On Jun 15, 2006, at 3:05 PM, Nick Arnett wrote:
And this, from Second Lt. Brian Humpheys in Hit, Iraq, about hiding
the
coffins coming home -- a subject I've been trying to write about
ever since
Wes was killed in Fallujah.
"Pictures of flag-draped coffins being unloaded from Air Force
transports
surface on the back reaches of the Internet, as if they were a grainy
celebrity sex video that decent people should avoid looking at.
But I think
otherwise. The images of flag-draped coffins show the end of war
as we are
meant to see it, and as we are meant to believe it. Uniforms, flags,
patriotism, honor, sacrifice. In these images we are not street
fighters
struggling to survive and kill in a distant gangland but soldiers
in the
nation's service. They will help the families, I think. They will
help
us. In our own way, we, too, need to believe."
Of course, we're not allowed to see that -- the way a grieving nation
(as
if!) honors its heroes -- but we are greeted with hour after hour of
graphic images and descriptions of exactly how Abu Musab al-Zarkawi
died.
And images of Saddam Hussein in his underwear being checked for lice, in
direct violation of international laws.
Sometimes, I begin to think that maybe, just maybe, we are not the good
guys.
Dave
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