Read an essay today on the amount of anger present in Europe regarding the US waging war in Iraq. Understandably, Europeans have seen more than their share of warfare since time immemorial, but anger over Iraq initially puzzled me.
Each nation has its own identity usually drawn from several generations of peace, war and internecine violence. Some, however, reach a stage where the identity becomes opaque and internal acts (usually violence) are necessary to clarify. Germany, for example, went through a horrific experience during the Nazi period and for the most part, has reached atonement for national actions. Seemingly, atonement is the key to finding some type of national identity compromise.
Our nation, beautiful as it is, has never found atonement for the Native American extermination, the minority experience, Vietnam and lastly, Iraq among others. Some presidents have ventured forth with partial apologies or rolled back the national archives for academicians to research. For the most part, we hide our heads in the sand and pretend none of it occurred.
Bill O'Reilly would rather deny the plight of Veteran homelessness (reaching nearly 200,000 nightly) than have an earnest discussion of plausible solutions. The Veterans Administration denied vehemently effects of chemical contamination in Vietnam, chemical/biological and nuclear (depleted uranium) related illnesses during Desert Storm and now, in conjunction with the Army, stymied mental health treatment for Iraqi/Afghani Vets.
We have to ask ourselves what type of nation denies humanitarian treatment for not only those inflicted upon, but the very US troops fulfilling the military mission. What have we become when the PR spin is more important than treating those who pay the cost of military actions.
Our nation has not come to terms with the Native American or minority experience; refuse to look Vietnam in the eye though some fine historians and monographs have been produced; and are reluctant to admit the Iraq conflict was preemptive based upon manufactured falsehoods. More so, we refuse to contemplate the number of dead Iraqis or Afghani civilians killed by our military or Blackwater.
Why, then, do disabled GIs have to suffer for a flaw in our national psyche? Probably for the same reason, Bill O'Reilly, George W. Bush Jr, etc., live in a fantasy world where everything is the way they say it is. No one really challenges and if they do, the rough and tough O'Reilly or President Bush is there to intimidate. Americans do not like the truth until it is force fed to them and then they are mad as hell.
Ask these questions of our presidential candidates and see their response. It's about time, but remember the fault lies not in the stars, but in ourselves.
Each nation has its own identity usually drawn from several generations of peace, war and internecine violence. Some, however, reach a stage where the identity becomes opaque and internal acts (usually violence) are necessary to clarify. Germany, for example, went through a horrific experience during the Nazi period and for the most part, has reached atonement for national actions. Seemingly, atonement is the key to finding some type of national identity compromise.
Our nation, beautiful as it is, has never found atonement for the Native American extermination, the minority experience, Vietnam and lastly, Iraq among others. Some presidents have ventured forth with partial apologies or rolled back the national archives for academicians to research. For the most part, we hide our heads in the sand and pretend none of it occurred.
Bill O'Reilly would rather deny the plight of Veteran homelessness (reaching nearly 200,000 nightly) than have an earnest discussion of plausible solutions. The Veterans Administration denied vehemently effects of chemical contamination in Vietnam, chemical/biological and nuclear (depleted uranium) related illnesses during Desert Storm and now, in conjunction with the Army, stymied mental health treatment for Iraqi/Afghani Vets.
We have to ask ourselves what type of nation denies humanitarian treatment for not only those inflicted upon, but the very US troops fulfilling the military mission. What have we become when the PR spin is more important than treating those who pay the cost of military actions.
Our nation has not come to terms with the Native American or minority experience; refuse to look Vietnam in the eye though some fine historians and monographs have been produced; and are reluctant to admit the Iraq conflict was preemptive based upon manufactured falsehoods. More so, we refuse to contemplate the number of dead Iraqis or Afghani civilians killed by our military or Blackwater.
Why, then, do disabled GIs have to suffer for a flaw in our national psyche? Probably for the same reason, Bill O'Reilly, George W. Bush Jr, etc., live in a fantasy world where everything is the way they say it is. No one really challenges and if they do, the rough and tough O'Reilly or President Bush is there to intimidate. Americans do not like the truth until it is force fed to them and then they are mad as hell.
Ask these questions of our presidential candidates and see their response. It's about time, but remember the fault lies not in the stars, but in ourselves.
