No More Purple Heart Band Aids From the Right
I realize not everyone out there chooses to, or has the financial luxury of going apple-picking for premium cable channels, but for those like myself who might need to be institutionalized after the Sopranos end next year, the benefits of paying $12/month for HBO stretches far beyond the same 11 movies replayed 2300 throughout the year.In keeping with its ability to blow away network and regular cable television out of the water with its homemade programming, HBO is currently airing a piece that takes a brutally honest look into the war, called “Baghdad ER.”
I had the opportunity to watch it the other night, and I have to say that it’s one of those documentaries that leave you feeling unlike the person you were just an hour prior. I’ll spare you the review. Let’s just say it is a powerful glimpse not only into this war, but how war in general comes nowhere near the glorious stereotypes packaged by “liberal” Hollywood pre-Vietnam.
Instead, I want to call attention to how much this chronicle of war really attaches human beings to what is sometimes a vague silhouette of a soldier that doesn’t appear much more than statistics and file footage on the Nightly News to us back home. (This will be apparent as the death toll takes a predictable, media-manufactured turn toward equaling the September 11th events for which we were told this war was launched.)
Because the film takes the audience away from cable news coverage and daily casualty updates and places them firmly in the middle of the casualty aftermath, I have to think that Bush supporters hate this documentary.
Since the war has started, the same crowd that can’t plaster enough “Pray For Our Troops” magnets (thus making their own statement about sacrifice by choosing a car surface-friendly magnet, as opposed to something stickier) on their vehicles doesn’t want you to get a real dose of reality regarding the war.
- Think about the Pentagon ban on photographing flag-draped coffins
- Think of liberal media giant Sinclair Broadcasting, and their refusal to air the Nightline broadcast in which read the names of then 700 fallen soldiers in Iraq
- Think of the fact that Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld or any other architect of this war has yet to go to a service person’s funeral
- Think of the fact that airing Saving Private Ryan – during Veteran’s day - on network TV caused an uproar
- Think of the fact that liberal media member Brit Hume stated that the deaths in Iraq are negligible, historically speaking
And who could ever forget Barbara Bush protecting her beautiful mind on Good Morning America?
Therefore, I believe this documentary really shatters the, “move along, nothing to see here” attitude from the Bush administration regarding Iraq.
Many Americans can grimace and grind their patriotic teeth and argue the merits of this war, good or bad, based simply on the death toll figures. However, the number of casualties, rather than deaths – including limbs blown off, people returning home with one eye or unable to ever walk again, soldiers enduring 5, 10 or 15 surgeries just to survive – is perhaps the untold story of this entire saga. Over 17,000 of them and counting.
Couple this with the fact that so many injured are kids – fresh out of 12th grade study hall, not even old enough to legally drink away pain. Too young to have ever been through a psychology class, yet their first lesson will come from their own crash course in Posttraumatic Stress disorder, 101. Barely old enough to understand any of the politics that lead to 9/11, yet lied into buying the idea that they were sent to die in order to avenge it.
Now try to comprehend the fact that not a single pre-war justification for our invasion has proven true – and watching kids die makes you wonder how any of the neocons could ever look themselves in the mirror with any sense of pride or honor, or how the person at the traffic light next to you can display their W ’04 sticker without a deep sense of shame.
Finally, it should be noted that this film is completely apolitical, and only slightly bumps in the night with politics when one of the surgeons states, “We have to be doing good. I have to believe we're doing some good, otherwise, this is sheer madness."
