A Place to Talk About War

I would like to hear from soldiers who have been in combat situations, from their families, or from others interested in this conversation. I am a graduate student interested in war rhetoric. I have no preset agenda: I simply want to listen, to learn, and to be supportive.

Name:
Location: Texas, United States

Married, two kids. Worked in the defense industry for 20 years before taking a different path. I'll be starting my dissertation on the rhetoric of war in a few months. This semester I am teaching Freshman Composition. I DON'T CARE ABOUT BLOGGERS' SPELLING, PUNCTUATION, OR ANY OTHER GRAMMAR MATTERS--I JUST WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU.

Friday, February 25, 2005

Isn't he an ex-something besides "soldier"?

This is not an anti-MSM post; I happen to be a fan of the press. But when I opened my web browser this morning, here was the headline: "Ex-Soldier Kills Two of Wife's Kids." (You can read the story here.) He had received a general discharge, never saw combat, and was never posted overseas. He was a psycho with a history of domestic violence.

Do you suppose he had ever done anything else in his life by which he could have been identified? A few examples: ex-City High student; ex-Spelling Bee champion; ex-gang member; ex-skateboard fanatic.

Or, how about this one: "Domestic Abuser Kills Two of Wife's Kids." That seems more relevant to me than "ex-soldier."

Monday, February 21, 2005

"Supportive Letters" to Soldiers Actually Accuse

I just became aware of this through PalmTree Pundit. It seems that a social studies assignment in a Brooklyn school went terribly awry when a soldier received a packet of letters, some of which were encouraging and others in which students "pointed out" how many civilians were being killed, that mosques that were being destroyed, etc. by the U.S. That's just what every soldier in a war zone needs--to have a stateside child point out to him what is going on in the war.

Wouldn't a little common sense tell the teacher that actually reading the letters before shipping them off to a soldier overseas might be a good idea?

Update: I went back and read the article more closely. The soldier who received the letters is a 20-year old stationed at Camp Casey, "10 miles from the North Korean border." He's not even in Iraq! You can click on this link to read it yourself.

Go visit Steve's site and write a poem

This is a light-hearted post before you get to the more serious matter below (bombing Hiroshima). Steve at Random Rants and Inquiries celebrated Haiku Day last Wednesday by inviting readers to submit their own haikus. The English teacher in me thinks this is a delightful way to brighten a dreary February day. And if you have children whom you would like to introduce to haiku in a fun way, go buy the latest Veggie Tale, Sumo of the Opera.

In keeping with this blog's focus, I offer a quick haiku about war rhetoric below.

Book just lent to me:
A Terrible Love of War.
I shall read it soon.

Go to Steve's site and have fun.

Truman's Announcement of Bombing Hiroshima

Following is the text of President Truman's announcement that the U.S. had dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. I find it a fascinating piece of rhetoric, both for what it says and what it doesn't say. I would be interested in your comments about it. I have a paper copy, but in the interest of giving full citations I am also providing a link to the site where I got this electronic version.

HARRY S. TRUMAN'S ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE DROPPING OF AN ATOMIC BOMB ON HIROSHIMA

Address to the Nation, August 6, 1945

Sixteen hours ago an American airplane dropped one bomb on Hiroshima, an important Japanese Army base. That bomb had more power than 20,000 tons of TNT. It had more than 2,000 times the blast power of the British "Grand Slam," which is the largest bomb ever yet used in the history of warfare.

The Japanese began the war from the air at Pearl Harbor. They have been repaid manyfold. And the end is not yet. With this bomb we have now added a new and revolutionary increase in destruction to supplement the growing power of our armed forces. In their present form these bombs are now in production, and even more powerful forms are in development.

It is an atomic bomb. It is a harnessing of the basic power of the universe. The force from which the sun draws its power has been loosed against those who brought war to the Far East.

Before 1939, it was the accepted belief of scientists that it was theoretically possible to release atomic energy. But no one knew any practical method of doing it. By 1942, however, we knew that the Germans were working feverishly to find a way to add atomic energy to the other engines of war with which they hoped to enslave the world. But they failed. We may be grateful to Providence that the Germans got the V-1's and V-2's late and in limited quantities and even more grateful that they did not get the atomic bomb at all.

The battle of the laboratories held fateful risks for us as well as the battles of the air, land, and sea, and we have now won the battle of the laboratories as we have won the other battles.

