Correspondence

Correspondence IN THE ARMY NOW MATT LABASH HAS TOUCHED upon the single most important national security issue today ("The New Army," April 30). Our military, and especially my beloved Army, has...

...Yet Time magazine had reported only the week before that human patients have been treated successfully with stem cells found in umbilical cord blood ("Stem cells used to rebuild immune systems in human patients...
...But the published data on adult stem cells hasn't yet caught up to the research on embryonic stem cells...
...Reading the article only served to reinforce my decision to get out...
...Shinseki's rank and position, I do not feel comfortable saying too much to degrade the current advertising campaign or his decision to give everyone a black beret...
...No longer are soldiers taught to "take care of their subordinates...
...The infantry's core mission is to close with and destroy the enemy...
...Irreverence and cockiness were never in short supply...
...We have forgotten our own history...
...Further, I imagine that the Army will now need to soften Ranger School to ensure these "New Army" officers can complete that training...
...Labash should be congratulated for so accurately hitting the mark in one report...
...Instead, I suggested that the issue often gets confused with abortion, leading some in the pro-choice camp to cynically portray pro-life opponents of embryonic stem cell research as being indifferent to human suffering post birth...
...The Chinese will test the president again, and soon, and next time they may find him made of sterner stuff...
...They're filled with meaning and pride...
...While I agree with part of this, a promotion is something that is earned, not simply given...
...The soldiers that I command talk about the disappointment of their training experience and listen jealously to the stories my senior NCOs tell of how it was "back in the day...
...I can say this: I favor neither and understand neither...
...Army Reserve via e-mail MATT LABASH was absolutely on target...
...After graduating from West Point in 1994, I reported to Fort Benning for the Infantry Officer Basic Course (IOBC...
...To this day, I try and abide by the words written in the Ranger Creed...
...MATTHEW J. ANDERSEN New York, NY THE ARTICLE BY MATT LABASH was excellent—sad, but excellent nonetheless...
...Not to get maudlin about it, but I think our country owes you all a debt of gratitude...
...That mission will become more difficult to accomplish as politically correct soldiers obsess about the feelings of others and ignore the enemy soldiers charging forward with bayonets fixed...
...Over the past several years I, too, have watched the Army deteriorate into the touchy-feely ensemble it is today...
...I'm a master sergeant in the Army Reserves having just passed my 20 years in service mark...
...A recent case in point: The Washington Post ("New Potential for Stem Cells Suggested," April 27, 2001), which recently reported on successful embryonic stem cell experiments, discussed alternative cell research in one short sentence, dismissing it as having far less "range of potential" than embryonic/fetal cells...
...At the same time, I hope you will give the president some credit for telling the truth this week when he slipped and said he'd defend Taiwan with whatever it takes...
...I did not state or imply that all supporters of embryonic stem cell research support eugenics...
...I am disgusted by the generals in the Pentagon who consistently spit in the faces of combat soldiers to appease those who demand that the military conform to societal norms...
...Many pro-life citizens and members of Congress support embryonic stem cell research...
...Just as a racing stock car only resembles a roadworthy automobile, our armed forces have become specialized, technologically advanced fagades of their former selves...
...That's just generational discord...
...Army Reserve Redmond, WA STAY TOUGH ON CHINA I WANT TO THANK Robert Kagan, William Kristol ("Will China Pay A Price...
...The Army I joined 12 years ago was utilitarian and rough...
...A national public opinion poll conducted in January 2001 revealed more than twice as many Americans support federal funding of embryonic stem cell research than oppose it...
...I guess that's what they make white flags for...
...It had its flaws, of course, but above all else, it valued bold go-getters...
...Perhaps these so-called leaders have convinced themselves that the enemy troops will merely run away when they see our "elite" soldiers all sporting their black berets...
...I don't support eugenics and I doubt that any of my colleagues—including scientists, non-scientists, and legislators—do...
...As a drill sergeant in basic training posts, I've witnessed firsthand the power-robbing effect of today's policies...
...That takes real courage...
...God help us...
...These generals are knowingly building a hollow Army that will not be prepared to meet a well-trained foe on the battlefield...
...The contrast in coverage is so stark and the examples of unbalanced emphasis in reporting so ubiquitous that in my more paranoid moments I believe it is intentional...
...They do so because they know that 100 million Americans suffer from diseases that could be helped by embryonic and adult stem cell research...
...The article will no doubt serve as a reference for future historians asking why Americans once again paid "for non-readiness with the blood of their children...
...I do believe that some who support embryonic stem cell research use the issue to promote other agendas, including human cloning, which could well become a vehicle for eugenic manipulation of the human genome...
