posted on December 21, 2003 08:39:36 AM new
Time names U.S. soldier as 'Person of the Year'
Reuters News Service
NEW YORK - "The American Soldier" was named today as Time magazine Person of the Year, giving credit not to those who formulate the foreign policies of the United States but those who face bullets and grenades as they execute those policies.
There was little disagreement in Time's newsroom that the U.S.-led war in Iraq was 2003's top story, Time Managing Editor Jim Kelly told Reuters. But he said there was a spirited debate about who would best represent that story as Person of the Year.
President Bush and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld were candidates, but "the very messy aftermath of the war has made it clear that Washington's policy was going to have to be carried out day by day by the soldiers on the ground," Kelly said.
"We thought the title belonged to those people."
Time made a similar decision in 1950 when "The American Fighting-Man" got the title as the U.S. waged war in Korea.
In Washington, Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the selection was "just exactly right."
Myers last week visited U.S. troops in Iraq, Kuwait, Afghanistan and Bahrain. "These folks look terrific. They understand the mission. They're confident in the mission," Myers told the "Fox News Sunday" program. "In many cases, it's the military that stands between the terrorists and their goal and they are doing a terrific job."
Kelly said Rumsfeld, in a November interview, made the unsolicited suggestion that this year's honor go to all men and women who wear the U.S. uniform.
"It was the first time that I had ever interviewed a contender for Person of the Year who actually suggested someone else," Kelly said.
Internationally, the U.S. war in Iraq has been criticized as unilateral aggression. France, Germany and other traditional U.S. allies have refused to participate in the war or the conflict that has continued since President Saddam Hussein fell.
Bush calls the war part of a move toward democracy in the Middle East. But many Arabs view the Iraq invasion as carried out to serve the interests of Washington's ally Israel.
In agreement with the Bush administration, Time's cover story says: "To have pulled Saddam Hussein from his hole in the ground brings the possibility of pulling an entire country out of the dark."
posted on December 21, 2003 05:22:41 PM new
I'm pleased to see our soldiers are being given the HUGE recognition they deserve. They've certainly earned it.
Hope many remember them and their families, especially while they're away from home this Christmas, with their thoughts and prayers.
posted on December 21, 2003 06:13:18 PM new
I'm so glad they did this too!
Besides, most women love guys in uniform
Seriously, as Linda said, the families and those serving in Iraq and other places should be remembered this holiday season, and not just the holiday season, for as long as they are deployed. And even when they are not on active duty, they will always be there to protect what we do have in this country.
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