Beginning in 1940, before Pearl Harbor, scientific knowledge useful in war was pooled between the United States and Great Britain, and many priceless helps to our victories have come from that arrangement. Under that general policy the research on the atomic bomb was begun. With American and British scientists working together we entered the race of discovery against the Germans.

The United States had available the large number of scientists of distinction in the many needed areas of knowledge. It had the tremendous industrial and financial resources necessary for the project, and they could be devoted to it without undue impairment of other vital war work. In the United States the laboratory work and the production plants, on which a substantial start had already been made, would be out of reach of enemy bombing, while at that time Britain was exposed to constant air attack and was still threatened with the possibility of invasion. For these reasons Prime Minister Churchill and President Roosevelt agreed that it was wise to carry on the project here.

We now have two great plants and many lesser works devoted to the production of atomic power. Employment during peak construction numbered 125,000 and over 65,000 individuals are even now engaged in operating the plants. Many have worked there for two and a half years. Few know what they have been producing. They see great quantities of material going in and they see nothing coming out of these plants, for the physical size of the explosive charge is exceedingly small. We have spent $2 billion on the greatest scientific gamble in history--and won.

But the greatest marvel is not the size of the enterprise, its secrecy, nor its cost, but the achievement of scientific brains in putting together infinitely complex pieces of knowledge held by many men in different fields of science into a workable plan. And hardly less marvelous has been the capacity of industry to design, and of labor to operate, the machines and methods to do things never done before so that the brainchild of many minds came forth in physical shape and performed as it was supposed to do. Both science and industry worked under the direction of the United States Army, which achieved a unique success in managing so diverse a problem in the advancement of knowledge in an amazingly short time. It is doubtful if such another combination could be got together in the world. What has been done is the greatest achievement of organized science in history. It was done under high pressure and without failure.

We are now prepared to obliterate more rapidly and completely every productive enterprise the Japanese have above ground in any city. We shall destroy their docks, their factories, and their communications. Let there be no mistake; we shall completely destroy Japan's power to make war.

It was to spare the Japanese people from utter destruction that the ultimatum of July 26 was issued at Potsdam.* Their leaders promptly rejected that ultimatum. If they do not now accept our terms they may expect a rain of ruin from the air, the like of which has never been seen on this earth. Behind this air attack will follow sea and land forces in such numbers and power as they have not yet seen and with the fighting skill of which they are already well aware.
The secretary of war, who has kept in personal touch with all phases of the project, will immediately make public a statement giving further details.

His statement will give facts concerning the sites at Oak Ridge near Knoxville, Tennessee, and at Richland near Pasco, Washington, and an installation near Santa Fe, New Mexico. Although the workers at the sites have been making materials to be used in producing the greatest destructive force in history, they have not themselves been in danger beyond that of many other occupations, for the utmost care has been taken of their safety.

The fact that we can release atomic energy ushers in a new era in man's understanding of nature's forces. Atomic energy may in the future supplement the power that now comes from coal, oil, and falling water, but at present it cannot be produced on a basis to compete with them commercially. Before that comes there must be a long period of intensive research.

It has never been the habit of the scientists of this country or the policy of this government to withhold from the world scientific knowledge. Normally, therefore, everything about the work with atomic energy would be made public.

But under present circumstances it is not intended to divulge the technical processes of production or all the military applications, pending further examination of possible methods of protecting us and the rest of the world from the danger of sudden destruction.

I shall recommend that the Congress of the United States consider promptly the establishment of an appropriate commission to control the production and use of atomic power within the United States. I shall give further consideration and make further recommendations to the Congress as to how atomic power can become a powerful and forceful influence towards the maintenance of world peace.

Harry S. Truman

http://www.classbrain.com/artteenst/publish/article_99.shtml

Monday, February 14, 2005

The VA Hospital Disgrace

The Dallas Morning News has been running a series of articles on the deplorable conditions at the Dallas V.A. hospital. Honestly, it's enough to make your skin crawl:
  • a patient was supposed to be turned every two hours. He kept a log of every time he called for a nurse to come turn him. After 8+ hours, he called the police from his hospital phone; when the police arrived, a nurse showed up to take care of him.
  • a family went to visit their patient, who had been admitted with heart attack symptoms. They found him sitting up in bed, naked except for an adult diaper, unattached to any monitoring equipment, and so long dead that his body was cold and his tongue was black. The staff insisted that they had checked on him recently. Yeah, right.

