About the enemy

The NY Times article is well worth the read, about a smart American who is now a jihadi leader in Somalia. Hammami should have been a valuable American soldier in the War on Terror. Instead, he's the enemy. Well, respect the enemy. Let him teach us, so we can defeat him.

A more intimate enemy is the "Dear John" letter to the deployed soldier, which I witnessed as early as Basic Training. I wondered at the time, the wife/girlfriend's need to break up with him is so urgent she can't wait 8 weeks until after he's finished with one of the most stressful and difficulty undertakings of his life? The reason she does it that way, according to this self-forgiving column from a woman who apparently Dear John'ed her soldier, is it's easier for her. Never mind that the especial cruelty of the Dear John letter is the letter arrives in the place and time he needs her loyalty the most. A strong soldier needs - and deserves - a strong woman to be his wife or girlfriend. Unfortunately, too many soldiers' wives and girlfriends prove to be weak.

Eric