Tuesday, November 11, 2003
To The Men And Women Of The Armed Forces
Thank-you.
We all know that the icon of the spat-upon returning Vietnam vet is one of those myths that just won't die. The real abuse of those who served in Vietnam came from their own government, who exposed them to powerful chemicals without telling them, who provided only the most truncated GI bill benefits, and who ferried them in and out of this country with as little fanfare as possible.
Still, I was pleased to hear someone like Tim Robbins, a fervent questioner of the Bush administration's war policies, when asked by a questioiner after a speech given at the Washington Press Club, what he would say to the men and women serving in Iraq, and to those who were then clearly at that point of a full-scale invasion of that country, Tim replied that he'd say something like, thank-you for serving your country, because there is always honor to be had in such service, even when the military action is wrong, or foolish, or self-defeating. Tim's argument, he was clear on, was not with the men and women who were about to carry out the Bush doctrine, but with the administration who had formulated it.
My approval for the Armed Services in a previous post was understandably questioned by readers like "khr," as well as others. So let me clarify. I'm not naieve about what is probably going on "on the ground," as they say, in Iraq. The "we're here to help you, we're here to fight you as we see necessary, so we can control you so we can help you" logic of this occupation is a deadly one. For the occupiers as much as for the occupied.
As for what responsibilities, and at one levels of command, the individual soldier is responsible for his actions, you won't find a better discussion than this statement by Christian Bauman Atrios recently pusblished at Eschaton.
For a sense of what it's really like for the actual Americans charged with making this occupation work, I urge everyone to read this five part series published in the AsianTimes Online.
The reporter, Nir Rosen, follows the day to day "slog," of 1000 soldiers who make up "the 1st Squadron of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment (ACR), based in Fort Carson of Colorado Springs, Colorado, and currently stationed in al-Qaim, at the western edge of Anbar province, bordering on Syria." Rosen talks to the soldiers, watches what they do, talks to Iraqis and watches how they react, and pays attention to all the details. He finds anger, misunderstandings, ambivalence, reasons to be pessimistic, reasons to hope. Some soldiers succumb to understandable anger, others succeed in attaining a remarkable empathy. I think the series illustrates what I was trying to say about my own sense of pride in the representative nature of our Armed Services, and their level of decency and professionalism.
Today, Veterans' Day is meant to be one of commemoration; what better way to do that than to get to know what thousands of young Americans are experiencing in Iraq?
And what better way to do it than to take advantage of this Washington Post feature, "Faces Of The Fallen," a highly useable data base of pictures and information about the Americans who have died in Iraq. I spent the morning with these heartbreaking snaptshots and brief bios. It won't make you feel better about this war, but there is still something healing about it.
We all know that the icon of the spat-upon returning Vietnam vet is one of those myths that just won't die. The real abuse of those who served in Vietnam came from their own government, who exposed them to powerful chemicals without telling them, who provided only the most truncated GI bill benefits, and who ferried them in and out of this country with as little fanfare as possible.
Still, I was pleased to hear someone like Tim Robbins, a fervent questioner of the Bush administration's war policies, when asked by a questioiner after a speech given at the Washington Press Club, what he would say to the men and women serving in Iraq, and to those who were then clearly at that point of a full-scale invasion of that country, Tim replied that he'd say something like, thank-you for serving your country, because there is always honor to be had in such service, even when the military action is wrong, or foolish, or self-defeating. Tim's argument, he was clear on, was not with the men and women who were about to carry out the Bush doctrine, but with the administration who had formulated it.
My approval for the Armed Services in a previous post was understandably questioned by readers like "khr," as well as others. So let me clarify. I'm not naieve about what is probably going on "on the ground," as they say, in Iraq. The "we're here to help you, we're here to fight you as we see necessary, so we can control you so we can help you" logic of this occupation is a deadly one. For the occupiers as much as for the occupied.
As for what responsibilities, and at one levels of command, the individual soldier is responsible for his actions, you won't find a better discussion than this statement by Christian Bauman Atrios recently pusblished at Eschaton.
For a sense of what it's really like for the actual Americans charged with making this occupation work, I urge everyone to read this five part series published in the AsianTimes Online.
The reporter, Nir Rosen, follows the day to day "slog," of 1000 soldiers who make up "the 1st Squadron of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment (ACR), based in Fort Carson of Colorado Springs, Colorado, and currently stationed in al-Qaim, at the western edge of Anbar province, bordering on Syria." Rosen talks to the soldiers, watches what they do, talks to Iraqis and watches how they react, and pays attention to all the details. He finds anger, misunderstandings, ambivalence, reasons to be pessimistic, reasons to hope. Some soldiers succumb to understandable anger, others succeed in attaining a remarkable empathy. I think the series illustrates what I was trying to say about my own sense of pride in the representative nature of our Armed Services, and their level of decency and professionalism.
Today, Veterans' Day is meant to be one of commemoration; what better way to do that than to get to know what thousands of young Americans are experiencing in Iraq?
And what better way to do it than to take advantage of this Washington Post feature, "Faces Of The Fallen," a highly useable data base of pictures and information about the Americans who have died in Iraq. I spent the morning with these heartbreaking snaptshots and brief bios. It won't make you feel better about this war, but there is still something healing about it.
