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 Greetings! You are reading an article from The Mudville Gazette. To reach the front page, with all the latest news and views, click the logo above or "main" below. Thanks for stopping by! August 16, 2007 The Boo Radleys (IV)By Greyhawk(This story began here. Previous installment here.)
I was ashamed among other youths that my viciousness was less than theirs: I heard them boasting of their exploits...not only for the pleasure of the act but for the pleasure of the boasting....and when I lacked opportunity to equal others in vice, I invented things I had not done, lest I might be held cowardly for being innocent, or contemptible for being chaste.Via email: Greyhawk,Indeed. I urge you one and all to click through that link before reading on. {9} What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. {10} Is there anything of which one can say, "Look! This is something new"? It was here already, long ago; it was here before our time. A comment to a previous installment in this series: The current issue of The Nation features interviews with fifty Iraqi veterans who describe what they're ordered to do on a daily basis in Iraq and how they feel that there actions constitute terrorism. They describe home invasion raids where they burst into family homes in the middle of the night while the occupants are asleep and drag them out of bed. They hold them terrorized at gunpoint while they turn everything in their house upside-down. Many times the wife is exposed in ways that is humiliating and degrading for her because the weather is very hot with no electricity to run the AC. She ends up standing naked or barely covered in front of her family and the U.S. soldiers.Of course, we addressed that article last month, when it actually was new. In it, The Nation claimed... To find veterans willing to speak on the record about their experiences in Iraq, we sent queries to organizations dedicated to US troops and their families, including Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, the antiwar groups Military Families Speak Out, Veterans for Peace and Iraq Veterans Against the War and the prowar group Vets for Freedom. The leaders of IVAW and Paul Rieckhoff, the founder of IAVA, were especially helpful in putting us in touch with Iraq War veterans.But I suspected they were simply publishing a public relations piece for Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) and had merely contacted other groups to create the illusion of presenting an unbiased report. I was right. As I was compiling a second piece on the IVAW members who'd participated (many of whom had appeared on Mudville previously), I received an email from the very same Paul Rieckhoff who the Nation claimed was “especially helpful in putting us in touch with Iraq War veterans". Greyhawk,To say Paul was unhappy would be a bit of an understatement. This was his response to the editors: "The Other War: Iraq Veterans Bear Witness," by Chris Hedges and Laila Al-Arian, paints a horribly inaccurate picture of civilian deaths in Iraq and the experiences of many veterans interviewed for this article.Ouch. Other quoted veterans were also outraged. Excerpts from their letters to The Nation: While I haven't always agreed with The Nation, I have long valued its writing, and in fact, was a subscriber while I was serving in Iraq. This makes it all the more disappointing that the lengthy interviews I gave to Laila Al-Arian for your recent article, "The Other War: Iraq Vets Bear Witness" resulted in my quotes being taken way out of context. These mistakes reflect poorly on me personally and lead me to question whether Ms. Al-Arian and co-author Chris Hedges are guilty of poor analysis or of using my quotes to their own ends. I know this comes several weeks after the article was published, however I have been overseas most of this time conducting conflict resolution workshops and so it has been difficult to respond promptly. I, too, was a contributor to this piece. I respect the position of the other contributors and don't deny that in war bad things do happen. But in an effort to disclose all truths the below should also be known to readers.(Thanks to Mrs G for finding those letters.)
The Sun Also Rises is considered the first significant novel by Ernest Hemingway. Published in 1926, the plot centers on a group of expatriate Americans in Europe during the 1920s. The book's title, selected by Hemingway (at the recommendation of his publisher) is taken from Ecclesiastes 1:5... "You know it makes one feel rather good deciding not to be a bitch."
