Todd Akin, the Tea Party Republican representative from Missouri has found himself in the midst of a emotionally charged debate. A member of the US Army named Chazray Clark was wounded passed away in Afghanistan because the medevac chopper that was flying in to rescue him had no armed escort. A blogger named Michael Yon, was embedded with the unit and has spoke out about arming the medevac squad.
Todd Akin has stepped in to give his opinion on the matter, saying, "Any policy commitment that would impede even a single wounded soldier or Marine from receiving medical care in the least amount of time possible is simply unacceptable”.
Medeveac units don't carry weapons because of the complex rules of war set forth by the Geneva Conventions. But, Akin argues that the Taliban and other terrorists do not play by those rules and thus, they do not apply. While it would be wrong to call Akin a means-justifies-the-ends type of guy this is a slippery slope. No soldiers should be placed in the way of undo harm, but if a superpower were to ignore the Geneva Convention simply because the enemy does not, the results could be disastrous.
We here at the Leibnizian Ramblings blog have no satire for this grave post. We merely wish to express our condolences to the family of the soldier whose life was lost. We do however, want to maintain our optimism and hope and pray that a resolution to the Afghanistan problem is in the making currently. America must take the moral high ground and protect its soldiers. We understand the delicate balance that this entails and do not offer and easy solutions. We caution against throwing the rules of engagement out, but likewise do not advocate leaving someone to die unnecessarily. As the conflict in Afghanistan continues to evolve, the United States must maintain its place as the moral center in this war, otherwise all that Chazray Clark fought for will have been in vain.
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