Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

calimary

(80,693 posts)
19. I heard an interesting discussion about this recently - about showing the true cost of war.
Wed Sep 17, 2014, 06:44 PM
Sep 2014

War "coverage" has been so antisepticized, so tidied-up, that nobody understands the true nature of the beast that is war, and what it does to the human body, to limbs and organs, skin and bone, to combatants and non-combatants alike. Nobody gets it. And we're not supposed to! Otherwise, nobody'd want to go over there to face those horrors for real.

PLEASE DON'T FORGET the Herculean efforts bush/cheney went to - to muzzle news coverage of Iraq. Absolutely NO coffins were EVER to be shown or photographed, absolutely NO coverage was permitted of the return of our fallen troops to Dover AFB - the first place on American soil most of the dead make their return. People were FIRED for taking photographs and publishing them or leaking them online. FIRED. You could lose your job if you tried to get the word out. Your boss was thoroughly cowed under the national security goons and would let you go in a heartbeat if you didn't conform.

That's the one thing that really touched me about Barack Obama as President. One of the FIRST things he did, when he was newly installed as our Commander-in-Chief, was to get his ass straight over to Dover AFB late one night, to greet the flag-draped coffins of soldiers who'd been sacrificed to that meat-grinder over there. He granted permission if anyone wanted to cover it, and nothing was hidden - even in the dark of night. And it was very simple. Very little fanfare. Just the CiC standing there on the tarmac to pay respects to the returning war dead. Every one of them. We NEVER, EVER saw bush/cheney do that. We weren't supposed to know about icky messy things like dead soldiers' bodies, or throat-gripping lines of flag-draped coffins - that kept coming and kept coming month-after-month. Outta sight, outta mind. BASTARDS.

I know one thing about the GOP. They LEARN from history. They fully and completely got it about not showing the costs of war to the masses - because the masses will be horrified and stop supporting the war-making. It was well-known back a few years - that when CBS Evening News anchor Walter Cronkite, widely hailed as "the most trusted man in America", had finally seen enough and turned against the Vietnam War, the war was lost. Because the people saw it at their dinner tables every evening, watching the network newscast and the correspondents out in the rice paddies and death and the carnage and the destruction, and the mournful elder anchor back home in New York, who spoke for them all - and turned against the war. It was key to America's changing view of Vietnam and what triggered the anti-war movement's call to action and helped grow its momentum. And it prompted then-President Johnson to concede - "if I've lost Cronkite, I've lost the country."

Cronkite never shied away from telling hard truths. Recall his half-hour “Report From Vietnam” on Feb. 27, 1968, in which he declared the Vietnam War a “stalemate.” It was a verdict the veteran war correspondent didn’t relish delivering, but Cronkite, who had recently returned from reporting on the Tet offensive, now believed that the war was unwinnable and indefensible. He felt “conned” by Lyndon Johnson, Brinkley writes, and “sickened” that his network had swallowed the Pentagon’s spin.

“The aftershock of Cronkite’s reports was seismic,” Brinkley adds. President Johnson reportedly said, “If I’ve lost Cronkite, I’ve lost the country.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/08/books/review/cronkite-a-biography-by-douglas-brinkley.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

So... taking careful note of this event, that turned the public decisively against Vietnam, the GOP knew that as long as the public got to SEE stuff, it'd know too much and would be harder to control or manipulate. Therefore, their takeaway was - DON'T SHOW THAT SHIT!!! Paint a happy picture! Tell 'em to Go Shopping! No muss, no fuss! War is cool! War is great! War is a cakewalk! Won't even cost you any money! War makes you BRAVE and BAD-ASS! USA!-USA!-USA! Nothing to see here! All is well!

That's why maybe we should see a whole bunch more of this nitty-gritty, not ONLY the beheadings, but everything our poor troops will face over there. Their heads aren't the only body parts at risk. Just ask Tammy Duckworth. Ask Max Cleland. Ask our own Defense Secretary, Chuck Hagel, who even now is still walking around with shrapnel in his body from when HE was in Vietnam. Can we get realistic about war? It's NOT for the faint-hearted. Frankly, in my opinion, it's not for ANYBODY.