This is what veterans have to look forward to? Please tell me it's better in other parts of the country.

www.dallasnews.com.

Thursday, February 10, 2005

Why were you for/against the war in Iraq?

I am interested in knowing what factors influenced your opinion on whether the U.S. should have gone into Iraq, and whether we should continue to be there. I know that it is sometimes hard to pinpoint exactly why you believe something, but I would appreciate it if you would give it a try.

When I think of reasons people might give on both sides of the question, I come up with these, although I am sure there are others:
  • I had long considered Iraq a threat and was eager for U.S. involvement there.
  • I was convinced by President Bush's assertion that we needed to strike first.
  • I was convinced by President Bush's assertion that Iraq had WMD.
  • I was convinced by President Bush's assertion that we had a moral imperative to remove Hussein.
  • I was convinced by the evidence that Colin Powell presented to the U.N.
  • I trust the President's judgment, so I did not examine the evidence--he is a good man who would not go to war unnecessarily.
  • I believed that Iraq was behind the 9-11 attacks on our country.
  • I believed that President Bush and his associates just wanted to avenge Hussein's plot against the elder Bush's life.
  • I believed that the whole scheme was about oil.
  • I believed that President Bush was operating under a delusion that he has a mandate from God to spread democracy.
  • I believed that entering Iraq would actually increase the threat of terrorism at home.
  • While I felt sorry for the Iraqi people, I did not believe it is our job to free all the oppressed people of the world.
  • I dislike President Bush and would oppose anything he proposed.
  • I am a pacifist.

Regardless of how you feel about our involvement in Iraq, can you tell me if there was a defining moment that formed your opinion? A newspaper article, a televised speech, a conversation with a friend, something on the Web?

Thank you for indulging me--I just find this interesting.


Friday, February 04, 2005

"It's fun to shoot some people"

Well, somebody has to post it. Here's the story:

The Associated Press
Feb 4, 2005
WASHINGTON -- A decorated Marine Corps general said, "It's fun to shoot some people" and poked fun at the manhood of Afghans as he described the wars U.S. troops are fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.

His boss, the commandant of the Marine Corps, said yesterday that the comments reflected "the unfortunate and harsh realities of war" but that the general has been asked to watch his words in public.

Lt. Gen. James Mattis, a career infantry officer who is now in charge of developing better ways to train and equip Marines, made the comments Tuesday while speaking to a forum in San Diego.

According to an audio recording, he said, "Actually, it's a lot of fun to fight. You know, it's a hell of a hoot. . . . It's fun to shoot some people. I'll be right upfront with you, I like brawling."
He added, "You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil. You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them."

His comments were met with laughter and applause from the audience. Mattis was speaking during a panel discussion hosted by the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association, a spokeswoman for the general said.

Yesterday, Gen. Mike Hagee, commandant of the Marine Corps, issued a statement saying: "Lt. Gen. Mattis often speaks with a great deal of candor. I have counseled him concerning his remarks and he agrees he should have chosen his words more carefully."

Hagee also said, "While I understand that some people may take issue with the comments made by him, I also know he intended to reflect the unfortunate and harsh realities of war."

Among Marines, Mattis is regarded as a fighting general and an expert in the art of warfare. Among his decorations are the Bronze Star with a combat distinguishing device and a combat action ribbon, awarded for close-quarters fighting.

He is currently the commanding general of the Marine Corps Combat Development Command in Quantico, Va., and deputy commandant for combat development.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim civil liberties group, called on the Pentagon to discipline Mattis for the remarks.

"These disturbing remarks are indicative of an apparent indifference to the value of human life," said the council's executive director, Nihad Awad.

http://www.timesdispatch.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=RTD/MGArticle/RTD_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031780632614

Wednesday, February 02, 2005

Hostages Found Alive!

If you've been following the case of the American soldier and others who were recently kidnapped in Iraq, then this news should definitely please you.

In case you've been away from the news for a few days, "'Our mujahedeen have managed to capture the American soldier, John Adam, after killing a number of his colleagues,'" said a Zarqawi-linked group called the Mujahedeen Squadrons on the terrorist group Ansar al-Islam's Web site" (thanks to http://www.nypost.com/news/worldnews/39295.htm). But we are happy to report that not only is John Adam, aka "Cody," no longer in danger, but his colleagues who were supposedly killed are safe, as well.

As firm proof, I have posted a picture of the multi-national, multi-ethnic group, now safe at an undisclosed location.