Memo To the Brass: Loyalty is a Two Way Street

US military recruiting and retention has been a huge issue since the invasion of Iraq. Some news reports state that there is not much of a problem and retention is good; while recruitement is not great it isn't a disaster either. Others, of course, dispute this and maintain that the military draft will be required. Rep. Rangel belongs with the far left that wants no military recruiting and no US military, thereby making his calls for a military draft just another part of the left's strategy to stop military recruiting and support for the war.

In the USA Today story it is noted that recruits sign up for reasons other than money:

The Army was 15% ahead of its re-enlistment goal of 34,668 for the first six months of fiscal year 2006, which ended March 31. More than 39,900 soldiers had re-enlisted, according to figures scheduled to be released today by the Army.

"It's not just pay," Hilferty says. "Our people want to be part of something greater than themselves, and they're willing to put up with a lot."

But, are there limits to what they will "put up with," particularly enlisted men who are not intending to make the military their career?

One of the things the troops have had to put up with of late is being stabbed in the back by their own brass. Apparently, the brass is more concerned with currying favor with the CAIR than in supporting the troops in the field.

A case in point is Marine corporal Joshua Bellile and his song "Hadji Girl." The song lyrics are available here. In response to being lured into an ambush:

And she said…Durka Durka Mohammed JihadSherpa Sherpa Bak Allah Hadji girl, I can’t understand what you’re saying. Cause her brother and her father shouted…Durka Durka Mohammed JihadSherpa Sherpa Bak AllahThey pulled out their AKs so I could see.

Cpl. Bellile continued:

As the bullets began to flyThe blood sprayed from between her eyesAnd then I laughed maniacally. Then I hid behind the TVAnd I locked and loaded my M-16And I blew those little f*ckers to eternity.

Very commendable Cpl. Bellile. That's your job, sending terrrorists to the just rewards. Of course, when this song hit the internet, the traitorous Lamestream media and their fifth column allies at CAIR dropped all context and indulge in a feeding frenzy.

What is reprehensible is that the United States Marines sided with avowed traitors over the the troops:

"We agree with the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations [said Lieutenant Colonel Scott Fazekas, a Marine Corps spokesman] that the inappropriate actions of a few individuals should not tarnish the reputation of all American military personnel."

As of this time it appears the US Marines are backing off their original intent to throw Cpl. Bellile to the CAIR wolves. However, the Marines have apparently ordered Bellile not to perform the song on his own time and off the military base:

But according to a record producer who was planning to record Belile’s song for free, the corporal was told by his command that he couldn’t perform or record the song — even when he’s off-duty.
Eugene Fidell, president of the National Institute of Military Justice, said an order that prevents Belile from performing and recording the song in his off hours “certainly raises a First Amendment question in my mind.” “They could get him for disobedience, but there is still a question about whether the order is lawful,” Fidell said.

I won't be holding my breath for the ACLU or Lamestream media to defend the First Amendment rights of a Marine. Also, there has been no comment from CAIR, and the rest of the usual suspects, on the torture and murder of two American soldiers a few weeks ago.

A much more egregious case is that of the Camp Pendleton 8. Prior to being charged with any crime, these men were held in conditions that if obtained at Gitmo would have had the bedwetters in full froth:

The men are in solitary confinement, locked in 8'x8' cells at San Diego's Camp Pendleton, as investigators probe an April 26 incident involving the 3rd Battalion, 5th Regiment, 1st Marine Division. They are behind bars 23 hours a day; family members can only see them through inch-thick Plexiglas. Military blabbermouths have told the press that the service members are suspected of kidnapping and shooting a man in the Iraqi town of Hamdaniya. The Iraqi man's family reportedly came forward seeking payment for his death as media hysteria set in over the separate alleged atrocity in Haditha.

This story doesn't sound any different from the last military witch hunt of Lt. Ilario Pantano. Like Haditha this case may be about the practice of paying relatives of Iraqis killed by terror attacks "blood money." A stupid policy with predictable results. This is the position of one of the current defendants PFC John J. Jodka.

For those with long memories, this isn't anything new in our namby-pamby PC war against "terrorism." Don't forget how Col. Allen West was treated for saving the lives of his men.

Crossposted at The Dougout.