While I think the doctor is right on, I think the sheer madness comes from those who know we were lied into war, yet don’t demand impeachment of this President.
posted by Jeremy at 8:11 PM
23 Comments:
Good for HBO. I missed the program but at the end they listed the number of our soldiers injured, meaning missing limbs, eyes, brain function, and more and it was over 17,000. Maybe Babs could fill her beautiful mind with the numbers coming home with prostetics or drooling.
i am a bit worried about the folks coming back after multiple 'voluntary' tours in iraq. troops are being recycled through after only a short break because of the troop shortage. fatigue and being 'war weary' causes mistakes and mistakes cause casulties. not to mention that some may be homicidal maniacs unable to assimilate after coming home. i am sure the majority will not only suffer the physical wounds but the mental ones as well- not from a lack of support necessarily like the folks from vietnam- but just from killing and being under those conditions for so long. the people in the bubble don't ever think about those things. mary cheney is out hawking her wares on the book circuit- alive and well if a bit mean tempered- and i guess the bush twins are 'working' somewhere while making sure that they look nice.
My son is one of those kids right out of school. He is supposedly going over in June. He NEVER watched the news. I tried to talk as fast as I could to convince him not to go but couldn't change his mind. I don't know what the recruiter told him but it must have been better then anything I came up with (and I seriously promised to help him do anything). It pisses me off that our leaders aren't over there and/or don't have children over there. I'm sure things would be alot f-ing different if they were.
I viewed this Monday night after seeing a post on it from Philo at Bring it On.
The doctors line about sheer madness was was prefect.
To watch it brings us all back to reality because the soliders are now realtous and thry are dying in horrific ways, and for what?
A lie.
Karena if you have HBO, I'd definitely recommend it. In fact, I think it should be a prerequisite that this get shown on network TV before we go to war.
Betmo, you make a good point, and this is a theme I see recurring over and over that Bush supporters don’t have the intelligence or the will to understand: the troops are never to blame for any of this. They are literally (and often self-admittedly) brainwashed to do a job, to be subservient, and psychologically speaking, it’s really the only way to have an army. It’s an unnecessary evil. They are understandably required to believe in what they do, have enthusiasm for it, and have a bond with their fellow soldiers that dictates cohesiveness and loyalty. Therefore, they can never be blamed or held responsible for ANY of this. For the most part, they’re kids who believe in what they’re doing, and that’s the end of the story.
It’s the leadership that we question, and it’s the guys pulling the strings from the top that we are not supporting…as if I even need to say that to anyone who reads this site. So when you hear about guys volunteering to go back, or guys in hospital beds missing limbs saying their only regret is that they can’t go help their fellow soldiers, no one could ever blame them, which makes it all the more ridiculous that anyone would accuse anyone of not supporting or holding the troops responsible.
Mary – I personally don’t know what to tell you. That’s really sad news, and I think you now have personal experience with why a lot of people are weary of recruiters going to our public schools. While I undoubtedly see the need for recruitment programs, I also can’t imagine being a parent and competing with military recruiters for your high school graduating son.
I have no idea what your family situation is and I don’t pretend to ever speak for that – but it’s obvious that a lot of kids that are recruited/volunteer are those that don’t have a lot of other choices, at least financially speaking. That’s why your kid is over there, and the Bush twins relax in the comfort of their Texas ranch, or wherever the hell they live.
Not to mention, its how Bush/Cheney avoided Vietnam in the first place.
And, as you mentioned, your child doesn’t watch the news and probably doesn’t have an appreciation of what is ahead for him, why we’re there, or anything to do with the war itself.
I’m not a parent, but I can’t imagine how it must feel to have a kid heading over to fight any war, let alone one without justification such as this. There is a big difference between the sense of duty and necessity of sending a family member to WWII for example, versus this war in Iraq.
What an awful thing for you to have to go through…I wish you luck and strength.
"Because the film takes the audience away from cable news coverage and daily casualty updates and places them firmly in the middle of the casualty aftermath, I have to think that Bush supporters hate this documentary.
Since the war has started, the same crowd that can’t plaster enough “Pray For Our Troops” magnets (thus making their own statement about sacrifice by choosing a car surface-friendly magnet, as opposed to something stickier) on their vehicles doesn’t want you to get a real dose of reality regarding the war."
My goodness....It doesn't get any more ridiculous than that right there.
Really? What's more ridiculous - the fact that a right-wing television broadcasting company wouldn't air a respectful acknowledgement of the troops who have died in Iraq, or me writing about it.
