Clarity on Haditha June 2, 2006
Posted by threadingwater in haditha, iraq war, politics.trackback
It's nauseating to read the wingnuts' desperate struggle to reframe the Haditha incident as an opportunistic anti-war rallying cry. The best antidote I've come across is this essay over at Shakespeare's Sister.
Why are Iraq War supporters so quick to level accusations of treason and lack of patriotism against those who question and raise alternate viewpoints?
They know it isn’t really the devious machinations of the Left that undermines war, but reminders about how brutal war really is. It’s why they don’t like the media reporting on anything “negative,” why they hide soldiers’ caskets, why they relentlessly classify anything as innocuous as the reading of fallen soldiers’ names as antiwar. They know they must hide the reality of war in order to sustain support for it. They complain that there isn’t enough coverage of the good things happening in Iraq, but the belief that all the stories about hospitals being built or schools reopened will somehow persuade people it’s worth the tragedy necessitates a fundamental misunderstanding of human nature. Most people don’t work that way. They don’t offer praise for things you’re supposed to be doing.
I urge you to read the entire post.
Support for our troops and activism against the Iraq War are not mutually exclusive pursuits or ideologies. Patriotism in its highest form requires nothing less.
My favorite “defense mechanism” so far comes from the Rabid Hamster, Sean Hannity. On his radio show and on television, he has taken to calling the Marines accused of this atrocity “boys.” He must have done this a dozen times the other day. As if by calling them “boys”, they can absolved of some responsibility.
And what’s funny is, he uses the same term for some other accused criminals: the Duke lacrosse team members accused of rape. I find that interesting.
Great observation, David. When we send them off to war, they’re fighting “men.” When they do something wrong, they’re naughty “boys.”
Those Duke players, I’m not so sure about. Seems to me that “boy” is the proper label for those sheltered, indulged children of privilege whose parents have bailed them out of every minor and major daliance since birth. They are likely to remain boys forever, but that doesn’t absolve them of mens’ crimes.
And, I’m fairly certain that Hannity’s motivation for using the “boy” term wouldn’t square with yours or mine.