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11/11/03
Tuesday



Tales of the Wounded

ALAN JERMAINE LEWIS


Most Americans haven't seen the growing legion of wounded troops returning from Iraq who are cared for at military facilities sealed off from the public. The media, in turn, have focused on the hit-and-run guerrilla attacks that claim one or two GIs in Iraq almost daily. Little attention has been paid to the long, difficult and very personal struggles that ensue in wards at BAMC and Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington.

Source: Christenson, Sig. "Soldiers, Marines work to recover from war injuries at BAMC." San Antonio Express-News, 18 Aug 2003.



AARON BLAKELY

Two soldiers from the 173rd Airborne Brigade delayed their reunion with their families and went straight from BWI two weeks ago to Walter Reed Army Medical Center to visit Spec. Aaron Blakely, a buddy from the unit who lost both his feet to a rocket-propelled grenade.

Source: Vogel, Steve. "Rest & Resignation." Washington Post, 15 Oct 2003. Link. Posted 20 Oct 2003.


GARTH STEWART

Garth Stewart lost his foot in Iraq, in a mine blast that showered his blood and flesh on his buddy and left Stewart writhing and screaming on the road, smoke rising from his wound.

Source: Wood, David. "Amputees Returning to Duty." Times-Picayune, 12 Oct 2003. Link. Posted 20 Oct 2003.

CBS: Censorship Banality Servitude

Now that CBS has teamed up with conservatives and put it's censorship cards up on the table we can rest assured that it's current celebration of 75 years of independent broadcasting was also a wake for the same. It now joins FOX News as America's premier centers for slanted journalism and artistic expression. Who could trust a media outlet that caved so thoroughly to right wing criticism --to any political criticism for that matter?

It's absurd for CBS to claim it was pulling the Ronald Reagan story because it wasn't an accurate portrayal of Great Communicator. Have they launched a new policy: Mini-series Accuracy? What's accurate about any of these crummy made-for-TV docu-dramas? You want good TV? forget the networks. Now, especially CBS.

Independently speaking CBS just poked itself in its eye.

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A Cabal of Recidivists

The Truth Torturers continue their nefarious tasks in dismal White House and Pentagon dungeons pulling out Veracity's fingernails and stretching her on the rack again ...and again.

What they're doing now is claiming they never said what they said. There's no way to stop these guys except to give them the ol' constitutional heave ho --if they haven't tortured the Constitution into crying "uncle!" before we get a chance throw them out on their asses, that is. To say they have no shame is to miss the point. To them shame is simply irrelevant.

For instance, Josh Marshall (Talking Points Memo) caught right-wing blogger Andrew Sullivan in the act twisting the word "imminent" out of shape, so he slaps him upside the head with a dictionary here. Fat lotta good that's gonna do, the whole cabal is a bunch of recidivists.

And here, Marshall takes Secretary of Offense, Rumsfeld, to task for picking nits.

As Marshall reports, "Before the war in Iraq, you stated the case very eloquently and you said . . . they would welcome us with open arms," Sinclair Broadcasting anchor Morris Jones said to Rumsfeld as the prelude to a question.

The defense chief quickly cut him off.
"Never said that," he said. "Never did. You may remember it well, but you're thinking of somebody else. You can't find, anywhere, me saying anything like either of those two things you just said I said."

Let me guess, we're gonna get hung up on "open arms"?

There is literally no hope for this nation if we keep following these guys ...mark my words.

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"They used me as a way to symbolize all this stuff. It's wrong." --Jessica Lynch		 Propaganda All Is Phony

To anyone expecting straight skinny from the Bush administration on the progress of the war, the Jessica Lynch story laid out in her new book, "I Am A Soldier Too" ought to damp down credulity.

The RescueHaving helped create the image of a female Rambo for the evening news at the start of the war, the war cabal now has to deal with Jessica hitting the cable and air-waves denying her Rambo-hood. She expresses, instead, "hurt" at being used by the Bush bunch. And, the rat-pack of Republican prevaricators will also have to endure NBC's move about the Lynch rescue, "Saving Jessica Lynch", which airs tonight. Not to worry, they'll probably be watching re-runs of John Wayne movies, which have always been an antidote to reality.

As Frank Rich says in his NY Time column today, "Ah, the dazzling pyrotechnics of 'shock and awe.' The finality of the toppling of Saddam Hussein's statue. The thrill of that re-enactment of 'Top Gun.' The sense of closure provided by the banner reading 'Mission Accomplished.' Like all wars of the TV age, the war in Iraq is not just a clash of armies, but a succession of iconic images. Those who control the images, and the narratives they encapsulate, control history. At least until a new reality crashes in."

Controlling images is what the Bush administration is all about: controlling the image of their real intentions regarding the economy, controlling images of their true regard for the American people vis a vis their class cronies, controlling images of their recklessness about environmental issues, controlling images of their dangerous assault on the Bill of Rights. In the end we can only hope the real images flowing from the policies of figurehead Bush will control them.

