Thursday, August 16, 2007

RE: Pistol-Packin' Senator   [W. Thomas Smith Jr.]

BAGHDAD — Much ado about — well, something interesting to see, but basically — nothing:  That is, Sen. Lindsey Graham's carrying a weapon here in Iraq while on Air Force Reserve duty, which I first reported yesterday ... and now everybody is having a ball with (which is one of the predictably fun reasons I posted the observation in the first place).

It's certainly being talked (blogged) about from my NRO pals over at "The Corner" to Ana Marie Cox at Time magazine's Swampland. But here's the reality of it all:

Yes, I saw Graham in uniform carrying a weapon (specifically a pistol) in Baghdad, but every servicemember in and out of uniform does here. They have to. This is a frontless war zone, where you have to be prepared to defend yourself and others no matter where you are or what you are doing.

It was even suggested to me once by a Marine officer that I carry a weapon, because the area we were moving into was so utterly dangerous. Plus, he didn't want snipers to notice and pay undue attention to me because I was not armed. And almost every patrol I've been on, the soldiers and Marines have told me to please pick up and use their weapons if they go down.

And it's not just the forward-deployed combatants who carry weapons with them everywhere they go here. Rear-area soldiers at the big camps and FOBs all carry their weapons with them to the chow hall, to the gym, to the PX, to Burger King and Subway and Popeye's Fried Chicken. 

It's kind of crazy to see at first ... weapons everywhere (I even once saw an Iraqi man trimming hedges with an AK-47 strapped to his back). But then you get to the point that you just don't pay any attention to it anymore ... except when you see a United States Senator packing heat.

Editor’s note: Please see this note.

08/16 01:48 AMShare