Hold Your Horses

Robin Roberts breathlessly introduced ABC's Good Morning America today with what she called a reporter on the scene of a "violent battle" between US Marines and the Taliban in Afghanistan. The reporter was indeed on hand at a firefight but it was nowhere near what could be termed a battle, just more hyperbolic pimping by the ignorant anti-war media. It was combat alright- a small unit action between a squad from the USMC and two groups of Taliban comprised of about five men each. The on-site journalist did not find himself at Tarawa or Khe Sanh but in a hysterically exaggerated skirmish and a minor one at that. I obviously have not seen the after action report but judging from the footage as was done with Signal Corps film going back since the portable movie camera accompanied American troops, here is what happened. A handful of hostiles opened fire from three directions and our forces easily repelled them with small arms fire including one forty millimeter round from an M203 mounted under an M4. US return fire largely suppressed the Taliban until an armored Humvee chased the enemy off with a few bursts of fire from an M240 7.62 millimeter turret-mounted machine gun. No artillery or air support was required in this almost non-event the media ignoramuses described as a "violent battle" as if there is some other kind. When my grandparents owned a liquor store in a bad neighborhood more rounds were flying in the nine armed robberies they fought off albeit sans grenade than in this hyped up new Iwo Jima. Get a grip you guys- combat by its nature is violence and thank God none of our personnel were injured in the little melee that ABC's correspondent happened to be on hand to record.