Normally, it’s kind to be sympathetic toward a person when they slip up – it happens. One should always extend mercy toward gaffe-prone people because making a public error is an uncomfortable, adrenaline-producing event for anyone to endure.However, Obama visiting the 10th Mountain Division and confusing a deceased war hero with a living Medal of Honor winner is inexcusable, especially because Barack Obama fancies himself more qualified to direct a war than the General he appointed.
For that type of attitude, when it comes to matters of warfare the President deserves no pity for mixing up the deceased Jared Monti with a very much alive Sal Guinta when making the following comment:
"First time I saw 10th Mountain Division, you guys were in southern Iraq. When I went back to visit Afghanistan, you guys were the first ones there. I had the great honor of seeing some of you because a comrade of yours, Jared Monti, was the first person who I was able to award the Medal of Honor to who actually came back and wasn’t receiving it posthumously."It wasn’t Jared Monti but Staff Sergeant (SSG) Sal Guinta of the 173rd Airborne, who fought in both Iraq and Afghanistan, who was informed that he would be given the award at the White House by the President, who personally thanked the soldier for “his service and extraordinary bravery in battle.”
If placing a Medal of Honor around the neck of the only living recipient of the award isn’t enough to make you remember his name, what is?
Worse still, if hugging the grieving parents of a soldier who came home from Afghanistan in a flag-draped coffin doesn’t make you commit to memory the name of Sergeant First Class (SFC) Jared Monti, what exactly does it take?
Evidently, bestowing upon Monti a posthumous medal didn’t impress Barack Obama enough to have the man’s name burned into his consciousness, which indicates that maybe it would be best if the President reconsiders directing a war.
Yet, Barack Obama telling soldiers that he presented the Medal of Honor to a living Jared Monti, who’s been deceased since 2006, isn’t all for naught. The error provides a service to the nation by reestablishing a few important points for those still caught up in Obama fever.
First, it once again confirms that if it’s not written on the Teleprompter Barack Obama is clueless, and second, for those who thought otherwise, it proves to the skeptical that we’re dealing with a man who is disengaged, distant, cold and robotic; when Obama speaks, what comes out of his mouth oftentimes doesn’t come from his heart.
Either that or the present Commander-in-Chief is incapable of focusing long enough to remember the names of the men and women who died in the war whose direction he’s decided to usurp. It almost seems impossible that a person could actually read such a touching speech about a dead soldier’s life, values, and death, and then forget his name.
In all fairness, President did a stand up thing and apologized to the father of the deceased soldier, which Jared Monti’s father accepted. However, an apology doesn’t address the original blunder. If the President can’t keep living and dead war heroes straight, it could get tricky transitioning out of the war Jared Monti fought and died in without incidences of further confusion.
The intricate synchronization of troop withdrawal, Afghani national security force assessment, and keeping track of the political pulse of America may be too much without the help of the Pentagon for a guy traveling to “57 states” to raise millions for reelection. It is likely to be difficult for the President to accomplish the singular purpose of breathing life into a disillusioned base at the same time he’s concentrating on doing the exact opposite of what seasoned military professionals advise.
The Medal of Honor mix-up proves that aspiring military tactician Barack Obama should rethink rejecting the advice of the Pentagon and refrain from drawing down more troops from Afghanistan than recommended at this time, a course of action Obama planned to execute “despite warnings from his military commanders,” most of whom maintain that “recent security gains are fragile.”
Thus, if Barack Obama decides to stand firm and refuse the counsel of knowledgeable and experienced commanding officers and insist on using a war for political purposes, the future holds the potential to be as humiliating for the President as his shocking inability to recall whether those he decorated at a Medal of Honor ceremony are dead or alive.
Jeannie DeAngelis
Jeannie DeAngelis writes almost exclusively for American Thinker and has been published on the conservative website Pajamas Media, as well as hosting a blog. See Jeannie's Blog
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