What’s more sacrificial – speaking your mind about the war, donating money for troop body armor, protesting the insanity of invading a country that never could have attacked us, or putting a removable, paint-safe magnet on your car.
What's more absurd - the pentagon's ban on photographing flag-draped coffins (keeping the privacy of the soldiers as they are unidentified), or me calling attention to it on a web site.
What’s more alarming – having your kid go die in a battle for a war for which no one can really tell us the justification or the threat to our security, or having your draft-dodging, criminal record President and VP tell you on a daily basis how well things are going over there.
Honestly, if it’s my writing that makes you point a finger and say, “that’s insane!” then how does this other stuff make you feel?
Makes me say the same thing Jeremy. "Thats insane !!! "...
Well, at least you're consistent :-)
just because you don't like the answer to the justifications for war w/ Iraq, doesn't mean they haven't justified it substantially.
Things are going well over there.
We have an all volunteer Military, you sound like a tired old peacenik from the sixties. People join on their own , and re-enlist on their own. For purposes they believe in for the most part. Don't chalk it up to "Brainwashed". You are insulting many people by doing so.
War is an awful thing, nothing positive is going to get accomplished by photographing the caskets anyway. Rational people understand that sacrifices are made and don't need to be reminded of that for political purposes.
I believe you have a bigger problem acknowledging human nature here, and War is a part of that. You understand it on small terms such as using your rage against republicans, conservatives, and people who disagree with you politically and show it with stickers on their SUV's. Yet, you miss the boat when it comes to geo-political actions on a larger scale.Well, when it comes to Conservatives utilizing their agenda you do, I sense you had no problem with Clinton dropping bombs on Iraq,Serbia, Somalia etc.... I think you need to stop regurgitating the bias here, and be consistent. War will not end when Bush gets voted out, people will want to take down the super power bully. Islam will be trying to take over the world , USA will be fighting on some section of the world in many different facets. Dem , repub, conservative, liberal. It matters none.
i agree that people will continue to fight wars after this contingent is out of office. i think that we may all agree that there was a reason to go into afghanistan- and continues to be one. iraq is the sticking point. there was no good reason to invade iraq- and now we are losing lives- iraqi and american not to mention whoever is left of our 'coalition forces. the tired retread of 'iraq is better now because saddam is gone' or 'we are keeping it over there so they don't bring it over here' is crap. there was no reason to go in the first place and no real reason to continue the farce. let's support the troops and try to clean up the mess. yes, soldiers enlist but when you have recruiters sucking in teenagers- well, is that really informed consent? these folks can barely vote and you put a gun in their hand? just because they are 18- doesn't mean that they are mentally 18- and i would hazard a guess that the recruiters are talking to the younger crowd even if they can't enlist yet. you are right- people are people and war will continue- but we have a better shot at diplomacy and working things out with a bigger chunk of the world than the middle east. china comes to mind and that country is bigger than the middle east combined.
Right on Sappho!
Jeremy- I just caught it on On Demand. It really was quite sobering but I don't think I was surprised by anything. It is something people should see so they aren't so disengaged that they can casually make statements
about sacrifices that are made.
When my son became a field medic with the II Marine Division, he did not do so because he was brainwashed. He did it because that was his chosen field. And he was good at it. I believe when you call these troops brainwashed, you are insulting them. I have magnets all over my car because I don't want the troops to be forgotten. And if someone doesn't like it, ask me how much I care? Just because I support the troops doesn't mean I support the war. These young men and women are going through things you can't even imagine. None of can unless we have been there. And why would you want to photograph their "flag draped" coffins anyway? To prove a political point? Perhaps, you would rather stand with the other protestors who come to military funerals and harrass and torment family members who are burying their husbands, sons, brothers, loved ones. Just like I did. On August 1, 2005. I can understand being against this war, but I do not understand disrespecting these brave men and women. I guess they just have this strange idea that serving their country is an honorable and noble thing. Or perhaps they are there because they don't want their children to be there. Which is what my son said. You want to know about the war? Ask the "brainwashed troops" that are there. Go on, get a ticket, go ask them.
well said Deb
Betmo.They put the guns in their own hands.
