RUSH: All right, here it is, I’m holding it right here in my formerly nicotine-stained fingers. Dateline today, my version of it here is from the Navy Times, and the headline: ‘Hold Fire, Earn a Medal — US
troops in Afghanistan…’ This would be the Yellow Heart medal. ‘US troops in Afghanistan could soon be awarded a medal for not doing something, a precedent-setting award that would be given for ‘courageous restraint’ for holding fire to save civilian lives. The proposal is now circulating in the Kabul headquarters of the International Security Assistance Force, a command spokesman confirmed Tuesday. … Soldiers are often recognized for non-combat achievement with decorations such as their service’s commendation medal. But most of the highest US military decorations are for valor in combat. A medal to recognize a conscious effort to avoid a combat action would be unique.’ Well, okay. I’m sorry I missed this, folks. I’m up to speed on it now. So we’re going to have courageous military medal for showing restraint. If you really want to do it right, you make it posthumous. You give the award to somebody who showed restraint and died in the process.
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RUSH: I was not the only one who didn’t know of this, this medal for restraint. I am being bombarded with e-mails from friends who are Marines who had no clue about this. I tell you, there’s a lot of people fit to tied. Here’s the story. Now, this is the Navy Times version of this:
‘US troops in Afghanistan could soon be awarded a medal for not doing something, a precedent-setting award that would be given for ‘courageous restraint’ for holding fire to save civilian lives. … ‘The idea is consistent with our approach,’ explained Air Force Lt. Col. Tadd Sholtis. ‘Our young men and women display remarkable courage every day, including situations where they refrain from using lethal force, even at risk to themselves, in order to prevent possible harm to civilians. In some situations our forces face in Afghanistan, that restraint is an act of discipline and courage not much different than those seen in combat actions.’ Soldiers are often recognized for non-combat achievement with decorations such as their service’s commendation medal. But most of the highest US military decorations are for valor in combat. A medal to recognize a conscious effort to avoid a combat action would be unique. … ‘We absolutely support the right of our forces to defend themselves,’ Sholtis said.’
We have to say that? We’re not talking about a basketball team is not allowed to go to Arizona here, folks! We’re talking about the US military. We have to say this? We’ve got this guy saying, ‘We absolutely support the right of our forces to defend themselves.’ Well, that’s comforting. Is that in the policy manual someplace, somebody have to take a test on that? ”We absolutely support the right of our forces to defend themselves,’ Sholtis said. ‘Valuing restraint in a potentially dangerous situation is not the same thing as denying troops the right to employ lethal force when they determine that it is necessary.’ A spokesman for the 2.2 million-member Veterans of Foreign Wars, the nation’s largest group of combat veterans, thinks the award would cause confusion among the ranks and send a bad signal.
”The self-protections built into the rules of engagement are clear,” not under Obama they’re not, ”and the decision to return fire must be made instantly based on training and the threat,’ said Joe Davis, a spokesman for the Veterans of Foreign Wars. ‘The enemy already hides among noncombatants, and targets them, too. The creation of such an award will only embolden their actions and put more American and noncombatant lives in jeopardy.’ Can you just see the ceremony now? I can just see the ceremony. Obama at the White House presenting the Distinguished Yellow Cross. A giant ceremony, thousands and thousands of military troops brought into the East Room for the presentation of their Medals for Courageous Restraint.
Then you have the most courageous soldier of the year, and we get shocking details of the exact circumstances in which he exercised this courageous restraint not to fire. Can you just see this happening? See, with this bunch I can! I can totally see this bunch doing something like this. If you’re going to do this, folks, let’s go all the way: Let’s make it posthumous, because that’s going to be the result of this. Can you imagine if you are al-Zawahiri and you’re in a cave somewhere in Afghanistan and somehow you’ve got wireless Internet and you’re over there in your cave and you’re connected (probably maybe even listening to this show) and you’re hearing about this?
(doing terrorist impression) ‘Do you mean the Americans are going to award themselves medals for not shooting? Oh! Thank you, Allah! Allahu akbar!’ Can you just see this? The terrorists have to be laughing their butts off. Now what’s going to happen here in Afghanistan? Now there will be immediate changes in terrorist training. Everybody will be trained to look and act like a civilian. Oh, man. Liberalism. People who hate the military. People who think the military is the focus of evil in the modern world — and wait ’til we have that medal ceremony. Wait ’til we have that. In the meantime, we tried to convict three SEALs on trumped-up evidence of busting some terrorist lip who had murdered a bunch of Americans. Thankfully, they were acquitted, but just the idea that they were court-martialed in Iraq is amazing. By the way, I’m told this is a NATO idea and that the Navy Times story, if you read further here says it’s a NATO idea. Just let France back in! France now can have a Courageous Medal for Surrender. It’s a way to get France back into the upper echelon of bravery and valor.
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RUSH: Hey, I got it, folks. After the courageous medal for restraint, let’s have another medal — the works and plays well with the enemy medal. Kids in kindergarten got gold stars, works and plays well with other children. Well, let’s have the works and plays well with the enemy medal. You want a sample note from one of my Marine buddies? Great one, ‘I cannot believe what I just heard you say on the radio. Combat medal for restraint? Maybe those three Navy SEALs shoulda taken that terrorist out for dinner, gotten him a prostitute. That way they wouldn’t have been court-martialed. They would have been given a medal for restraint. I can guarantee you Marines, like Lieutenant General Chesty Puller, are rolling over in their graves right now. Semper fi, Big Dick, aka, The Field Marshal.’ Calls his wife ‘The Warden.’
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RUSH: Kevin, Defiance, Ohio, welcome to the EIB Network, sir. Great to have you here.
CALLER: Hey, Rush, it’s a pleasure to talk to you.
RUSH: Thank you.
CALLER: Hey, I was just hearing this courageous response medal, you know? First I’d like to say our military does a great job and I appreciate ’em. But it just outraged me — outrages me — and I think the first nominee for our medal should be our courageous response restraint president who seems to be restraining himself with every one of our enemies and refuses to do anything to our enemies but make enemies of our friends.
RUSH: Well, you know, it’s a NATO idea, and therefore Obama could be eligible.
CALLER: (chuckling) Well, I think it’s just… I don’t know if we would call it ‘courageous response.’ Maybe ‘cowardice response’ would be a better title?
RUSH: No, it’s ‘courageous restraint.’
CALLER: Restraint, yeah.
RUSH: Courageous restraint.
CALLER: Restraint. So maybe with Obama we could —
RUSH: It’s a medal for doing nothing.
CALLER: Right. So with Obama we could call it ‘cowardice restraint.’
RUSH: Well, no. We don’t want to go that far with this, but it’s going to cause all kinds of problems. You wait. They will not appreciate the irony of this, but they will award one of these posthumously one day. Wait ’til that happens.