Writer Packing Heat

Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Lambert (Ret.) writes a poignant tribute to one of his former soldiers (now deceased) and discusses that somebody stupidly defaced the memorial set up to honor the sacrifice of Sgt. 1st Class Daniel Petithory. Some idiot with a black marker wrote phrases including "oil", "Bush" and "Christian Crusade" on the marker. Sgt. Petithory died in Afhanistan in Dec., 2001, pursuing al Qaeda, which was in no way related to our flagrant pursuit of oil in Iraq. In my mind, the hunt for al Qaeda is (really was) a valid mission and it's incomprehensible to me that someone would deface this marker, especially with such a poor choice of words.

For those of us proudly on the left, there is absolutley no defense for an action like this.

But Gen. Lambert ends with an ominous tone:

Meanwhile, I may take to long midnight walks on the Ashuwillticook Trail -- packing heat.

General - is the "heat" for defensive purposes? Do you really think a Special Forces Commander can't take out some birkenstock wearing hippy with his bare hands? Or is the heat for offensive purposes? That thought makes me shudder and clearly adds no value to the discourse of this crime. Please reconsider that statement.