Complacency Kills – Mother, Son, and a Sign of the Times in Iraq

Complacency Kills

Mother, Son, and a Sign of the Times in Iraq

by Mary Geddry

Contrary to what some may think, John, my Marine corporal son, rarely speaks to me of his time in Iraq. Despite his knowing that I have an unquenchable thirst to know every detail of his life in Ramadi, he talks about Iraq only as an aside to something else. It takes careful, time-consuming and all-too-often fruitless effort on my part to extract the smallest morsel of information.

Still, each time I speak to him I unearth another grain of sand. One of these grains, a small piece that adds some texture to my murky vision of his daily life in Iraq, was the sign on the gatepost they passed whenever the Marines went on patrol: "Complacency Kills."

The truth of this Marine mantra is constantly retested and confirmed in combat. Complacency had dire consequences for several of the young men in my son's company.

The vicinity of an observation post overlooking an entry route into John's camp had been the location of several attacks using improvised explosive devices, or IEDs. The number and the proximity of the devices to the post indicated something was clearly wrong. Late one night, while returning from a mission, John and his squad decided to look into the problem. Looking for a heat signature they scanned the post with a scope and saw nothing. No one was manning the post.

An IED placed in full view of this post had earlier cost one 19-year-old Marine an eye and a leg. John tells me when they crept up to find out what was wrong, they caught the lookouts watching DVDs. These men, reservists, were reported to their commander and presumably dealt with accordingly.

The reason for mentioning their reserve status is not to cast a cloud on our reserve forces, but to illustrate the difference in how seriously any of us take the phrase "complacency kills" when it isn't our own life that might end. In John's area of operation, reservists were not sent out into combat and these men, at least, were complacent about the dangers that confronted the active-duty Marines.

Members of Congress have an obligation in time of war to advocate for our troops. They are required to ensure that a battle plan is viable and can be executed with the highest safety for our troops. They must define the goals of the battle and assess whether the value of these goals exceeds the value of the lives lost.

More and more military leaders are speaking out, targeting Congress members on key committees to do just that but they cannot do it alone. Although public approval of the occupation is less than 30% this disapproval does not translate into pressure on Congress. Over 60 million people called in to vote for American Idol and less than 150,000 calls were made to Congress on key votes, yet there are lives in the balance. How are those 70% supporting the troops?

During the first four years of the Vietnam War 1,866 service members were killed. Over 5,000 died in year five, over 12,000 in year six, 14,000 in year seven… Complacency kills. Public complacency kills the troops.

Mary Geddry is a syndicated writer. Her oldest son was a Marine grunt and served two Iraq tours, was honorably discharged in May, 2006 and is permanently disabled.