Are We the Enemy?

I am disgusted. I am disheartened. I am ashamed. I am angry. According to Senator John Kerry, I am a terrorist. According to him, I bust into Iraqi houses in the middle of the night and terrorize women and children. I am not making this up. So as not to be accused of misquoting or misrepresenting his words, I will include them:

KERRY: "And there is no reason, Bob, that young American soldiers need to be going into the homes of Iraqis in the dead of night , terrorizing kids and children, you know women, breaking sort of the customs of the -- of historical customs, religious customs, whether you like it or not."
(read the full transcript)

So apparently now to some, we are the bad guys here. Are we now the infidels Mr. Kerry? The defenders of your freedoms...are we now no better than those who would kill you and your family were it not for us? Let us not forget who the enemy is here, Mr. Kerry. Our enemy is the the radical Islamic militants. And their customs which you seem determined to defend, are killing your countrymen.

We do in fact raid houses. We raid houses with the intent of capturing, killing or otherwise neutralizing insurgents and confiscating any anti-coalition materials. During these raids, we often encounter women, children and innocents who are in no way involved with the insurgency. When they see us and the tools of our trade, they are understandably afraid which is exactly what we want. Because you see, it's that split second of fear that may save my life or the life of another Patriot. As soon as it is determined that there is no terroristic activity being conducted in these houses, we leave. It's that simple. We do not desecrate their homes, cause them undue hardship or otherwise harm them. This is pathetic...I am having to defend myself and my brothers against an elected official of our nation who would have Americans believe that we are warmongers. Disgusting. Some people, Mr. Kerry included, are so far removed from the realities of war that their voice has become irrevelant. Sure, there isn't a single Marine over here who would not rather knock on the door of these houses and sit down for tea and a biscuit and talk about religious customs and courtesies. But as I have written in an earlier post, wars are violent and are won by violent men. This is just the way it is. We are compassionate to those who mean us no harm, and are devastating to those who choose to fight. We are your military force Mr. Kerry, and whether you choose to admit it or not, we are conducting ourselves with the utmost professionalism, proficiency and when it is required of us, compassion. Terrorists? No Mr. Kerry, my brothers and I are not terrorists. We are compassionate warriors, patriots and Americans. I challenge you Mr. Kerry, to take a short walk down the street to Arlington and visit the graves of those warriors who have died during this war. Were they terrorists as well? Were they the enemy?