The Real War

[curmugeon]

It seems that Doonesbury has done it again, creating an outlet to provide a close look at the real war. No, its not pretty, and it is written by those who live it. Just briefly reading it, you cannot get some words out of your mind. So, I suggest you read this, and keep reading daily, till this war is over. Its our war, even if we oppose it, so take a look. It isn't going away soon.

Comments

Witnesses

[flyvapnet.livejournal.com]

Thanks for posting that link, Alan. By the way, the only addiction I brought back from military service in Viet Nam was an addiction to life.

Then I became a journalist. Most of the reporters I worked with in those days were military veterans; and the main reason they'd become journalists was because, during their military service, they'd come to hate all the bullshit which was fed the public by corporations and politicians.

Regardless of all the thank-yous and other plaudits extended to active-duty members of the armed forces, or to military veterans, the fact of the matter is that almost nobody in civilian life really gives a shit what present and past airmen or coastguardsmen or marines or merchant mariners or sailors or soldiers think. Hence, I find blanket criticism of journalists to be largely without merit: A great many journalists have, in fact, "been there and done that"; and although the number of such journalists has dwindled over the past decade, it's bound to rise again due to an influx of Second Iraq War veterans.

Granted: Journalism as it's practiced today is largely an arm of corporate advertising, power-elite apologetics and other manifestations of the status quo ante; but that's not always been the case, nor is it always the case today. A person needs to avoid the growing number of shallow news-media outlets — such as talk radio and local television news — and stick with the (now) few sources which actually deliver the goods.

My suggested journalism sources, for folks in the USA, would include the British Broadcasting Corporation and The New York Times. Additionally, that web-log page of Gary Trudeau's which you referenced is a wonderful source of witness to the war in Iraq!

=^..^=