...I relied on the training I received at IOBC and Ranger School to lead effectively a 36-soldier infantry platoon...
...It seems to me that appropriate public policy is for federal funding to be available for all stem cell research...
...Fourth, suggesting that supporters of embryonic stem cell research do so because they support eugenics is irresponsible...
...I spent four years on active duty in the late '70s and early '80s, mostly with the 2nd Ranger Battalion at Fort Lewis in Washington...
...I have failed in my attempts to coin a magic phrase or pen a bullet comment that conveys the urgency of this very real problem...
...Granted, there is much recent and exciting work on adult stem cells, which is broadening our understanding of their possible capabilities...
...I also did not claim that the struggle was simply a matter of pro-choice versus pro-life...
...Out of respect for Gen...
...It's now become a "look out for yourself" Army...
...STEVEN BRYAR Master Sergeant, U.S...
...Some posts issue "yellow" cards that the trainee (or soldier—a term they used to "earn" at the successful completion of basic training) can invoke if they're feeling too much "stress...
...I can summarize with this example: In the Reserves, soldiers are taught to submit their own promotion packets whenever they feel ready...
...You choose to be undeceived, and you decline to join in the Bush "Team Spirit" (as David Brooks puts it in "The China Lineup," April 30) by calling a humiliation a triumph...
...First, in contrast to Smith's statements, recent broadcast and print media have carried many reports of current work with adult stem cells...
...Another glaring example: An advance in using embryonic mouse stem cells to cure diabetes reported recently in the media was apparently not as successful as a similar experiment concluded over a year ago using mouse adult stem cells...
...Without public funding, the private sector will pursue this research alone, which will slow the pace of discovery and limit information shared amongst scientists...
...Too many soldiers have reached or surpassed the Peter Prin-ciple—and risen to their level through incompetence...
...April 30), and David Tell ("An Engagement with Tyranny," April 30) for the superb coverage on China...
...In fact, I would not be surprised if there have been more popular media accounts than published scientific papers in this area...
...And guess what (I say with a deep exhalation): I'm getting the hell out for precisely the numerous reasons detailed in the article...
...By watering down IOBC, the Army's leadership is building an inferior infantry lieutenant who will not have the skills needed to lead a combat platoon into battle...
...I understand how easily some might dismiss my comments as one of those "I-walked-10-miles-to-school-in-the-snow" stories...
...MICHAEL A. HAJDAK JR...
...I know and understand the pride associated with the black beret worn by the Rangers, as so eloquently transcribed in Labash's story...
...That's part of the reason the Army is in the shape it's in today...
...Our military, and especially my beloved Army, has been over-tweaked and under-appreciated for over a decade...
...What will they do in combat...
...Thus, we do not yet have comparable breadth and depth of information about the capacity of adult stem cells to grow, to form every organ of the human body as embryonic cells appear capable of, to be controlled, and perhaps to be made useful for medical treatment...
...Despite the important news that the adult stem cells apparently provided greater potential to create insulin than did the embryonic stem cells (the mice in the embryonic experiment died, the mice using adult stem cells lived, and their bodies produced full levels of insulin), for some reason, most of the press reports about the embryonic experiments didn't deem the previous breakthrough using adult stem cells worthy of mention...
...Captain, U.S...
...The development of therapeutic methods relying on stem cells will take a great deal more research on both adult and embryonic stem cells—both disappointments and successes lie ahead for research with both types of cells...
...Second, the published scientific literature about embryonic stem cells offers far more well-documented information about these cells than it does about adult stem cells...
...As we did no less than three times in the 20th century, we have again allowed complacency to incapacitate our military to a degree that no foe has ever attained...
...Third, the debate about embryonic stem cell research is not simply pro-life versus pro-choice...
...LAWRENCE S. B. GOLDSTEIN University of California San Diego School of Medicine La Jolla, CA WESLEY J. SMITH RESPONDS: The primary point of my article was to raise the consciousness of readers, pointing out that adult and alternative stem cell research offers tremendous hope for the future— stories that are too often ignored or given low prominence by many media outlets, which, in contrast, generally report on embryonic stem cell experiments with much higher levels of energy and enthusiasm...
...HAROLD L. RIEDL Baltimore, MD ALL ABOUT STEM CELLS I READ WITH DISMAY Wesley J. Smith's article "The Politics of Stem Cells" (March 26), which in my opinion reflected a surprising lack of understanding both of the subject matter and of how the matter has been treated in the media...
...After IOBC, I completed Ranger School and then reported to my unit at the 101st Airborne Division...
...Each soldier "must" look out for himself and take the ultimate responsibility...
...Federal funding will bring responsible federal oversight of the field, including regulations to prevent ethical abuses...

Vol. 6 • May 2001 • No. 33


 
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