If We Sleep In Safety, It's Only Because Brave Men Like Bobby C. Calvin Are Manning The Phone Lines

As an update to Drew's (and Doc Weasel's ) tribute to Bobby C. Calvin, The Man Who Tells You How It's Gonna Be, this breathtaking account of courage under absolutely no fire whatsoever, from the Warrior Brave himself.

So much great stuff in this guy’s blog! Here’s more, about a U.S.-led raid on Sadr City, targeting a Shiite insurgent leader who was hiding there. The Army said that the only casualties were insurgents, but Iraqi police said that a woman and three children had been killed! Our brave, impartial hero set out to tell the story:

...the story that was already being composed in my mind. I was after vivid descriptions that could, if warranted, paint a scene of chaos, anger and grief.

From the nerve center of his operation, presumably some hotel in the Green Zone, our hero expertly attempted to send a woman into the scene of the carnage to gather some really troubling details...

Why, it's like a Michael Yon dispatch, except with the gripping danger of pushing telephone buttons!

There's more, so much more. That's just a teaser. After admitting he didn't know jackshit about the story he had already written (inventing facts wholesale) in his mind, he "writes around" the story (that is, attempts to construct a narrative without any of those hard-to-track-down facts), and of course turns in a story of women and children being murdered by US troops.

Though I do have to quote this, just because it will provide for a thousand parodies:

Ultimately, it is up to us to decide how far we will take our quest for the truth. In has nothing to do with courage or fear. It’s about a mission.

Sometimes a man can be pushed too far. And when his back's up against the wall, dialin' a phone's just as easy as breathin', as Rambo might say.

I'll tell you what Neal: I'll make some phone calls without an armed bodyguard and without personal armor. Then I'll have walked a mile in this jackass' fluffy slippers. Can I criticize him then?

posted by Ace at 12:27 PM

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