Won't make the same mistake...?

"Many who are still in Iraq wonder what kind of reception they will receive when they arrive in America. Some of them shudder at the prospect of a "welcome" like the one their fathers got when they returned from Vietnam." (War Stories,page 1)

I think it's safe to say that we won't blame the soldiers this time around (At least I hope it's safe to say). This country is famous for putting the blame on anybody except ourselves whenever we don't like the turnout of some crisis that goes on in the world.

Vietnam was a well know American mess as far as the treatment of our soldiers went, they made many books and famous films were done documenting this.

It's probably due to these films that there was a correction to the mistakes made. Walls were built and benefits were given and in some small way we made up for the mistreatment.

The soldiers that went over there were just kids after all and they didn't know what they were doing. We sent over kids and we came back with broken men.

All we can hope is that the same thing doesn't happen or at least to the elevated extent that it did with the Vietnam War. This time we have terms for it like post-traumatic war syndrome. So at least now we have clinical terms for the broken men coming back to the states.

Only time will tell what will become of them. I don’t know if they’ll get a wall dedicated to them or if there will an apology of any kind for those that died unnecessarily. All we can hope for is the best.

I do dread the idea of some bum on the street begging for change while wearing a cardboard sign that says “Operation Iraq Freedom Veteran”.

Patriotism and the News

"Geraldo Rivera, now a Fox war correspondent in Afghanistan, has said that he would consider killing Osama bin Laden himself if he came across him...So far, the journalistic legacy of this was would seem to be a debate over what role journalism should play at a time of war. The Fox News Channel is the incarnation of a school of thought that the morally neutral practice of journalism is now inappropriate." (Rutenberg)

Most would agree that when presenting news, it should be unbiased and the opinion made should be that of the viewer. After 9/11, the Fox News Channel has shown an explosive form of patriotism. Along with their support of the war, they have expressed their feelings for revenge against the enemy. This type of behavior portrayed on the news can be very confusing for the viewer. Is the news channel providing news or are they presenting their opinion. Is it fair to allow emotions to get in the way of reporting news?

Say What?

Afghan Villagers say 200 Killed
By the Associated Press

" Fifty people were confirmed dead, it's possible that 100 or 200 were killed" he said. We are very sad about the bombing of civilians, but it is the fault of our own people because they are giving false reports that there are Al qaida camps here"

The associated press reports that over 100 Afghan civilians have been killed. they rally up the witnesses, get some commutity feedback, visit the site of the attack and.. the U.S. government says it never happend. What? How exactly is it that you can account for 50 confrimed dead bodies, witness to the bombs that were dropped and the goverment has the nerve to say it didn't happen. Is it because of a lack of empathy or are we all having the wool pulled over hour eyes?

2. It is never the fault of the people if they become a casuality of war, the U.S. government should do a better job of veryifying the locations they drop missles on as opposed to taking the word of the towns people, but then again they'll use anyone's word as an excuse to drop a bomb.

BE AT YOUR BEST!!

"America needs you healthy......but she also needs you cheerful,friendly,cooperative."
This pharse was in an advertisement written by the Lambert Pharmacal Company during the war. This advertisement was used to mislead the public during the war. By reading the above statement you would have no idea from the first couple of lines in the advertisement that they were trying to persuade americans to buy "Listerine Antiseptic".
"These are simple obligations to our country ,to our men at the front,and to ourselves."
How can having bad or good breathe be a obligation to your country!? These advertisements during the war made the american public blinded to the real agenda of the media..... which was to sell their products and suck in as much money as they kind. They were not really concerned weather you had good breathe but if you would buy their product. Personally the war was a time of money ,money and more money!! Listerine does not make you stronger in fighting in the war,so why is the war being associated with listerine???

Debate Of War Pictures

People argue that certain pictures of war should not be shown. This is always a debate because the families of the soldiers' want privacy and respect from the public and government of what happens to the soldiers. Another apparent reason pictures are not shown is because of the government wanting to protect ground of how certain things in war function on the financial side and other secret parts because some photographers get right into the action before, during and after war events and even follow the soldiers' coffins home. Though their is the Freedom of Information Act that the government does its best to go by, some times the pictures get leaked out.

"Some are classified because they reveal the secret ways the United States wages war. Placed in archives. ...Some are made public after many years, resonating like Mathew Brady's prints from the Civil War,"... "These military photographers also document their fellow soldiers' journeys home, even if that journey is made inside a flag-draped coffin,". ..."Many news organizations have accused the Pentagon and the Bush administration of trying to keep images of soldiers killed in Iraq away form public for political reasons, fearing a loss of support for the war. But whatever the reason for not releasing them, why were these pictures taken at all," (Photos of Soldiers' Coffins Spark a Debate Over Access, by Thom Shanker and Bill Carter).

Whatever the case to show or not to show war pictures, photographers are going to take whatever pictures they can, though they are still risking their lives to get that close to the action whether or not the footage is used. The government will always hold pictures from the public in a sense to protect themselves of certain aspects of war, but it also is protecting soldiers' pictures for families that would not or do not want the public to see from war.