Let’s get rid of all the distracting details that muddy up the subject.
Personal note: The Ronald Reagan International Airport is in Virginia, not in D.C. But I am moved by George Washington’s demonstration that the distance between them could be easily breached by throwing a silver dollar across that border. So let’s just excuse that detail for now, and move along.
Certainly the propaganda wheel will keep spinning us around in circles for eternity and my simple uneducated words will do nothing to slow it down. But I continually perceive that the greatest and most mind boggling truths are the simplest and most obvious: You know, the ones, where you slap your forehead and say, “Why didn’t I see that?!”
Yet, we are presented a host of unnecessary distractions to argue about, building ornate boxes to house our discussions and pointing our fingers at phantoms in a blame game.
Okay, now, as promised, I present: “The Child’s Guide”:
A bit of common sense editing is all that is required. Headlines should read:
“Military Training Operation Results in the Deaths of Three Military Personnel and Sixty Four Non-Participant Civilians.”
The article would expand the particular details, reflecting that this “training mission” was conducted in a highly populated public space, and for the most part, the civilian toll consisted of those between the ages of 11 to 18 years. That’s really all you have to know.
All the weeping and wailing would never have happened if one of the two combatants had not shown up for the duel to the death. I wonder: should we abandon the airport to nothing but the military, or should we demand that the military play their games exclusively among themselves in their own sandlot?
Personally, I find it rather disturbing that 67 (mostly children) perished because those that are supposed to protect us were too busy in “training” to do exactly that.
Dennis Shain
Centralia
