It’s been four months now since Miriam Carey, a dental hygienist and mother from Connecticut, was inexplicably gunned down by police in the streets of Washington, D.C., for a traffic violation.
Maybe you think I’m obsessed with the execution of a black mother, transporting her toddler daughter, in the nation’s capital.
But if Washington cops are going to start shooting first while never even asking questions later, you can be sure I will be asking the questions.
One question we should all be asking is: “What are the rules of engagement for cops in Washington, D.C.?”
We ask this question frequently when American soldiers are deployed in hostile foreign environments. In places like Afghanistan and Iraq, U.S. military personnel were kept on a short leash when it came to fulfilling their missions. Toward the end, U.S. soldiers were told not to fire unless fired upon.
If those rules of engagement are good in a war zone, what about here at home – in the nation’s capital?
The hottest movie in the country this week is “Lone Survivor,” based on the book by Marcus Luttrell. The plot line revolves around an incident in which a concealed position of Navy SEALs is discovered by some Afghan goat herders.
What do the SEALs do?
The goat herders represent a genuine threat to the lives of the SEALs. If they are turned loose, there is an excellent chance the Taliban will be told about the position. Remember, this is a war zone.
In this true story, the SEALs don’t shoot the unarmed noncombatants that posed no immediate threat to them. But, as they feared, the goat herders went straight to the Taliban and the SEALs found themselves under siege.
You can guess the results from the title of the book and movie.
Let’s contract that decision with the one made by Washington cops last October when an unarmed black mother made a wrong turn in her Infiniti near the White House.
The cops drew their guns and pointed them at Carey and her baby. She drove off – with the cops firing shots wildly at her vehicle. When the police finally surrounded her for a second time, they fired multiple shots at the unarmed mother – killing her.
The comparison and contrast of the way we conduct foreign wars and the way we treat civilians at home couldn’t be more striking.
Americans applaud the heroism of the SEALs in Afghanistan. They cheer their humanity, their compassion and their selflessness. They mourn their fate.
We all should.
But what about the civilian police force back at home?
Should the standards for the treatment of American civilians by police be at least comparable to the treatment the U.S. military is forced to provide in a foreign war zone when their very lives are at stake?
How did the lone survivor Luttrell explain his decision to let the goat herders go?
They did it because, in his own words, “The media in the United States of America would crucify us.”
No doubt he is right.
But how can one explain the media silence over the execution of Miriam Carey in the streets of Washington?
Why didn’t those cops have the same reservations?
Apparently they knew they could get away with killing an innocent, unarmed woman because the rules of engagement in Washington are more relaxed than they are for American soldiers in Afghanistan.
And they were right.
For four months now, WND alone has chronicled the official cover-up of the Miriam Carey death and the lack of curiosity and interest in the case by the rest of the press.
How long will the government refuse to release any details of the shooting?
How long will the government stonewall the release of an official report?
How long will the government go without releasing the forensics data?
How long with the government keep the lid on all the video evidence in the case?
Luttrell had some other interesting observations about what went wrong in Afghanistan. He said, “This entire business of modern war crimes, as identified by the liberal wings of politics and the media, began in Iraq and has been running downhill ever since. Everyone’s got to have his little hands in it, blathering on about the public’s right to know.”
It raises the question about the public’s right to know what’s happening right here at home in our nation’s capital.
Let’s hope Luttrell is right in his conclusion, too: “Some members of the media might think they can brainwash the public anytime they like, but I know they can’t. Not here. Not in the United States of America.”
Time will tell in the tragic case of Miriam Carey.
Media wishing to interview Joseph Farah, please contact [email protected].
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