Military Detractor Slammed by O Reilly and others.....

Bill O'Reilly Skewers NBC Military 'Expert'



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A rabid left-wing, antiwar writer, William M. Arkin, billed as an expert on military affairs by the Washington Post and NBC News as a "military analyst,” has described U.S. troops in Iraq as "mercenaries” who are being spoiled rotten by U.S. taxpayers with the "obscene amenities” being sent them.


His comments have ignited a firestorm among fellow journalists who fully support and admire the men and women serving in harm’s way in Iraq and Afghanistan.


Arkin has become a prime target of Fox News Channel's Bill O’Reilly who has been crusading about media bias, and NBC's noticeable tilt to the left.


Columnist Michelle Malkin has called Arkin a "thug” and a "radical left wing loon.”


Writing in a Washington Post blog, in his "Early Warning: William M. Arkin on National and Homeland Security” column, Arkin took exception to American servicemen and women who dare to question the lack of support for the war by the folks back home.



Here’s part of what he wrote: "I've been mulling over an NBC Nightly News report from Iraq last Friday in which a number of soldiers expressed frustration with opposition to war in the United States.


"I'm sure the soldiers were expressing a majority opinion common amongst the ranks - that's why it is news . . . These soldiers should be grateful that the American public, which by all polls overwhelmingly disapprove of the Iraq war and the president's handling of it, do still offer their support to them, and their respect.


"Through every Abu Ghraib and Haditha, through every rape and murder, the American public has indulged those in uniform, accepting that the incidents were the product of bad apples or even of some administration or command order . . .


"So, we pay the soldiers a decent wage, take care of their families, provide them with housing and medical care and vast social support systems and ship obscene amenities into the war zone for them, we support them in every possible way, and their attitude is that we should, in addition, roll over and play dead, defer to the military and the generals and let them fight their war, and give up our rights and responsibilities to speak up because they are above society? . . .


". . . this NBC report is just an ugly reminder of the price we pay for a mercenary - oops sorry, volunteer - force that thinks it is doing the dirty work.”


Just who is this Bill Arkin, and where does he stand in the political spectrum?


According to the Washington Post, Arkin is a "former Army intelligence analyst and consultant.” Back in the 1970s Arkin served as Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence of the U.S. Commander in Berlin, Germany.


Pretty impressive background for someone claiming to be an expert on military affairs, but that’s only half the story. Not mentioned by the Post or NBC is his background as a member of a whole slew of ultra far-left groups.


Among his leftist affiliations:


The Institute for Policy Studies where he was director of the national security program and the Arms Race and Nuclear Weapons Research Project, 1981-1989. The IPS is known as a far-left Washington, DC-based think tank that describes itself as having "transformed ideas into action for peace, justice, and the environment for more than four decades.”


Greenpeace USA where he was political director from 1989-90; director of the nuclear information unit, and director of military research 1989-94)


National Resources Defense Council consultant to the nuclear program (1980)


Human Rights Watch, former military consultant (1994)

He was also military affairs columnist (2001-2004) at the liberal Los Angeles Times.


In a speech at the U.S. Naval War College on September 25, 2002. Arkin launched what the Weekly Standard described as a "lengthy and vitriolic attack on the Bush administration, where he admitted to feeling "cynical about the fact that we are going to war to enhance the economic interests of the Enron class," and declared that "the war against terrorism is overstated."


Wrote Hugh Hewitt in the Standard, Arkin "believed, in fact, that the war ‘is not the core United States national security interest today.’ He rhetorically asked the audience: ‘Aren't I just another leftist, self-hating American?’ and condemned the administration for taking ‘"enormous liberties with American freedoms.'"


Appearing on Fox News Channel's "The Big Story," an unapologetic Arkin told host John Gibson: "I'm not going to take back what I said . . . I write an opinion column, and one of the things that I wrote about was my own sense of a growing feeling of intolerance - amongst those who are in uniform and those who support the war - for any dissent. And the reaction to my piece proves my point."


"Let's remember one thing about the all-volunteer army,” Arkin continued, "this is the first war in 30 years since we've had an all-volunteer army that we're losing. They are hoping that the new strategy and new military leadership and a shot of adrenaline is going to make a difference, but there's not a soul who would claim that we are winning in Iraq.”


He then added a new slander of U.S troops – they don’t know what they’re talking about: "The reality is, people can support the troops and not support the war, and the fact that these guys in uniform don't understand that tells me that they are badly-schooled in the realities of American government and politics.”


All of this prompted Bill O’Reilly to hit the roof. On his Feb. 5 "O’Reilly Factor" broadcast the host stormed:

"In a stunning display of hatred, NBC News military analyst William Arkin wrote two Internet columns chastising members of the United States Armed Forces for daring to criticize civilian dissenters of the Iraq war.”

Said O’Reilly: "It is hard to believe that any responsible person would attack the military in this very personal way. Arkin implies that Abu Ghraib and Haditha define how Americans have performed in Iraq and flat out calls our military people mercenaries. That is folks who fight solely for money, have no patriotic intent at all.


"Ironically, the American military has fought for centuries to allow Arkin the right to say these vile things."


Arkin, O’Reilly said, "has been a military hater for some time. He wrote a book called 'Code Names,' where he exposed more than 3,000 coded titles, some of which were still classified. So there's no question, Arkin is an agenda driven guy. The question is why would the Washington Post and NBC News hire a person like Arkin?"


Fox commentator Michelle Malkin went O’Reilly one better during the show when she said "I think NBC News and the Washington Post and anyone who gives this man a platform ought to be very clear and transparent with the public about what he is. He's an intellectual coward. He's a thug. And he's a radical left-wing loon.”


Malkin, however, found a reason to be happy with Arkin’s shameful comments: "Let a thousand Arkins bloom so we can just see how naked their hatred of the troops is,” she suggested.


On that same show, retired Army Maj. General Bob Scales knew what to do about Arkin, telling O’Reilly, "I think we ought to have some sympathy for poor Mr. Arkin's problem. I think his problem is that he's envious of these obscene amenities that our young men and women are receiving in Iraq.


"I mean, we can fix this problem, Bill," Scales continued. "I mean, I know General Petraeus. I'm sure that we could find a way, find a billet for Mr. Arkin in Iraq somewhere, perhaps the 1st Brigade or the 3rd Infantry Division, off to this resort town called Ramadi, you know, with its condos."


Said O’Reilly: "Arkin would last about 15 seconds there.”