Posted by Greyhawk / August 16, 2007 5:49 PM | Permalink 9 Comments |
November 26, 2010America@war [Greyhawk]
I think anyone who's ever pondered the "comment" option - once only available on blogs and bulletin boards, now ubiquitous on almost any web site - will appreciate this:
The so-called faculty of writing is not so much a faculty of writing as it is a faculty of thinking. When a man says, "I have an idea but I can't express it"; that man hasn't an idea but merely a vague feeling. If a man has a feeling of that kind, and will sit down for a half an hour and persistently try to put into writing what he feels, the probabilities are at least 90 percent that he will either be able to record it, or else realize that he has no idea at all. In either case, he will do himself a benefit. That's wisdom from the past, captured for posterity at the US Naval Institute, shared via the web on the institute's 137th anniversary. From their about page:
"The Naval Institute has three core activities," among them, History and Preservation: The Naval Institute also has recently introduced Americans at War, a living history of Americans at war in their own words and from their own experiences. These 90-second vignettes convey powerful stories of inspiration, pride, and patriotism. Take a look at the collection, and you'll see it's not limited to accounts from those who served on ships at sea, members of the other branches are well-represented. I'm fortunate to have met USNI's Mary Ripley, she's responsible for the institute's oral history program (and she's the daughter of the late John Ripley, whose story is told here). She also deserves much credit for their blog. ("We're not the Navy nor any government agency. Blog and comment freely.") We met at a milblog conference - Mary knew (and I would come to realize) that milbloggers are the 21st-century version of exactly what the US Naval Institute is all about. Once that light bulb came on in my head, I mentioned a vague idea for a project to her - milblogs as the 21st century oral history that they are. "Put that in writing," she said (of course - see first paragraph above!) - and here's part of the result. Shortly after the first tent was pitched by the American military in Iraq a wire was connected to a computer therein, and the internet was available to a generation of Americans at war - many of whom had grown up online. From that point on, at any given moment, somewhere in Iraq a Soldier, Sailor, Airman or Marine was at a keyboard sharing the events of his or her day with the folks back home. While most would simply fire off an email, others took advantage of the (then) relatively new online blogging platforms to post their thoughts and experiences for the entire world to see. The milblog was born - and from that moment to this stories detailing everything from the most mundane aspects of camp life to intense combat action (often described within hours of the event) have been available on the web... And et cetera - but since you're reading this on a milblog, you probably knew that. And you know that milblogs aren't just blogs written by troops at war, that many friends, family members, and supporters likewise documented their story of America at war online in near-real time, as those stories developed. The diversity in membership of that group is broad, the one thing we all have in common is the impulse to make sense of the seemingly senseless, and communicate the tale - for each of us that impulse was strong enough to overcome whatever barriers prevent the vast majority of people from doing the same. Everyone at some point has some vague idea they believe should be shared - we were the people who, from some combination of internal and external urging, found and spent those many half hours persistently trying to write it down. But where will all that be in another 137 years? Or five or ten, for that matter. That's something I've asked myself since at least 2004 - when I wrote this:
Membership in the ghost battalion has grown in the years since, and an ever growing majority of those abandoned-but-still-standing sites are vanishing. Have you checked out Lt Smash's site lately? How about Sgt Hook's? If you're a long-time milblog reader you know the first widely-read milblog from Operation Iraq Freedom and the first widely-read milblog from Afghanistan are both gone from the web. If you're a relative newcomer to this world you may never even have heard of them - or the dozens upon dozens of others who carried forth the standard they set down. If you have a vague notion that something should be done about that, (a notion I've heard expressed more than once...) then you and I and the good folks at the US Naval Institute are in agreement. Preserving the history documented by the milbloggers is just one of the goals of the milblog project, the once-vague idea that we're now making real. And it's a big idea, if I say so myself - too big to explain in one simple blog post, so stand by for more. Likewise, it's too big a task to be accomplished by just one person. So if you're a milblogger (and exactly what is a milblogger? is a topic for much further discussion on its own) I'm asking for your help. All I'll really need is just a little bit (maybe just one or two of those half hours...) of your time, and your willingness to tell the tale. We've already made history, it's time to save it. (More to follow...) Posted 4:02 PM | Permalink |
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The Mudville Gazette is the on-line voice of an American warrior and his wife who stands by him. They prefer to see peaceful change render force of arms unnecessary. Until that day they stand fast with those who struggle for freedom, strike for reason, and pray for a better tomorrow.
