We’re all painfully aware of the people that we’ve lost to the war in Iraq. We can’t help but be conscious of and thank the men, women, and money going into our efforts overseas. But there’s someone else who is deserving of our gratitude — Flipper!
I’m not talking about the dolphin that came on Nickelodeon right after Lassie. The dolphins overseas with our Navy are better than Lassie at alerting Timmy to dangerous mines and enemy divers. In fact, they’re better at discovering mines under the sea than the most up-to-date, accurate technologies available.
The Navy is employing the help of bottle-nosed dolphins to detect mines and spot enemy divers along coasts in the Middle East much to the dismay of — not surprisingly — People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
In a letter to Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld, PETA spokesperson Stephanie Boyles writes: “While a person, a political party, or a nation may decide that war is necessary, the animals never do.” Perhaps she has failed to notice the upheaval of anti-war sentiment in America. Perhaps she has not seen the coverage of protests or heard so many speak out on their failure to see the necessity of the war in Iraq because on her precedent, perhaps PETA would suggest the removal of all troops who personally do not agree with the necessity for this war, as well as those whose families back home feel the same way. Then we’d really be up a creek.
      As our nation’s top priorities to our soldiers right now should be respect, confidence, and safety, enlisting the help of dolphins is the patriotic thing to do. We owe it to our brothers, sisters, parents and friends to equip them with the very best gear to ensure their safety.
That’s where Flipper comes in. And equipped with exclusive veterinarians, a personal envoy of handlers and Navy trainers, as well as all the latest and greatest in dolphin care, Flipper doesn’t seem to be suffering the way PETA wants us to think he is. In fact, it appears that the dolphins made it to the Middle East in more style and comfort than our troops. “They were flown over on a military animal transporter in fleece-lined slings,” says U.S. Navy Captain Mike Tillotson. He goes on: “They travel very well.”
It’s not about Boyles’ ostensible observation that dolphins “know nothing of Iraq or Saddam Hussein” — as though any of us were ready to clear Clinton of the propagation of problems in the Middle East, or even stop blaming a President and a Prime Minister trying to resolve the problem of dictatorship and ensure the safety of the world and pin this war to the dolphins.
Rather, it’s about protecting our troops. And yes, it’s about protecting our troops with respect and reverence not only for human life, but for animal life as well.
The dolphins are not trained to set off mines or ward off rival divers, putting their own lives at risk said Martin Strong, a retired Navy SEAL. “They are an early warning system. They are not supposed to come into contact with the mines or fight enemy swimmers,” Strong said.
So there you have it.
And yes, the port of Umm Qasr may present a more volatile situation than the sparkling blue keys where some of these dolphins previously lived, but the same people crying for us to stop using dolphins for warfare are urging that we help the innocent Iraqi citizens. Well, thanks to your dolphins, last Thursday the innocent Iraqi civilians received the first of many shipments of aid. No detonated mines, no interceptions by enemy divers, and no loss of American soldiers’ lives — thanks to Flipper.