Kerry is just another puppet doing the bidding of the Puppet Masters. truedelphi Sep 2014 #1
Please, please, don't call Kerry "another puppet." Cyrano Sep 2014 #9
I am sorry but in 2004 he and he alone left the voters in Ohio out to dry. truedelphi Sep 2014 #33
I know Im reapeating myself.... mylye2222 Sep 2014 #64
Thanks a lot Cyrano. mylye2222 Sep 2014 #47
They're all just puppets. bigwillq Sep 2014 #16
I thinks he is personnaly holding hks nose at his own war calling. mylye2222 Sep 2014 #35
ISIS is SCARY. They kill people and chop their heads off on videos! Warpy Sep 2014 #2
They have Terrorist Babies too!!!! Katashi_itto Sep 2014 #14
I heard an interesting discussion about this recently - about showing the true cost of war. calimary Sep 2014 #19
Agreed, having fire and blood and body counts in their living rooms every night Warpy Sep 2014 #20
Great history/life lesson, calmary. Cyrano Sep 2014 #24
DING DING DING tazkcmo Sep 2014 #28
He is an outstanding man, and a smart one. babylonsister Sep 2014 #3
Of course he is. mylye2222 Sep 2014 #61
We aren't going to let Iraq collapse, and get chased out of our embassy TwilightGardener Sep 2014 #4
because nobody is going to be the last man to die for the mistake? magical thyme Sep 2014 #5
Exactly. Never ending. n/t n2doc Sep 2014 #6
Our admiration for John Kerry was misplaced. Enthusiast Sep 2014 #7
Your despicable statement is totally misplaced. mylye2222 Sep 2014 #36
I got it right didn't I? Enthusiast Sep 2014 #40
No. you got it wrong. mylye2222 Sep 2014 #41
Those attacks just added to his camouflage. Enthusiast Sep 2014 #44
Please. stop that ugly stance. mylye2222 Sep 2014 #45
My record shows I was a strong supporter of Kerry in 2004 Enthusiast Sep 2014 #49
He did indeed. mylye2222 Sep 2014 #50
How do you ask someone to be the NEXT to die for a mistake? FiveGoodMen Sep 2014 #8
That's what I was thinking, as they try to come up with a reason we'll believe to start back up NightWatcher Sep 2014 #18
I don't know if this situation is really comprable to Vietnam. Warren DeMontague Sep 2014 #10
I'm not saying that those in the future will Cyrano Sep 2014 #11
A couple points, here. One, Kerry said those words on April 22, 1971. Warren DeMontague Sep 2014 #31
It might be worse. Certainly both were unjustified. Enthusiast Sep 2014 #43
Fucked up, ain't it? nt ChisolmTrailDem Sep 2014 #12
To quote Huey Freeman: Aerows Sep 2014 #26
That guy died a long time ago. LittleBlue Sep 2014 #13
Damn, maybe he did. And maybe Cyrano Sep 2014 #17
That young JK never died. He is just .... mylye2222 Sep 2014 #37
After the chemical attack in Syria he was unbearable. I gave up on him. Glimmer of Hope Sep 2014 #22
And didn't bother to notice that he was instrumental in getting rid of the Syrian chemical weapons karynnj Sep 2014 #70
Of course. mylye2222 Sep 2014 #71
As SoS, perhaps he'll find an answer for that question. hughee99 Sep 2014 #15
i'm not sure i believe in "mistakes" here Adam051188 Sep 2014 #21
Iraq 2.0 was a monstrous mistake. GeorgeGist Sep 2014 #32
thanks. Adam051188 Sep 2014 #34
power corrupts They_Live Sep 2014 #23
John Kerry LOL n/t KG Sep 2014 #25
Same way tazkcmo Sep 2014 #27
It's not always that simple. Cyrano Sep 2014 #29
You still tazkcmo Sep 2014 #30
I guess he's finding out KG Sep 2014 #38
I'll not question John Kerry madokie Sep 2014 #39
K&R. for u. mylye2222 Sep 2014 #42
Agreed. Foreign Policy in Iraq... YvonneCa Sep 2014 #46
Thanks, YvonneCa, mylye2222 Sep 2014 #57
It is really difficult to see Dems who fight for the same values consistently... YvonneCa Sep 2014 #58
Possibly because ISIS is not Vietnam. Donald Ian Rankin Sep 2014 #48
Nothing in common with Vietnam... Orsino Sep 2014 #53
Both those criteria have been met, and significant numbers of Americans dying is unlikely Donald Ian Rankin Sep 2014 #54
One is a "significant" number. n/t Orsino Sep 2014 #56
Never trust Skull and Bones Reter Sep 2014 #51
Lost? n/t YvonneCa Sep 2014 #59
No! Only conspirationist I think. mylye2222 Sep 2014 #60
It's a lot easier than asking thiousands of men after him to die for a mistake. Erich Bloodaxe BSN Sep 2014 #52
it was no mistake! n/t wildbilln864 Sep 2014 #55
He was wounded three times and yes, he does believe in what he is doing karynnj Sep 2014 #62
K&R !!!!! mylye2222 Sep 2014 #63
He sold out. Long ago. Tierra_y_Libertad Sep 2014 #65
Always funny to see how people can mylye2222 Sep 2014 #66
I've bashed both, Hillary even more, for backing Bush's wars. Tierra_y_Libertad Sep 2014 #67
I didnt targeted you especially. mylye2222 Sep 2014 #68
Tell them they are not dying for a mistake. dilby Sep 2014 #69
Latest Discussions»General Discussion»"How do you ask a ma...»Reply #19