Best Defense
Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security.

Rebecca’s war dog of the week: Everyone is talking about them combat canines

Chief canine correspondent Rebecca Frankel has run away again, so this is Tom filling in here. I actually think she has become a celebrity. Next thing I expect we’ll hear she’s dumping Johnny Depp or something. There’s one big war dog story this week: The presence of a dog on the bin Laden raid has ...

CHRISTOPHE SIMON/AFP/Getty Images
CHRISTOPHE SIMON/AFP/Getty Images
CHRISTOPHE SIMON/AFP/Getty Images

Chief canine correspondent Rebecca Frankel has run away again, so this is Tom filling in here. I actually think she has become a celebrity. Next thing I expect we'll hear she's dumping Johnny Depp or something.

Chief canine correspondent Rebecca Frankel has run away again, so this is Tom filling in here. I actually think she has become a celebrity. Next thing I expect we’ll hear she’s dumping Johnny Depp or something.

There’s one big war dog story this week: The presence of a dog on the bin Laden raid has the mainstream media all aflutter about war dogs. Welcome to the crowd, fellas. We’re celebrating with a special feature on war dogs.

One reason for the popularity of this weekly feature, I suspect, is that there is some visceral connection between soldiers and dogs. As long-gone Army Maj. Gen. Aubrey Newman once pointed out, soldiers in his time were called "dog faces," wore identification information around their necks on "dog tags," and sometimes slept in "pup tents." 

Cats? As far as I’m concerned, they’re working for the enemy. That said, one of my dogs, nicknamed "Mr. Soul," really likes cats.

Thomas E. Ricks covered the U.S. military from 1991 to 2008 for the Wall Street Journal and then the Washington Post. He can be reached at ricksblogcomment@gmail.com. Twitter: @tomricks1

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