Posted by Tina
Editorial: “The Smiley Face Medal” – Washington Times
U.S. troops who overcome their natural urge to slaughter civilians will get awards for showing heroic restraint – at least that’s the message being sent by a proposed new service medal. ** The proposal circulating around the headquarters of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan would establish a decoration to be awarded in those situations in which troops refrain from using lethal force, even at risk to themselves, so as not to endanger civilian lives. An ISAF spokesman said that, “in some situations our forces face in Afghanistan, that restraint is an act of discipline and courage not much different than those seen in combat actions.”
I will leave it to those now serving our country, or our esteemed veterans, to tell us what they think of this development. The Washington Times editors had this to say:
The current rules of engagement in Afghanistan, adopted in July, were meant to decrease civilian casualties and help win hearts and minds. But an ABC News poll taken in Afghanistan last December showed 43 percent of Afghans saying ISAF’s record of avoiding civilian casualties has gotten worse, against 24 percent saying it has improved. Afghan Interior Ministry data from March 21 to April 21 show almost six civilians a day being killed in Afghanistan, a 33 percent increase over the same period in 2009. Meanwhile, U.S. troop fatalities in Afghanistan for the first three months of 2010 were double the number over the same period in 2009. Since April, they have been triple. All of those statistics are moving in the wrong direction, and a smiley face medal is not the solution.