Tag: military

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Film/TV Film/TV/Etc. Blog

Korengal

Korengal (2014; dir. Sebastian Junger)—Here’s the second paragraph from author and former CIA man Ray McGovern’s article “How To Honor Memorial Day,” which was published a couple days ago on Antiwar.com: “First, let’s be clear on at least this much: the 4,500 U.S. troops killed in Iraq—so far—and the 2,350 killed in Afghanistan—so far—did not ‘fall.’ They were wasted on no-win battlefields by politicians and generals—cheered on by neocon pundits and mainstream ‘journalists’—almost none of whom gave a rat’s patootie about the real-life-and-death troops. They were throwaway soldiers.” And here’s what American combat veteran Brendan O’Byrne says to anyone who tells him he shouldn’t feel guilty about his Afghanistan tour because he did what he had to do when he was over there: “I didn’t have to do shit.” O’Byrne is just one of many soft-featured young men with thousand-yard stares and true war stories to tell who were interviewed in Junger’s remarkable sequel to his 2010 documentary Restrepo, which chronicled the daily lives of several soldiers stationed in a remote, hostile and unforgiving Afghan outpost named after a beloved medic killed in action. Restrepo trafficked in immediate, spontaneous, unpredictable wartime experience; Korengal is a more
meditative and complex work that asks for—and often receives—both truth and some measure of reconciliation from its subjects. By giving these men the time and space to articulate and explore their personal codes (“You have to respect the enemy”), their provisional joys (“What’s not to like about a giant machine gun?”) and their ever-present fears (“Damn! Life is getting weird up here…”) Korengal performs an invaluable public service. Their many and varied testimonials wind up saying the same thing all meaningful war memorials say: never forget. Grade: A

Categories
Letters To The Editor Opinion

Letters to the Editor

Aquarius Revisited

Bianca Phillips’ article about the hippie commune, the Farm (“The Old Age of Aquarius,” November 22nd issue), showed that despite declining numbers of people, the 1960s countercultural ethic is still thriving in Tennessee.

What is more amazing is that many of the 1960s’ revolutionary, radical ideas are now mainstream, including solar energy, soy products, natural childbirth, recycling, spirituality, earth consciousness, and a healthy mistrust of the government’s immense power. All of these are now a part of the fabric of society.

If mainstream society would whole-heartedly embrace the guiding principles of the Farm — love and compassion — in all of its endeavors, then the 1960s cultural upheaval will not have been futile.

Randy Norwood

Memphis

The Shelter

Thanks to the Flyer and Bianca Phillips for highlighting one of the malfunctions associated with our city-run animal-disposal facility, aka the Memphis Animal Shelter (“Sheltered Life,” November 22nd issue).  

Unfortunately, the shelter’s euthanasia policies are just the tip of the iceberg. As a foster-home provider for rescued animals, I have been repeatedly let down by our city’s shelter policies. First, they do not respond to injured or loose animal reports consistently or in a timely manner. Second, animals may be adopted to whoever is willing to pay the small fee, without regard for eligibility. Third, owner-surrendered animals are immediately destroyed. (Shelter spokespeople say they must assume something is wrong with the animal since the owner is relinquishing it, so it is never made available for adoption.)

I realize that the shelter is overrun with animals and lacks resources (including but not limited to leadership and the support of the city government). But the fact that over 1,000 animals are killed per month in that facility is a shameful reflection of our city’s crime, poverty, and low education levels. A high percentage of dogs that are euthanized are bully breeds used for fighting operations. Until tougher penalties for dog fighting are instituted and spay/neuter is encouraged citywide, the Memphis Animal Shelter will continue to serve as a death-trap for thousands of animals each year.  

In the meantime, Memphians have a social and civil responsibility to adopt homeless animals and donate money they might have spent on designer dogs to one of the city’s volunteer-run rescue organizations.   

Jessica Leu
Memphis

The Surge

I believe all Americans want the surge in Iraq to be a success. If it succeeds, Iraq can stand on its own and our brave military men and women can come home. Unfortunately, the more we learn about what the president is planning, the more obvious it is that we are headed toward an open-ended commitment to Iraq. 