 
 
 Furthermore, I will occasionally use satire or parody herein. The bottom line: it's my house. I like having visitors to my house. I hope you are entertained. I fight for your right to free speech, and am thrilled when you exercise said rights here. Comments and e-mails are welcome, but all such communication is to be assumed to be 1)the original work of any who initiate said communication and 2)the property of the Mudville Gazette, with free use granted thereto for publication in electronic or written form. If you do NOT wish to have your message posted, write "CONFIDENTIAL" in the subject line of your email. Original content copyright © 2003 - 2011 by Greyhawk. Fair, not-for-profit use of said material by others is encouraged, as long as acknowledgement and credit is given, to include the url of the original source post. Other arrangements can be made as needed. Contact: greyhawk at mudvillegazette dot com  Tending Distant Far from hearth and home, watching What tales we'll tell When things grim Some distant sunset, vision fading Saluting fallen friends whose names - Greyhawk, Baghdad, December 2004 |
Isn't Laila Al-Arian the daughter of former University of South Florida professor Sami Al-Arian?
Sami Al-Arian pleaded guilty to conspiracy "to make or receive contributions of funds, goods or services to or for the benefit of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a Specially Designated Terrorist [sic], in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371." (link: http://www.flmd.uscourts.gov/Al-Arian/8-03-cr-00077-JSM-TBM/docs/2929176/0.pdf)
It shouldn't be a surprise that his daughter's journalistic endeavors would be slanted in a way to portray the US and/or the military in a less than favorable light.
Can we take this as a lesson about walking trustingly into the lion's den? We know these magazines, the Nation, TNR, have agendas beyond reporting the truth. Looks like our soldiers need some MSM interviewee lessons, like don't fall for the warm gaze, don't pour your heart out, don't give them ammo, check your phrases to see how they could be distorted without their context...or don't talk to reporters, especially one with the last name al-Arian.
We have young, honest people in our military. They are trustworthy and honorable, so they assume everyone else is too. Putting your guard up whenever there's a reporter around would be a good rule to follow.
When speaking with the press, always make your own complete recording. Transcribe and post it so folks can see what journalists did to the story.
No, they won't like this, but that's because they think that they're entitled to determine the narrative.
When speaking with the press, always make your own complete recording. Transcribe and post it so folks can see what journalists did to the story.
No, they won't like this, but that's because they think that they're entitled to determine the narrative.
As Ms. Penelope Trunk, journalist, explained:
Just because you're the one being interviewed doesn't mean you'll be allowed to have anything to say.Did anyone expect a balanced article from Laila Al-Arian?
She is the wife of Sami Al-Arian from Universtiy of FLorida arrested on terrosim charges adn I belive to be deported (if any country will take him).
Was listening on one of the local NPR stations to some talk Chris Hedges gave.
His shtick was basically that Christian-fascists are more dangerous than lunatic-Muslims.
Okay, so the fringe elements of any belief system can be a problem, though last time I looked Jesus-loonies had (mostly) stopped bombing, beheading, and bullying three hundred years ago.
But what was notable was how selective his worldview was - he had a story and he was sticking to it, no matter how poorly it fit the facts throughout most of the world.
It's amazing that the Nation screwed this up so badly that the IAVA, a group that operates as an arm of the Democrats despite its claims of non-partisanship, was upset.
You can barely slip a sheet of paper between Rieckhoff (a Dem politician who now claims to be neutral in order to keep the 503(c)(3) money flowing) and the IVAW on most war policy positions. In 2004, he gave the Democratic rebuttal to a Bush radio speech, which was arranged by his handlers in the Kerry campaign.
I will grant that Rieckhoff is a legit war vet, a combat vet no less, and most of the IVAW types aren't.
I ain't joining his Winter Soldiers. The whole thing is a support system for Rieckhoff's politics -- and ambitions. You want a real laugh, check out his Wikipedia entry. He or his PR flack wrote it; it's a howl.
In interest of completeness, there's more to Riekof's letter to The Nation than what's quoted above:
Short version - "You bastards! You told us you were going to blame Bush!!!"But yeah, like all Democrats, he's non-partisan.