War Is Hell

I recently heard where the American Red Cross was seeking local standby volunteers. The story went that South Carolina was the most disaster-prone state in the Mid-Atlantic region and so a large pool of potential responders was needed. I do not doubt that we face possible future hurricanes and even an earthquake. What caught my attention was that the Palmetto State was referred to as being in the Mid-Atlantic section of the country. I have always considered up around Maryland as falling into that area and even the Yankees had us under the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron during the War Between The States.
Speaking of the “Late Unpleasantness,” as the tragic events of 150 years ago used to be referred to by some in these parts, it’s interesting to compare how some aspects of warfare have changed. We are facing perhaps the most brutal terrorists the world has ever seen in the radical Islamic militants. Our government will not call them such, but I just did. We are technically not at war because only Congress can declare such. Even so, I believe we should use all available military means — short of nuclear weapons — to eradicate these vile creatures.
These brutes use knives to saw off the heads of captive reporters and aid workers while U.S. taxpayers fund soccer fields for “detainees” at Guantanamo Bay and provide them with better healthcare than many Americans can afford. Abraham Lincoln and his government deemed medicines as contrabands of war and seized all they could trying to be shipped to The South. Countless tens or hundreds of thousands of civilians and soldiers unnecessarily suffered or died as a result. I doubt we would stop Red Crescent (the Islamic Red Cross) convoys from delivering medical aid to our enemies.
No one in the civilized world wants to see innocent civilians die during an armed conflict. Our military does all it can to prevent collateral damage and uses expensive pinpoint weaponry to try to achieve this. How many times have you heard of those cowards running into schools or mosques because they know we will not fire on them? Beginning in 1863 in the marshes behind James Island, the Unionists started hurling shells into the city of Charleston to kill civilians and try to break the will of the people. Dozens were killed, but the will to resist was not.
I am not advocating the deaths or suffering of innocents. I am tired of our service men and women being placed into harm’s way by an administration that refuses to even acknowledge who our enemy is. Whose feelings are we trying to protect? The murderous religious zealots in the world care not about what we call them and will try to kill we “infidels” anyway. As one infamous northern general was quoted while burning and looting his was through Georgia and South Carolina, “War is Hell.” In my humble opinion, we should bring the same to them..
James David Altman lives in West Ashley and has been a contributing columnist for several publications. He’s the son
of the late former S.C. Republican House of Representative of John Graham Altman III. You can reach him at rabidreb@gmail.com.