President Bush initially failed to deploy enough troops to ensure a victory. Now we learn our tax dollars are going to pay more than 70,000 Sunnis to patrol their neighborhoods. The Iraqi government was supposed to do this, but they fear arming so many who oppose the current government — and who might use the weapons to attack the Shiites who are in charge.  

The invasion has created two hostile opposing forces in Iraq, and we are arming and training both sides! It appears that Bush has not learned the lesson he should have learned from his father. When the first Bush administration armed the Taliban, they created a monster that finally turned on us. It was the Taliban who protected and assisted bin Laden. Now, more than six years after 9/11, that monster is still alive and making propaganda tapes for the world to hear.

After a million Iraqis and thousands of Americans have been killed and maimed in Iraq and after close to a trillion dollars of American treasure has been spent, the real mastermind of 9/11 is still alive and planning more attacks.

The president claims he is spreading democracy. I say he is spreading something else. How does he explain the hundreds of Saudis in Iraq who are terrorists? He has called the Saudi princes friends for years. These same friends are silent when a Saudi woman who was raped is punished with 200 lashes. I fear democracy is far from the minds of those Bush has befriended in our name. Saudi princes and Shiite politicians are only interested in power, not freedom and democracy.     

Jack Bishop

Cordova

Categories
Opinion The Last Word

The Rant

CREDIT: AP Photo/Eric Draper

Well, gosh darn. Shoot. Heck yeah. Finally.

Believe it or not, the Bush administration military is saving you

some money! That’s right, just when you thought you’d heard all you could possibly hear from those cowardly, whining liberals about the government spending all of your money on an illegal war

about oil and commerce and hiring those monstrous, over-charging companies like Halliburton and Blackwater to march in and help the peace process going on with Operation Iraqi Freedom, your United States military has figured out a way to cut costs so that your tax dollars aren’t spent so frivolously. Did you ever think that would happen? I didn’t. What with all of the billions and billions of dollars that have been spent on the war so far to keep us all safe here “on American soil,” I really couldn’t figure out a way for the government to shave some of that spending without really making us more and more vulnerable to attack here at home again. That kind of protection does really cost a lot of money, you know. But they did it. They found a way. There’s been a little coverage of it on some of the cable news networks but not really all that much, so I figured I would at least do my part in congratulating them. Have you ever heard of the Minnesota National Guard or, as they are sometimes called, the Red Bull Brigade? Well, just in case you haven’t, they volunteered to serve and help out during crisis situations in their own state, like most National Guard units. When the war with Iraq busted loose and they were needed, they did their duty. And they did so longer than most anybody who’s served over there yet. Most of them were there for an unprecedented 22 months. They were there in the middle of all that hell, fighting on the ground, never knowing from one minute to the next if they were going to be blown to bits and they stuck it out — ALMOST until the bitter end. Luckily, the military let them come home a little early. While some of them were home in May of this year, Vice President Dick Cheney was so moved by their service — you know what a nice man he is! — he went up there and gave a speech. He was so impressed with his words, he put the speech on the White House Web site: “America is also deeply grateful to the men and women of the Red Bull Division — the 34th Infantry Division. Your recent missions include operations in Bosnia, Kosovo, Egypt, and Honduras. And you have mobilized and deployed in the global war on terror. You’ve sent in units as part of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom, and right now soldiers of the 1st Brigade Combat Team are on the ground in Iraq as part of the largest overseas deployment of the Minnesota National Guard since World War II. Our nation owes an incalculable debt to all branches of the armed forces, and to the Guard and Reserve units all across the country. It is impossible to overstate how much they’ve done to make this nation safer, and to bring freedom, stability, and peace to a troubled part of the world.” That was really sweet of him, wasn’t it? And really sweet of the military to let them come home early. Yes, it was just one day early, but still. And now there are some left-wing nuts out there who are angry because it has come out that the reason they let them come home one day early is because that way, they don’t have to give them as much financial aid to go to school as they would have if they had stayed there in hell that extra ONE DAY. See, if they had stayed the extra ONE DAY, the government would have to give them roughly $800 a month in education benefits. But since they brought about half of them home ONE DAY early, they have to pay them only about $200 a month. And that is where the army is saving you, the taxpayer, a lot of money! See, it was a really smart move on the Army’s part. Oh, yes, some of the soldiers think it stinks while some of the others, who are just a bit more patriotic, say they think that the decision to bring them home a day early could possibly have been just an oversight or a fluke. Shame on those soldiers who are complaining about being treated this way for their service in the war in Iraq. It’s not like they really did all that much. So what if they had to live through that nightmare for almost two years of their lives and lose jobs and be away from loved ones and all that? Don’t they know the government and especially its military chiefs have to show some fiscal responsibility? In fact, they just did it again. Get this from CBS News: “The opening of a mammoth, $600 million U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, which had been planned for last month, has now been delayed well into next year, U.S. officials said. The Vatican-sized compound, which will be the world’s largest diplomatic mission, has been beset by construction and logistical problems. ‘They are substantially behind at this point’ and it would be surprising if any offices or living quarters could be occupied before the end of the year, one official told the Associated Press on Thursday.” Now then. See? I bet if they just cut out the $200 in benefits altogether, rather than giving these veterans the ridiculously high sum of $800 a month in benefits, they might just be able to go ahead and get this construction project finished. I bet if this building is for the top officials in the army, it will be really swell.

