Comments on: War Is Personal

By: lisa

lisa — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 07:18:56 +0000

The marine and his wife are divorced? I’m sad to hear that. That “Marine Wedding” series of photos was intense.

By: Vigilante

Vigilante — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 03:59:42 +0000

Occupations of foreign lands are expensive.

By: Chaos Motor

Chaos Motor — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 03:06:06 +0000

The “Al Qaeda terrorists” who crashed into the WTC only killed 27xx people. George Bush and Dick Cheney are personally responsible for the deaths of over 4000 American soldiers on the battlefield, countless others off the battlefield, an unknown but definitely larger than 4000 number of American contractors, and tens of thousands of deformities, permanent injuries, amputations, and other devastating conditions including tens of thousands of traumatic brain injuries and PTSD cases among American troops. They are also personally responsible for the deaths of about a million Iraqis and the displacement of five million more.
Why is the military hunting for Osama bin Laden? The real terrorists locations are known – 1600 Pennsylvania Blvd, Washington DC. If Congress had any legal stricture, if the FBI had any allegiance to the rule of law, these war criminals would be impeached and charged with treason. After their trials, they should be turned over to the Hague to be charged in an international court for War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity.
All these devastating injuries, these heartbreaking pictures, and all I can think of is, I know who is responsible, and not only do they walk free, they appear on TV regularly to lie to us.
And they want to attack Iran.
How many more, you inhuman monsters? How many more murders must you be responsible for? How many more grievous, life-changing injuries? HOW MANY FUCKING MORE? HOW MUCH MORE BLOOD? How many people need to die to satisfy your evil greed, your lust for power, your insane ambitions that only further yourselves?
And how long will the Americans sit idly by, and watch their own sons dying in foreign lands, to appease petty dictators, murderous monsters, evil, evil, EVIL men?

By: Asta

Asta — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 19:30:17 +0000

I can’t even begin to wrap my mind around this photo. It’s too heartbreaking.
Okay, maybe I see it like this…if you don’t die in this war, our government promises that you will spend the rest of your life in some kind of hell, whether it be emotional or physical. You won’t get the medical help you need, and if you do return home somewhat in one piece, you won’t receive any of the benefits the soldiers had returning from WWII, like an education and a decent mortgage loan.
This “war” smacks of one huge medical experiment. Unlike the Nazis (oh don’t go all native on me because I am going to bring up the Nazis) who did hideous “experiments” on prisoners, gypsies, Jews, etc., our government has chosen to perform outrageous procedures to keep soldiers alive when in the sense of all decency and compassion, they should have been allowed to die. They are sending our soldiers from one ring of Hades to another. It must be great entertainment for the sociopaths on Capitol Hill.
Maybe we might want to begin to realize that we are all guinea pigs to this administration.

By: g

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 14:11:54 +0000

this photo is heartbreaking. I followed the links at the bottom and read the mother’s story of how she was notified, and it made me want to weep. Also at one link is a photo of this young man before he was injured – you look at that face and feel the sense of loss.

By: gmoke

gmoke — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 04:45:01 +0000

Pair this with Robert Capa’s famous photograph from the Spanish Civil War, the soldier at the moment he is shot through the head.

By: DennisQ

DennisQ — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 02:22:32 +0000

Many people see war as an abstraction. They talk about “winning” and “losing” as if there were points going up on some scoreboard. These are the people who say we “lost” Vietnam because we didn’t have the stomach to “win” it. Where does an attitude like that come from? We’re surrounded with it. Politicians say “the surge is working” as if that meant something. In reality, we’re locked into a sort of trench warfare. Every day adds to the number of dead and wounded, but nothing else changes.
People who support the war in Iraq really can’t claim a moral basis for that viewpoint if they are unwilling to embrace the reality of war. However, it’s noteworthy that even with the support of corporate media, Bush can’t sell more than a minority of Americans on the need to continue the war. In the context of heart-rending photographs like that of Sgt. Pequeno and his mother, “winning” and “losing” lose their meaning.

By: The BAG

The BAG — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 22:13:19 +0000

Nell, I fixed the typo but your point is more than well taken.

By: Zzyzx

Zzyzx — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 22:04:25 +0000

The administration has successfully (for the most part) prevented the compliant press from photographing returning caskets and body bags. However, The Bag has posted several images of wounded vets, and pointed us toward photo essays of same.
I note that of all the references listed at the bottom of this post, there is not one reference to the NYTimes, nor the Chicago Tribune, nor the Los Angeles Times. It’s time to call out our major publications for their ongoing complicity in continuing this occupation. If they had the courage to print such photos as these, all those polls showing 70% against the ‘war’ would jump to 90% (the rest, or course, being the only neo-cons left).
Well, it’s a thought……..

By: Nell

Nell — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 21:24:07 +0000

I’m certain the depiction of trauma and loss suffered by Iraqi veterans, as documented by so many fine photographers…
This was meant to be “Iraq veterans”, of course.
It’s an especially awkward occasion for the typo, given the extent to which the suffering of the Iraqi people, combatants and civilians, has not been documented by U.S. media.