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August 08, 2005
Who's making them hate us?
Here's Tom Lasseter writing in the Philadelphia Inquirer over the weekend: Talking to a truckload of troops, sitting in the predawn darkness in a desert staging area yesterday, Sgt. Marcio Vargas Estrada made the point in plain language to the men of his squad from the 3-2.This, of course, has been picked up by a variety of outraged bloggers: Combat is ugly and violent, and I don't doubt that things are said in the heat of battle in other than carefully chosen words. Still, whether this Marcio Vargas Estrada would have wanted millions of Americans to read what Tom Lasseter quotes him as saying is at least open to question -- even assuming Lasseter got the quote right. But I guess this is an adversary game, so soldiers ought to be more careful what they say in combat, right? Are we to assume that mainstream media journalists wouldn't make mistakes in the heat of battle? That they'd never suffer from selective hearing any more than the rest of us? It always bothers me to see someone being indicted without having an opportunity to speak up in his defense, so I Googled "Marcio Vargas Estrada" to see whether there's been anything written in his defense (or, for that matter, whether there's any information or any other quotes from him or about him). All I could find were the Lasseter piece, and reactions to it like the above. While one blogger wonders aloud whether Vargas will be disciplined for talking like that, the consensus seems to be that he's guilty as charged, but that he's only speaking the truth about the Marine Corps and U.S. policy of "death and destruction to half of f*cking Iraq." As the saying goes, if this Vargas didn't exist, you'd have to invent him. (Along with his words.) Hey, it could have been worse. At least he wasn't quoted as saying that he loved the smell of Napalm in the morning! posted by Eric on 08.08.05 at 08:00 AM
Comments
I salute every one of our brave soldiers out there laying their lives on the line for our freedom. If they want to cuss and blow off steam at the enemy, that's fine with me. Steven Malcolm Anderson the Lesbian-worshipping man's-man-admiring myth-based egoist · August 8, 2005 02:47 PM Fine with me too. But if millions of people are supposed to read their words, I'd let them have a chance to confirm or clarify what they said. (Even politicians are availed of such courtesies.) Eric Scheie · August 8, 2005 03:13 PM Or that he "had to destroy the village in order to save it" ... but, then, that quote is also entirely fictional. Sigivald · August 9, 2005 06:39 PM |
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Arthur Silber! Extremely interesting fellow! I always love to see his name mentioned. I continue to read him every so often just to see what he's up to. It was on his blog, The Light of Reason, that you and I first met. But, alas, he and you and I have parted ways. He said some interesting (and true) things about me in the process, some pretty funny things. Quite a character he is.