Categories
News

“Eyes Wide Open” to be Shown in Downtown Memphis

The Mid-South Peace and Justice Center, in cooperation with the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), will honor fallen U.S. military personnel and Iraqi civilians with its traveling exhibition: Eyes Wide Open: The Cost of War to Tennessee.

The exhibit will be on display in Federal Plaza, 167 N. Main St. on August 28, 2007 from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. A press conference will be held at noon to launch a sustained campaign of public education, outreach and nonviolent direct action.

Eyes Wide Open: The Cost of War to Tennessee focuses on the specific costs of war to the state of Tennessee. The exhibit includes 72 pairs of boots representing fallen servicemen and women from Tennessee, and a visual representation of the Iraqi civilian casualties. This exhibit is part of AFSC’s national Eyes Wide Open: The Human Cost of War network.

Categories
News The Fly-By

Senior to Soldier?

Twenty-five U.S. soldiers were killed in Iraq last Saturday, making it the third deadliest day for American soldiers since the war began. And if the president has his way, more U.S. troops will be deployed.

That may mean heavier recruitment in high schools, but a local group hopes to keep kids’ personal information out of military hands by shielding scores and phone numbers collected through the Armed Services Vocational Assessment and Battery (ASVAB) test.

An optional test administered to high school juniors and seniors by the military, the ASVAB is designed to help kids make career choices. However, the test also provides military field recruiters with information on high school students qualified for enlistment.

“We don’t have a problem with the students taking the ASVAB. What we have a problem with is the expectation that the military is going to receive all the information,” says George Grider, head of the Alternatives to the Military Project through the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center.

Grider hopes to convince the Memphis City Schools (MCS) Board to choose Option 8 districtwide, a move that would allow the students to take the test without having their scores given to the military.

The test is scheduled for February 19th through March 2nd at MCS, but not all schools offer the test. Sonja Sanes, the MCS high school guidance counseling supervisor, says the test helps determine where students are academically. She’s never heard of Option 8, but she advises students not interested in military enlistment to stand their ground.

“You can tell the recruiter you’re not interested,” says Sanes. “They can be persistent, but when they ask the second time, you need to ask who their commander is. That closes that door.”

But Grider, a military veteran, fears that students may feel pressured to join because they need money for college. He’s not opposed to voluntary enlistment, but he wants kids to make informed choices and read the fine print.

“Our objection to military recruitment is they do not honor the American values of truth in advertising or informed consent,” says Grider. Recruiters often make promises and offer incentives, though the military contract says that pay, status, allowances, and other benefits may change without notice.

A representative from the local Military Entrance Processing Command could not comment on recruitment practices.