The day before yesterday marked the 100th anniversary of the start of what came to be known as World War One. Although there are barely any of them left, when we look into the faces of these men, we can see our contemporaries, cant we? For better or worse, this war ushered in the modern age, not only the machine gun and the tank, but areoplanes (as they were known then) initially as reconnaissance, then as fighters and bombers, modern radio and telephone battlefield communications, poison gas, and modern trauma medicine that saved many lives and plastic surgery so that the survivors need not face a lifetime of being grotesque walking nightmares. By the way, the last photograph is from the unofficial Christmas Truce of 1914, which took place in several sections of the Western Front. It was, in essence, a last wheeze of civility before the full horror of total war took hold. Soldiers on both sides, under white flags of truce, shared rations, smokes, and played a pickup soccer game. The Generals of both sides suppressed it, realizing the effect it would have on the troops would be bad for front line troops. Its difficult to thrust a bayonet into the belly of someone you just played soccer with. It makes them, in a sense, human, and doing so would be murder and no soldier wants to think of himself as a murderer. Killer, yes, but not a murderer. Such is the inescapable psychology of war. Its also worth noting that, since we just got out of a meat grinder in Iraq and are on the verge of getting out of another in Afghanistan, long known as the graveyard of nations and if you dont believe me, ask any Russian, for whom, Iraq was the Russian Viet Nam, there are some, mostly those whose lies led us into the current quandary, see nothing wrong with plunging right in again, this time doing it right. It is also worth noting that none of these armchair generals had any skin in the game, moreover, when it was their turn, to show their grit, determination and patriotism and fight in Viet Nam, they all puppied out for a variety of reasons, none of them, political or moral, but most often a primal feeling of oh, no, not me, I might get hurt. Most famous of these was the quote by Dick Cheney, who said that he had better things to do. Yes, Dick, Im sure you did. So did the 58,000 names on that wall in DC. Oh, and Dick, the next time you get the urge open your bacon hole, do us all a favor and shut the f**k up!
Posted on: Mon, 30 Jun 2014 08:26:48 +0000
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