Deb50, thanks for your comments. I appreciate you have a son serving, and a few who read this blog have kids over there who would sharply disagree with what you said above appreciate them as well (not to mention a couple active military who have commented as well) I want to respond to a few points you made above.
I said the troops were brainwashed, which obviously is a pejorative, but I was making a point about the psychological conditioning that military drill seargents instill in our kids when they arrive at boot camp. I should not have used the word brainwashed, as that carries a negative connotation, and for that I will apologize.
My point was not that they are brainwashed, therefore they should be discounted – my point is that they absolutely need to be psychologically conditioned in order to perform a job. One of the more interesting pursuits in my psych degree was studying about what the human condition can endure under the right circumstances, and how human behavior spans an amazing spectrum when conditioned properly.
This is what the army does. You can’t simply pluck the average high school grad from the streets and send them off to war to kill people, and to watch their friends die. There is an absolute condition the army instills in people to allow them to operate that way – and my point was it is necessary. It’s for their own safety, survival, and for the protection of our country.
It is for this reason that you’re not always going to get an informed opinion about the politics of this war from soldiers serving. For example, take a look at this poll when you get a chance. Almost 90% think war is retaliation for Saddam’s role in 9/11. Think about that for a second, and tell me these guys don’t have the wrong information? Look at what Mary said about her young son above – and how little he has been informed (or any kid his age!) about what is going on over there. Again – and I can’t say this enough – no one is blaming the troops! It is NOT their fault! They’ve been told by their superiors and civilian leaders what this mission is, and they’ve been LIED TO. In other words, no one here is holding the troops responsible for this – they do not make the policy. I hold those who should know better responsible. I realize you don’t understand that point, but I can’t phrase it any other way.
Secondly, you hit the nail right on the head when you said “just because I support the troops doesn’t mean I support the war.” I would say back to you, "just because I’m against the war, doesn’t mean I’m against the troops." You made a comment about protestors at military funerals. If you’d like to see my opinion on those people, or if you’d like to do your own research into the groups that are doing those sorts of things – I have some surprising news for you. They’re not war protestors, they’re anti-gay protestors from a Church in Kansas. Go ahead, read about them here and here . I’m linking to my own site because I’d like for you understand how I feel about people who protest at funerals, and where the majority of them are coming from.
Perhaps you’re confusing anti-war protestors with this right-wing group that protests funerals. If that’s the case I feel sorry for your misunderstanding. An overwhelming amount of protesters you see at anti-war protests Deb are soldiers coming back from Iraq, veterans of other wars, veterans groups, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters etc of troops in Iraq now, and those who have a lot more experience with this war and other than our current administration.
Finally, I’m not sure I’ve ever met or really heard about anyone that doesn’t support our troops in any sense of the word. Those who have been gung-ho about this war have taken the expressions of those who were against the war, and painted them as hating the troops and being unpatriotic. I shouldn’t even have to say how ridiculous that is, but I see more and more people who can’t understand the difference. I’ve listed in so many instances, military generals, the troops themselves, etc who feel this war is being run horribly and the justification for it is based on myth and lies. While most Americans can now see through this, there are still those out there (anonymous for example) who think the war is going just fine, that conditions are improving over the past 3 years, and that we weren’t sent there for the wrong information. If that doesn’t outrage you, I’m afraid you are unable to be outraged.
Speaking out against what we feel is an unjust war is not just a patriotic duty, it’s a moral obligation. To stay silent when 10’s of thousands of people are dying, and twice that are being injured, would be the worst, scariest, most tragic occurrence I could think of.
You seem to have put a lot of thought into your comments. I appreciate that. I am well aware of the Church members who protest at funerals. They were at my son's funeral, something you obviously misunderstood. The military trains a soldier to work as a team player. They do teach them skills for survival. They also have a medic on-hand in case something should happen, which is what my son did. And, no, you can back-step all you want, but the word brain-washed means just that. Brain-washed. What a lot of people don't realize as well, is that the military has helped build schools, hospitals, and have aided the Iraqi people. My son did not treat just Marines. He treated wounded Iraqi civilians and soldiers as well. The media does not report what are perceived as positives about this war. It is not popular. They get more ratings by feeding the American public what they want to here to help their ratings. And if you believe another 9/11 will not happen again, you are also mistaken. If you want to discuss the psychology of the war, you might want to consider the PTSD that many of the troops returning from combat are facing.
To believe that Saddam had nothing to do with terrorist activity, or nothing to do with 9/11 is foolish and irresponsible. Of course he did, and one of the missions of Iraqi Freedom is to prevent terrorists from entering Iraq from neighboring countries, i.e. Saudia Arabia.
And, please don't tell me what I understand and don't understand. Anyone can write how much they hate this war. Doing something about it is a whole different ball game. Contact you local representives in Washington, your Senators, the White House. Let them know how you feel. That's what I do.
I would like to add that I don't think anyone is being disrespectful or means
to be disrespectful to anyone over there. I think there are alot
of patriotic kids over there. I get that. I don't know why my
son joined. I speak my beliefs to my children from the time they
are born. I have always been against war. Do I have the answer?
I don't know but I sure would like to be positive absolutely every other avenue was taken before our leaders commit us to a war. My son could have gone to college. As my children were growing up I always told them they would continue there education in college. Michael just hated school. He found out quickly what kind of jobs you get w/o a degree. He was a little lost at the time he joined. But
when I went to his boot camp graduation I was appalled by what the
t-shirts they were selling said:
Burn the village to the ground
Killing all who flee
Dead bodies all around
Love my M10
******* kill and hate
Enemies we terminate
Harder than lean and mean
Blood lusting war machines
Soldier life we love it love it
Army life we live it live it
and we gonna
bring down the thunder
.........
This is not the way I want my son to think. My husband said well
if he is going to be over there I guess he better think like that. I guess this illustrates what Jeremy said about psychologically conditioning. And believe me my son is thinking like that. It breaks my heart.
I know the first time he does kill someone his life will be
changed forever. It's a tragic situation and all I am saying is
people should know the price of war. It's will change my son and
it will effect my family. People that don't have that kind of personal involvement in a war need shows like Baghdad ER to see and meet the real live humans going through this. Hearing about the
losses on the news may make it a little more real so people will
put more weight in there decisions to go to war. Putting all that suffering somewhere where people can't see it makes war seem like something it isn't. It is ugly, ugly and people need to see that.
Thank God we have sites like this where we can all express our opinions, voice our concerns and hopefully learn from each other. Thank you Jeremy.
speak out all you want, I love that we have that avenue. Dissent, protest.... It's your right. A right that you wouldn't have if we didn't FIGHT for it. Now, I'm not saying that Iraq was in any way going to threaten that right, but neither was Germany in WW2. Nor Serbia or Iraq in the 90's. Nor North Korea, or Vietnam. Or any of the other countries whom never attacked us, or threatened us in a manner to be a detrement to national security. No one thinks you are blaming the troops, nor have I ever seen anyone from your side of the spectrum say so. Nor have I seen anyone from my side of the spectrum say that your side is blaming the troops. I think it is something your side has once again made up, for political purposes I suppose. I don't know. I don't know any conservatives who think you are blaming anyone but those in charge. Maybe some do and you feel better lumping them all in together. We all know how shy you are about generalizing everyone from the right eh ?..ha, anyway, I'll continue to realize that sometimes war is neccasary.Thats the way it's been done for ever. Just because you are against war, dosen't mean your enemy is going to change his mind and utilize diplomacy. I'll support your rights to fight for a change, I wouldn't mind if it were different. But trying to convince our enemies of that is a little more difficult.Sometimes you have to fight fire with fire. Now I know, you are going to tell me Iraq was a harmless country and we are illegal for going in there and you have all this fodder to "prove" so, I still have the same fodder that proves my side and proves how things are going well. We really don't need to hash it up all over again. You're not going to change my mind, I'm not going to change yours. So lets agree to disagree. We can agree on one thing .I want peace as much has you do. I just believe in different means to achieve it.
