman from Montclair, New Jersey, 
he spoke in beginning the ritual. His words were soft, but loud enough 
for the families to hear.

"Ma'am, on behalf of a grateful nation, I extend my condolences and 
the condolences of the American people to you for the loss of your 
son, Sergeant Rodriguez."

"Thank you, Mr. President."

Nobody had been briefed, nobody had to be. Williams had decided what 
to say impromptu, but it still sounded not too different than what she 
would hear when the flag was presented to her at the end of her son's 
funeral.

Then came the harder part. After Williams had taken a few moments to 
express his condolences to each of the families and speak with them a 
bit, he began speaking to the group.

"Well...I guess this is sort of an open floor moment. I...I had the 
unhappy occasion of being the CO in a number of cases over my military 
career, when someone was lost in the line of duty. Right now, I 
guess...Say what's on your mind. I'm listening."

So much of what they said was not focused on the war, not on how their 
loved ones had died, but was personal. Recollections of the lives of 
those lost.

"Mr. President, you went through Ranger school, right?"

Anita Mendez, the mother of a 25-year old Lieutenant lost in iraq.

"Yes, I did. If I recall correctly, your son had just graduated and 
gotten his tab before this tour, hadn't he?"

"Yes, he did. He...he was so proud at completing it. I...I was 
wondering. When he came home, he was covered in bug bites. Was it as 
bad for you?"

John smiled comfortingly at that. "Ma'am, as we get older, the bug 
bites are always worse, the river is always deeper -"

"-And the fish that got away is always *this* big," commented one of 
the fathers, extending his arms out wide and getting laughter from the 
group.

"Exactly," replied the President with a smile. "Ma'am...Yeah, I 
remember that the bugs ate me alive. Life in the Florida swamps."

With that, things loosened up and opened up. They spent the next hour, 
far, far longer than the President had anticipated, sitting someplace 
quiet, swapping stories, exchanging opinions.

"Mr. President...Why...Why are we in Iraq?"

That question from another mother. John could only look thoughtful for 
a second.

"Ma'am...You ask 20 different people, you will get 20 different 
answers. My view? I think we went into Iraq because, though we found 
out later that our intelligence was faulty, we thought we had to deal 
with a threat. I know that, in Congress, I was thinking along those 
lines when I decided how to vote. I thought that what I saw *did* 
indicate a threat. If I had known we were wrong, maybe I would have 
decided differently, but at the time, I could only go off what 
information I had available to me, and my own instincts.

"Why are we in Iraq now? Because, well...We helped create the 
situation. We owe it to the Iraqis and to the wider region to deal 
with the consequences. That will be, that *is* now, a very painful 
mission, both on a national level and, for yourselves, a very personal 
level. My *aim* is to get our troops home...When the mission lets us 
do that. Far better, I think, that we salvage something from all this, 
even at the risk of casaulties, than to pull out to avoid casaulties 
and therefore lose everything."

Nods from the group.

"I'm not sure I entirely agree, but I...That's probably the best 
explanation I've heard for everything, ever, in these past few years."

John nodded then. "It's also an explanation the news media could never 
fit into a soundbite, therefore it never really gets to the general 
public. Listen, I know better than anybody we've made mistakes. Some 
massive mistakes. We completely screwed up the initial occupation 
phase, from 9 April 03 onward, for example. Nut I also know that 
that's in the past. Right now, America is being judged by the world on 
how well we can at least leave *some* progress in the Middle East."

"What about Afghanistan?"

"Afghanistan is a lot...easier to explain, Mr. Robertson. Afghanistan, 
we went in after 9/11 to do two things: One, knock out the Al Qaeda 
infrastructure in the country. Two, knock over the Taliban. OK, both 
were done. But in knocking over the Taliban, we then have to provide 
support for the government that follows, which we're doing now."

"Then why are we fighting the Taliban? And what about finding Osama?"

"The Taliban, sir, are waging an insurgency against the Afghan 
government, which we are helping to counter. Osama...Truth be told, my 
best guess is that Osama is in Pakistan, in a part of Pakistan no 
government since the British Raj has ever really *controlled*. Yes, we 
want to find him and capture him, but going into Pakistan risks the 
collapse of the Pakistani government, which would probably be replaced 
by Islamic fundamentalists. Pakistan has nuclear weapons. Ergo, while 
finding Osama is *important*, we have to weigh it against what 
operations to find him would do. If we do it the wrong way, we risk 
finding Osama...And creating an even bigger crisis as we do."

Nods. "Mr. President, are you sure you couldn't explain this to the 
American people?"

"My press people say 'No, their eyes will glaze over and they'll flip 
the channel to watch infomercials.'"

"Your press people give the American people too little credit."

"Agreed, but I still am afraid of putting them to sleep when I talk."

Chuckles from everybody.

"Mr. President...I'm not a Republican. I'm a loyal Democrat."

"So's my family; I only went Republican in Congress because they 
practically own the political life where I lived. I...sit between 
parties uneasily."

That got grins and nods. "You and everybody else, sir. But 
anyway...Why not enlist us to spread that message?"

Williams shook his head. "No. Thanks for the offer, but no. The war is 
a political issue, and I will not do anything that would seem to 
politicize the families of war dead."

"Cindy Sheehan does."

"She's wrong. She has a right to her opinion, but using your son's 
death while in service to his country to score political points is 
just...No. We do not politicize the military, period. People of every 
imaginable political persuasion wear the uniform. The military *must* 
be apolitical, or it undermines 230 years of civil-military relations."

"Fair point."

"Mr. President...I know people in the media. I work with NBC, as a 
producer for the Nightly News. Why not start writing articles? We 
could get them into the Op-Ed pages, and from there, everybody else 
will cover them."

"It's a thought. Folks, if you could give me phone numbers, email 
addresses...I'll think about all of this and talk to you. We can 
develop all this, if you want to help. I wish I could stay all day, 
but, right now, my BlackBerry is beeping like I ought to get moving."

"What time is it?" Someone else asked.

"1220."

"Oh, Jeez. Yeah, I need to go make some calls home." Another person 
responded.

Williams pulled out his personaL, unofficial cellphone. "Use mine if 
you need to."

"Thanks."
---
Actions:
1. Policy change: Media coverage of arrival ceremonies of remains, by 
pool reporters, is no longer banned, but is instead left as a decision 
for the families.
2. POTUS will make an *effort* to visit funerals of deceased soldiers 
and arrival ceremonies at Dover AFB. Can't make every one, but we will 
try.
3. Chat with the families, as above. Very open, very "unhandled".
4. Start talking to the newspapers about turning those explanations 
into Op-Eds and getting them into print.