I Can't Get No, Inspiration

I was looking over at RANTINGPROFS today and found this little piece entitled: "Inspiration"

Inspiration
Well, Brian Chontosh is finally mentioned in the New York Times. He shows up in an op-ed piece where the author argues that the Pentagon hasn't been awarding enough Medals of Honor during Afghanistan and Iraq. (Which morphs into a demand made of President Bush -- is the choice between a Navy Cross and the Medal of Honor up to the White House or the Pentagon?)

We need to be inspired by our heroes, the author writes. In an earlier age men like Brian Chontosh would have been given ticker tape parades, he writes...

Isn't odd that the only time newspapers like the NYT want to point out the heroism of the troops is when they can use them as a prop for some kind of off hand criticism of the President?

Let's for one moment consider what the writer of the OP/ED proposes to be a valid course of action for the President.

POTUS picks up the phone and calls the SECDEF.
"Rummy, we need to hand out some more medals in that GWOT."
"I'll get right on that Mr. President."

Yeah, can you imagine the wailing that would ensue when the "loyal opposition" found out about that phone call...which they would...maybe not right away, but when they did the crying about political props and using the blood and sacrifice for political gain...it wouldn't stop.

As to the assertion that too few awards have been given out...if the NYT honestly believes that there are Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen or Marines that have been given short shrift then write a story about them, hell, write ten stories.

Does some of this blame lay with DOD? Of course it does. DOD does a horrible job of highlighting the individual accomplishments and acts of heroism in the current conflict. As to why this happens? Who really knows. I doubt it's some sort of plan...the root of the problem if I had to guess would be that for major awards for valor it takes time to get all the paperwork straight and all the i's dotted and t's crossed. By the time that has taken place the story, no matter how compelling is now months old, so it gets OBE.

As to why only one MOH. Who knows how many are in the works, I've heard of at least one more or maybe two. But since when do we quantify the amount of heroism in a conflict by the number of awards? I guess we do when we think it can make a President we don't like look bad.