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U.S. military's spread as thin as spandex cellophane over Cher's body

Our military around the globe is tapped out, so strained by Iraq and Afghanistan, as the Times military correspondent Michael Gordon discovered, that a unit from the Army's Old Guard is even being dispatched overseas. The guard is best known for ceremonial duties such as standing vigil at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery and serving in color guards for visiting dignitaries.

The Old Guard has not been deployed abroad since Vietnam.

Maureen Dowd column, NT Times today.

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11/7/03
Friday


Saddam, Bush --who's throwing whom?

Jujitsu' techniques ... seek to blend with the enemy's direction of strength, which is then controlled. This 'gentleness' is thus more correctly spoken of as 'flexibility', meaning that mind and body adapt to a situation and bring it to advantage for the operator. Furthermore, the principle of 'ju' is not as all- pervading as exponents of systems who have taken it at its face value would have to all to believe. "The willow does not break under the load of snow," reads an old Oriental maxim. From this, some systems extend this limited philosophy to cover the absolute range of mechanical actions for their systems. While some snow may not "break the willow," a correctly applied force will. An enemy who attacks with such forces cannot be turned aside by 'ju'."


Who's knee-wacking whom?

Since the fundamental principle acquired through the practice of Jujitsu has been elevated to a finer moral concept called Judo, "The Way of Gentleness," it may well be said that the primary objective of practicing Judo is perfection of character. And to perfect one's character one must be grateful for the abundant blessings of Heaven, Earth, and Nature, as well as for the great love of parents; one must realize his enormous debt to teachers and be ever mindful of his obligations to the general public.

And, who's palm-fisting whom?

The forms and techniques should be remembered as the basic art of Judo. One should never use these arts against anyone without sufficient justification. Therefore, refrain from arrogance and do not despise a small enemy or a weak opponent. Every student of Judo should realize that honesty is the foundation of all virtues. Kindness is the secret of business prosperity. Amiability is the essence of success. Working pleasantly is the mother of health. Strenuous effort and diligence conquer adverse circumstances. Simplicity, fortitude, and manliness are the keys to joy and gladness; and service to humanity is the fountain of mutual existence and common prosperity.

Hasn't Anyone in the Administration Ever Heard of Jujitsu?

We can't pull out of Iraq! "One result could well be a re-Saddamed Sunni triangle. Baghdad would then become the arsenal of terrorism, importer and exporter of nukes, bioweapons and missiles. There is no way we can let that happen. Either we stay in Baghdad until Iraq becomes a unified democratic beacon of freedom to the Arab world — or we pull out too soon, thereby allowing terrorism to establish its main world sanctuary and its agents to come and get us."

This is William Safire's take on the situation in Iraq. It's a black and white take. But in nature there's no such thing as black and white. Look around and all you see is nuance.

We're targets in Iraq. Our soldiers are targets ... Americans running a Muslim nation... what did we expect flower petals and candy? According to many reports, even Iraqis who supported the invasion to overthrow Saddam want us gone. Isn't it possible that removing the target will eliminate a motivating factor for terrorists? Leaning back is not a coward's move. Hasn't anyone in the administration ever heard of Ju Jitsu?

What about doing something really courageous? How about turning over Iraq to a true coalition of other nations, committed to making the world a safer place. How about bringing together leaders of Muslim, Christian, and Jewish nations --unbiased men and women rather than politicos-- to do what we as prime targets, can never do alone: bring about a stable Iraq?

Pundit Safire suggests that owning up to the mess we've created will lead to a defeatist pullout. But what about a thoughtful pullout? A reasoned and thoughtful pullout doesn't have to be defeatist. That's just another example of black & white thinking. There are more possibilities than one or two in this world, Horatio, unless you're a raving sectarian --and my hope is there are many more non-raving sectarians than raving, because I'm afraid sectarians will always be with us.

Recently, Egyptian Siamese twins joined at the head were successfully separated by an American medical team at an American hospital and, so far, are doing well. This is an example of a wholly different variety of American might. That grueling operation was an incredible humanitarian effort of a kind that just might counterbalance our negative image among Muslims, and much of the rest of the world for that matter. At least it might if were weren't also sitting in Baghdad behind barricades, occupying Iraq astride the world's largest oil reserve. It doesn't take a genius to add 10w30 and 10w30 together to sum up why the Oil Administration wants to keep on holding on.

But what if we had another vision of ourselves in the world? What if, because of this vision, the United States was seen not as The Great Satan but as the greatest humanitarian nation in history? And what if, at the same time, a coalition of other countries was rebuilding and reorganizing Iraq after we'd rid it of Saddam ...then voluntarily pulled out! What if we simply poured that $87 billion into international humanitarian causes rather than old-hat military ones? How about even half that amount? Impossible, you say? Who's being defeatist now?

The planet has endured the use of force as a major means of solving personal, religious, and international disputes for as long as our species can remember. But maybe the strongest, richest, and freest nation ever to have existed might be expected to change all that. Maybe this is our real mission. Maybe this is the meaning of our unique superpower moment in history. Or, to put it in increasingly popular fundamental religious jargon, maybe this is what God wants?

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