Are You Surprised at William Arkin?

William Arkin is a writer for the Washington Post. He wrote a column this week filled with veiled threats against our military. In essence it said, "We in the anti-war movement have been easy on you murderers and rapists up to now. If you keep complaining about how we in the press treat you, it could easily go the other way." Here are some excerpts.

The effort in Iraq has been filled with atrocities, but the press has gone easy.

Through every Abu Ghraib and Haditha, through every rape and murder, the American public has indulged those in uniform, accepting that the incidents were the product of bad apples or even of some administration or command order.

The troops are lucky they get any support at all.

These soldiers should be grateful that the American public, which by all polls overwhelmingly disapproves of the Iraq war and the President's handling of it, do still offer their support to them, and their respect.

After all, they're just hired thugs.

But it is the United States, and the recent NBC report is just an ugly reminder of the price we pay for a mercenary - oops sorry, volunteer - force that thinks it is doing the dirty work.

Read the whole thing. This is how the Mainstream Media (MSM) sees the military. You could throw John Kerry's thoughts about the military being a haven for the stupid and they would feel right at home.

Are you surprised?

H/T: Our Patriarch of the Airwaves.

Update: It just dawned on me that the soldiers who come back and protest the war are treated by the MSM as expert witnesses to failure. What William Arkin is objecting to is the majority of soldiers who support it. Apparently, he feels that they lack the credibility of the protesting ones. Nothing can be learned from them.