White Blood Cells...

Mr. Atos

While the fever swamps stew on leftover septic hyperbole, and the Old Busted Media peddles all that is not new, the right side of the sphere is a buzz about Michael Yon's latest action report from Iraq.

Yon is an independent correspondent imbedded with a US Army Unit* stationed in Mosul. Yesterday Hugh Hewitt read the account on air, and created a veritable blogswarm on the subject, tapping the interest of a majority of Americans for a story that is otherwise, not being told.

Yon relates his first-hand account of an amazing combat encounter of his Stryker Brigade with several nasty terrorists that left two marines wounded, the subjects dead and captured and revealed the real character, courage and grit of the sentinels of the frontier. It is a must read for anyone interested in the real story happening 'over there.'

Gates of Fire

Many other bloggers have since posted on Yon's report, with further discussion of events, implications, and the condition of the wounded men. Over at Belmont Club, wretchard touches upon this subject as well, and makes a profound point,

"...without people like Michael Yon it would all have gone down the Memory Hole."

Indeed. While honorable men like LTC Erik Kurilla and CSM Prosser personify fellow soldiers like Army Specialist Sheehan* far more accurately than the vermin in the ditches of Crawford, you'll never know it by frequenting the so-called mainstream media outlets for information. They are, as Wretchard suggests more invloved in making selective information disappear.

But, while his contribution to Yon's reports is of interest, Wretchard's previous entry is of equal consideration in regards to Yon's observations. In a post titled, Cancer Ward, he discusses Donald Sensing's comparison of Islamic Terrorism to a virus.

We need to understand how the terrorists operate and sustain themselves. Al Qaeda is not like any enemy we have ever faced and therefore our national responses will be unlike any we have ever given. While Al Qaeda is obviously capable of great violence, it may be likened to a virus that has already infected the world's systems of commerce, travel, finances, politics and communications.

Wretchard expands on Sensing's posit as follows,

If the comparison of Islamic terrorism to disease had any validity, one would expect to see a growing use of the world's own "healthy" systems for the pathogenic purposes. And we do: for example, what would normally be regarded as a mode of transportation, such as a widebodied airplane, Islamic terrorism sees as a bomb. Things will be observed in continuous inversion: pharmaceutical industries being developed in order to create a chemical and biological warfare capacity; countries without any civilian nuclear power industry embarked on frantic centrifuge manufacturing programs; a horde of students studying engineering, chemistry and computer science in the West who have no intention whatsoever of building a bridge, developing a detergent or writing an entertainment game. There would be a large demand for handheld ratios, not for talking but for use as bomb triggers; video cameras to record beheadings etc.

This is a very convincing tandem analysis, and one that may very well help us to better understand the nature of the danger on Man's horizon. In a fractal sense, terran organisms could be recognized to behave in a similar fashion regardless of their scale. Patterns of conflict and consumption take place at the cellular and microbial level, the same as in a more macrocosmic theater, like human aggression.

The healthy body fights a very effective assymetrical offensive on a daily basis against the agents of destructive insurgency. Normal activities are unhindered, as these quiet skirmishes manifest themselves in various locations. Damage is localized and repaired, but the security of immunity maintains the tissues in optimal condition. Conversely, the body is threatened by unhealthful conditions. Filth, injury, malnourishment or poison, and risky behavior contibute to impair the body's defenses, compromising its immunity from attack. Under those circumstances, the disease prevails and spreads with lethal potential.

At this time, the body of Man is gravely ill; infested with a metastacizing menace that consumes the productive resources of an otherwise healthy existence. The conflicts between the consumptive infection and agents of immunity takes place now in the darkest recesses of tissues and organs of civilization... in places like Mosul, Asadabad and even Paraguay. This is out of site and out of mind for most. Many have chosen to deny the infection altogether; engaging rather, actions that threaten the defense like some auto-immune deficiency. Others recognize the danger and behave accordingly. But, ultimately the body is strongest when acting consistently in its own best interests. The fever arises to warn of impending doom. And as the body's defenses begin to lose the skirmishes and retreat from the growing infestation, organs falter and motivations fail. When that happens, serious external intervention is required to exterminate the threat immediately and entirely.

The fever as felt has yet to rise to a dangerous level. It is imperative that Man take heed. Michael Yon has offered us a rare and educational view of the daily actions of our White Blood Cells for intense consideration as we act to maintain the condition of the body...

... lest it collapse before the infestation of a fatal malignancy.


*correction... my thanks to reader Olga for noting my error in referencing both Casey Sheehan and the Stryker Brigade as Marine Units, when they were in fact Army. Silly oversight on my part with regard to the Stryker Unit, since they are stationed in my own back yard at Fort Lewis. Corrections have been made accordingly. Thank you, Olga.