War is Heck
Son Chris points out that some are saying the way the Iraq War is being presented in the US media should make us change the famous quote to "War is heck."
Hiding the true horror of this war seems to be a concocted goal of the Cheney-Rumsfeld-Bush chicken hawks [remember, none of them have actually been in war and most never even were in any armed service]. Embedded reporters, rules on not showing caskets, false claims of avoiding civilian casualties, suppression of friendly fire reports and downward skewing of troops wounded figures are some manifestations of this concoction.
We are now seeing some of the wounded, cleaned up and valiantly working on therapy at Walter Reed Hospital, but what a different impact it would make to see them at the point of receiving their wounds, like it really is when it happens. In lieu of seeing the flag draped caskets returning, we can watch respectful acknowledgements as is frequently done at the end of the News Hour on PBS, where photos of the deceased are shown in silence, giving their name, rank, age and hometown.
We are also starting to see some photos of civilian victims, though since the insurgents are not in uniform, it is easy to assume the dead Iraqis were insurgents, as the U. S. military is obviously doing. Pictures of dead and wounded women and children, always the more numerous victims of war, are harder to digest, and there may be women insurgents, just as there are women fighting in our uniform. Children have in fact been used as soldiers or human shields in past wars, so it could be happening in Iraq. Hitler had his Nazi Youth and the American Revolution had its junior patriots as poortrayed in Johnny Tremaine.
Of course the insurgents are taking Iraqi lives also, adding to the confusion as to who actually killed the dead Iraqis we are shown. Wounded Iraqis might be a source of evidence if they know who caused their wounds. There have been a few reports from hospitals where doctors treating the wounded say their patients claim the Americans did it to them -but again how do we know they were not insurgents?
The overwhelming concern of the American public for the safety of our troops, and the total lack of concern for innocent Iraqi civilians does not surprise me. The welfare of the crusaders and invaders is always paramount to those back home. In fact, in spite of atrocities that do get committed by some on all sides in war time, the troops on the ground, seeing firsthand the horror being experienced by civilians, often show a greater concern for those civilians than do those back home.
Based on the Vietnam experience, the images that will cause the American public to demand our troops get out of Iraq will be images, not of dead and wounded Iraqis, but of American troops bleeding and writhing in pain and of American families weeping over the death of their family member in uniform and saying it was not worth it and no other American family should have to go through this.
By the way, the full true quote comes from William Tecumseh Sherman, the Civil War General who survived that horrible War in a time when Generals actually took to the battlefield and many of them were killed in action. In a graduation address to the Michigan Military Academy in 1879, Sherman said, "War is at best barbarism ... Its glory is all moonshine. It is only those who have neither fired a shot nor heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded who cry aloud for blood, more vengeance and desolation. War is hell."
Hiding the true horror of this war seems to be a concocted goal of the Cheney-Rumsfeld-Bush chicken hawks [remember, none of them have actually been in war and most never even were in any armed service]. Embedded reporters, rules on not showing caskets, false claims of avoiding civilian casualties, suppression of friendly fire reports and downward skewing of troops wounded figures are some manifestations of this concoction.
We are now seeing some of the wounded, cleaned up and valiantly working on therapy at Walter Reed Hospital, but what a different impact it would make to see them at the point of receiving their wounds, like it really is when it happens. In lieu of seeing the flag draped caskets returning, we can watch respectful acknowledgements as is frequently done at the end of the News Hour on PBS, where photos of the deceased are shown in silence, giving their name, rank, age and hometown.
We are also starting to see some photos of civilian victims, though since the insurgents are not in uniform, it is easy to assume the dead Iraqis were insurgents, as the U. S. military is obviously doing. Pictures of dead and wounded women and children, always the more numerous victims of war, are harder to digest, and there may be women insurgents, just as there are women fighting in our uniform. Children have in fact been used as soldiers or human shields in past wars, so it could be happening in Iraq. Hitler had his Nazi Youth and the American Revolution had its junior patriots as poortrayed in Johnny Tremaine.
Of course the insurgents are taking Iraqi lives also, adding to the confusion as to who actually killed the dead Iraqis we are shown. Wounded Iraqis might be a source of evidence if they know who caused their wounds. There have been a few reports from hospitals where doctors treating the wounded say their patients claim the Americans did it to them -but again how do we know they were not insurgents?
The overwhelming concern of the American public for the safety of our troops, and the total lack of concern for innocent Iraqi civilians does not surprise me. The welfare of the crusaders and invaders is always paramount to those back home. In fact, in spite of atrocities that do get committed by some on all sides in war time, the troops on the ground, seeing firsthand the horror being experienced by civilians, often show a greater concern for those civilians than do those back home.
Based on the Vietnam experience, the images that will cause the American public to demand our troops get out of Iraq will be images, not of dead and wounded Iraqis, but of American troops bleeding and writhing in pain and of American families weeping over the death of their family member in uniform and saying it was not worth it and no other American family should have to go through this.
By the way, the full true quote comes from William Tecumseh Sherman, the Civil War General who survived that horrible War in a time when Generals actually took to the battlefield and many of them were killed in action. In a graduation address to the Michigan Military Academy in 1879, Sherman said, "War is at best barbarism ... Its glory is all moonshine. It is only those who have neither fired a shot nor heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded who cry aloud for blood, more vengeance and desolation. War is hell."
posted by Tom Blake | 1:08 PM
6 Comments:
The pictures are out there. We get them in our newspaper on an almost daily basis, as most of the world does. They are certainly there on the wires for any newspaper to use.
I don't know what is a greater tragedy though, the fact that American troops are dying and suffering in such horrible ways or the fact that this is all being censored and whitewashed in the US media.
The sight of American troops lying in their own blood is powerful and poignant and I don't think the whole story of the war can be told without these images being seen.
I urge the US press to stop censoring themselves and to show this war or what it truly is -- hell.
Son Chris
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I did not know that that the often quoted "War is Hell" came from Sherman. The full quote is illuminating. Thanks for putting it on your blog. Sherman is remembered as setting a new standard for warfare, one that brought the horrors of war to the homefront. Did Sherman speak those words to castigate war, or was he simply justifying his own atrocities? I suspect the latter.
John from Phoenix
Sherman was not a post-war apologist. On the contrary, after the War he rose to become what was then called Commander in Chief of the Army, a post he held for 14 years, during which time he gave the Michigan speech. A mini biography of Sherman can be found at http://www.civilwarhome.com/sherbio.htm
I almost hate to pass on this link, as the photos are so grim, but the New England Journal of Medicine has several photos posted from field surgeons working in Iraq demonstrating "typical" injuries. Not for the faint of heart.
Sarah from Texas
Hi Sarah. Thanks for the link. With all the interest in the so-called reality shows on TV, someone needs to do one showing the reality of the War in Iraq, using pictures like those you linked us to. MASH was on TV before, as a comedy, but now we need to see these field hospitals as they really are. Maybe PBS will do it one day, but I don't expect to see that show very soon.
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