Date: Wed, 26 Mar 2003 08:52:54 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Re: Shock'N'Awe


--0-1099870174-1048697574=:27537


 
 John Foster <borealis-AT-mercuryspeed.com> wrote:
Bob wrote:

the technology of this current war is stunning. right or
wrong, it's rome
and its engineering versus the celts and their bravery.

John here,

The problem is that the US is not fighting ancient celts. It
is fighting people who are driven to protect their own lands
from vicious invaders (many of whom are teenagers away from
home for the first time). 

John, please pardon the 100-email backlog, but why do you keep emphasizing the fact that many of the U.S. forces are young?  I don't understand how this exempts them from fulfilling their purpose as soldiers--as professional soldiers (to amplify Bob's suggestive mention of Rome)--or how this provides some moral perspective on the matter.  You have to remember that the U.S. armed forces are as much a social program as a defense program; I've had a number of conversations with Army buddies re: Army-as-welfare.  The armed forces provide professional training and educational support, so it should come as no surprise that many of the individuals are not of an advanced age (though why a 17-yr-old in battle is more disturbing than a 30-yr-old father of two is beyond me).  

Also, I'm not sure how many of the Iraqi people are, in fact, "defending" their land.  This statement--which I certainly understand--seems tailor-made to a certain Western ideological background that might not apply here--"people," "defense," and "land" might be terms mitigated by perspective.  Then again, they might not.  Said and Spivak have been flogging this horse for years, I don't presume to speak for subaltern studies; but then, I don't presume to speak for the so-called "subaltern," either.  In either case, the reaction of some Iraqis and some American Iraqi expat communities has, and will continue to be, instructive.

JS   



---------------------------------
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Platinum - Watch CBS' NCAA March Madness, live on your desktop!
--0-1099870174-1048697574=:27537

HTML VERSION:

 John Foster <borealis-AT-mercuryspeed.com> wrote:

Bob wrote:

the technology of this current war is stunning. right or
wrong, it's rome
and its engineering versus the celts and their bravery.

John here,

The problem is that the US is not fighting ancient celts. It
is fighting people who are driven to protect their own lands
from vicious invaders (many of whom are teenagers away from
home for the first time).

John, please pardon the 100-email backlog, but why do you keep emphasizing the fact that many of the U.S. forces are young?  I don't understand how this exempts them from fulfilling their purpose as soldiers--as professional soldiers (to amplify Bob's suggestive mention of Rome)--or how this provides some moral perspective on the matter.  You have to remember that the U.S. armed forces are as much a social program as a defense program; I've had a number of conversations with Army buddies re: Army-as-welfare.  The armed forces provide professional training and educational support, so it should come as no surprise that many of the individuals are not of an advanced age (though why a 17-yr-old in battle is more disturbing than a 30-yr-old father of two is beyond me). 

Also, I'm not sure how many of the Iraqi people are, in fact, "defending" their land.  This statement--which I certainly understand--seems tailor-made to a certain Western ideological background that might not apply here--"people," "defense," and "land" might be terms mitigated by perspective.  Then again, they might not.  Said and Spivak have been flogging this horse for years, I don't presume to speak for subaltern studies; but then, I don't presume to speak for the so-called "subaltern," either.  In either case, the reaction of some Iraqis and some American Iraqi expat communities has, and will continue to be, instructive.

JS