Tag Archives: Fallujah

The special status of veterans

Posted on November 8, 2012 by kathiemm

Veterans enjoy a special status in American culture. By cultural definition alone, they are regarded as heroes. And on Veterans Day we celebrate these heroes without question.

But is this tradition of Veterans Day sensible? Were the wars that our veterans fought truly heroic? Did they “serve” anyone … Continue reading →

Posted in Armed conflict, Weaponry | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

The unpublicized victim of war

Posted on November 5, 2012 by patdaniel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkOCIx6JAd8

“Though mankind has always counted its war casualties in terms of dead and wounded soldiers and civilians, destroyed cities and livelihoods, the environment has often remained the unpublicized victim of war.” — United Nations

Tuesday November 6 is International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict. First designated … Continue reading →

Posted in Armed conflict, Environmental impacts of war | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

The pain of being brutally honest with myself (A Marine remembers, Part 8)

Posted on July 9, 2012 by kathiemm

Everyday at the barracks it was staring me in the face, and every night it replayed itself in my head. Bradley and the old man he shot, Brendan’s mother, Fallujah, the innocent Iraqis who never wanted any of this, all the drinking and drugs, and everyone who told us that we were heroes… Continue reading →

Posted in Stories of engagement | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Swept up in the violent hysteria (A Marine remembers, Part 7)

Posted on July 5, 2012 by kathiemm

I spent many nights on post or lying awake in bed wrestling with my memories, and trying to understand the links among them.
I remembered that it was because my command made me an unofficial translator that I spent more time in the villages and had more contact with Iraqis than most others. I heard their grievances and … Continue reading →

Posted in Armed conflict, Stories of engagement | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments