Let's read between the lines...

From an article in the current (Oct 13) Time magazine, by Brian Bennet.

W O R L D
Into The Danger Zone
U.S. paratroopers stage a show of force in Fallujah, the heart of the Iraqi resistance. The rebels immediately pick a fight
By BRIAN BENNETT/FALLUJAH

Monday, Oct. 13, 2003
"Charlie company had never done a foot patrol in downtown Fallujah before. There's a good reason: Fallujah is the most dangerous place in Iraq for a U.S. soldier to set boots to ground. The 82nd Airborne Division took command of Fallujah and its environs last month and wants to increase its presence inside the town that plays host to Iraq's most active resistance network. Taming the city that detonates an average of three homemade bombs a day against coalition forces is a duty of the 1-505 Parachute Infantry Regiment. On Thursday afternoon, Charlie Company's first platoon took the inaugural walk through the middle of town. The battalion commander was just sitting down to meet with a committee of local sheiks at the mayor's office when the shooting started across the street."

Okay, here we are, in the midst of a SASO op. (Security and Stabilization Ops)

We're here to help.

"At the front of the squad, Specialist John Fox was walking point, the first man in the formation. When he reached the corner in front of the mayor's office, Fox heard a pop and felt a round hit his bulletproof chest plate. Fox returned fire on a man in a blue shirt and jeans in the middle of the street, then took cover behind a silver Oldsmobile. The bullet had hit the smoke grenade on Fox's vest, and gray plumes were spraying into his face. The squad opened up on the gunman. His RPK machine gun dropped to the ground, and he collapsed in the street. The wounded gunman was still alive and quietly repeating in Arabic, "God is great!""

For you Vietnam vets out there, this should sound familiar - except for the part where the troop returns fire and drops the goblin - because the troop isn't seriously hurt - AT CLOSE RANGE. If you are one of the lucky ones who get 'em, the new body armor is damn good. Note to Rummy: Buy More! Excellent discipline on display here - and throughout.

Update: Blaster (comment below) sez the manufacturers are working to capacity.

"Sergeant Roger Vazquez decided the bleeding attacker might still be a threat and sprinted into the street to drag him away and search him for weapons. He grabbed the man by the belt and started pulling him under an overhang. A machine gun opened up from the roof across the street, and bullets hit the dirt around Vazquez's feet. The gunman's body was stuck on the curb. "Leave him, leave him," shouted a soldier. Still Vazquez persevered, getting the man onto the sidewalk and out of the line of fire. Vazquez patted him down, taking a set of prayer beads out of the dying man's pocket and placing them in his left hand."

I suspect, frankly, that SGT Vazquez was motivated as much from a sense of mercy as a concern for security. Why? Because you could have left the man there alone and covered by fire while you secured the area. And it would have been perfectly legit to leave the guy in the street and take cover after the MG opens up. Police back here at home do that all the time. And, if the goblins keep using acts of mercy to commit acts of violence, we'll start doing it there, too, as is only correct - but we'll be letting them define the level of beastliness. We'll cut our risks, but not reply in kind. But no, what does Vazquez do? He brings the guy back - even while the guy's pals are trying to kill them both - and then, in a final act of humanity, gives the guy his prayer beads. The reporter tells us this - but he doesn't seem to get the significance of it. I wonder if any troops of the 507th Maintenance Company got that kind of treatment during that firefight?

You soft-headed lefty libs out there - believe it or not - our troops are about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The 'resistance' is all about death, dying, and destroying. (Who am I kidding - I doubt there are any lefty-libs in my loyal 100 readers!)

"An American machine gunner atop the mayor's office shot up the roof where the fire was originating. After a few minutes, the squad threw cans of gray and yellow smoke for cover. They carried the wounded man across the street to the mayor's office, where a medic did his best to save him, but within five minutes he was dead. The squad cleared the apartment building from which the shooter had fired but found nothing. Down the street, a 32-year-old woman had caught a bullet in the throat during the cross fire. After it was all over, Fox, 26, showed off the M-16 magazines on his vest that had exploded when the bullet hit them. The flak vest saved his life. Inside his breast pocket, the picture he keeps of his daughter Amanda, 4, survived the shooting without harm."

I'm a little conflicted here. A reporter who reports? Wow. Bennet doesn't take the opportunity to slam policy, nor does he explain it. But neither does he comment on the significant differences in approach to a common problem both sides are taking. My first attraction to this story is how great it felt to been one of the guys who helped build this army, even if I'm too broken down and old to be an active player any more. (Though my current job does involve helping the Army continue to transform to meet the new missions while still being able to kick anybody's ass that needs kickin'!).

That's the heart of how I concluded my Operation Gothic Serpent post - and that little bit of extra something is what makes other non-western armies fear us. You can take out our officers - and it won't matter. Their jobs were done before we crossed the LD. It's the Sergeants who are going to kick your ass into next week.