Thank you mary for your post...I always appreciate you comments here, and again, hope your son is safe over in Iraq.
Deb - Again, i'm not slamming the military one bit here. Of course valuable skills are learned in the army, and I have nothing but respect and admiration for medics who treat not only the American soldiers, but the Iraqis who are hurt as well (despite the fact that Iraqi may have caused harm to the initial American being treated). I don't think I can even think of something more noble than that.
A friend that I went to high school with, Jason, was a medic in the army during the conflict in the Balkans, and the stories he used to share with us when he was on leave and back home were stories I will never forget.
In anything I have said, I certainly mean no disrespect for the troops that have to fight this war - and the fact that I even have to say that is getting irritating. I think many others that don't support the war in Iraq would agree with me in saying we're a little more than tired of defending that, and if you approach that argument with people you're going to have a tough conversation on your hands.
Part of supporting the troops is making sure we have a war strategy. Part of supporting them means you do not deploy them in any situation unless it is absolutely necessary. Part of supporting the troops means you don't use them as props in media coverage and give them pre-written scripts to make it seem like they're having actual conversations with the president. Part of supporting the troops means understanding that 90% of those who are coming back from Iraq who have chosen to run for office, are running so as Democrats, and its not because they're against gay marriage. Part of supporting the troops means you don't give tax cuts to the upper 1% during a time of war...twice.
So please, if I'm wrong on any of those statements above, I would encourage you to explain why.
In the meantime, I don't profess to know what you know - however if you're thinking Saddam and Iraq were linked to 9/11, I'm deeply saddened that for you that you have the wrong information, and you've believed that.
Even the President himself has asserted on more than one account, "Saddamn Hussein is not connected with September the 11th."
The CIA has said so.
The Senate has said so.
The 9/11 commission has said so.
Even the most staunch conservative Republicans have given up trying to convince people of this.
It is VERY important that you understand this, and if you choose not to believe that, I guess I have no answers for you. Don't take my word for it, take the president's.
Finally, as for PTSD, I know all about it my friend. I apologize for being so anecdotal, but a good friend of our family suffers for it, and my mother was a psychotherapist at the VA hospital in Togus Maine for years and years, where she treated this first hand.
It is not lost on my whatsoever. It is underdiagnosed, and treatment for it is underfunded by the Bush administration. It's absolutely disgusting. As we keep looking at the casualty figures, we never really hear much about the horrible psychological effects, and the people whose lives are ruined by PTSD.
Again, I wrote about this not too long ago - you and I are on the same page regarding a lot of this stuff Deb.
Deb, if I've forgotten to mention, I'm very very sorry for your loss, and I think anyone who protested at your son's funeral is despicable and totally shameless.
Each time I hear about someone losing a family member, it empowers me more to keep speaking out until this war has ended.
I'm not here to debate this with you. Obviously you have your own agenda. And, no you don't really care that my son died. Nor do many of the American people. The only people who care are his family, and his comrade-in-arms. And, I will believe what I believe, and if you think Afghanistan or Bin Laden acted alone, you are misinformed. It would be so nice to pidgeon-hole this war and the Bush Administration as "bad", but its not that simple. You know nothing about PTSD unless you have experienced it yourself. You have an idea of what it is like, but that is all. I think it best for us to agree to just disagree. You have your agenda, and I have mine.
Anyway, I thought you were going to impeach Bush? Why would you start believing anything he said now? Or ever? The very people you hold to contempt are the ones you use to support your argument.
Enough said.
Thanks for your comments deb, I appreciate your thoughts.
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