Comments on: “I FACED THE ENEMY AND LIVED!” http://www.bagnewsnotes.com/2009/02/i-faced-the-enemy-and-lived/ Reading the Pictures — Visual politics and the analysis of news images Mon, 13 Feb 2012 05:58:38 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: pierre http://www.bagnewsnotes.com/2009/02/i-faced-the-enemy-and-lived/#comment-87617 pierre Mon, 23 Feb 2009 06:04:41 +0000 http://bnn.weightshift.com/2009/02/i-faced-the-enemy-and-lived/#comment-87617 they made his <b>mother<b> cover his last words??? what a bunch of FU....S!! they made his mother cover his last words??? what a bunch of FU….S!!

]]> By: cenoxo http://www.bagnewsnotes.com/2009/02/i-faced-the-enemy-and-lived/#comment-87616 cenoxo Sun, 22 Feb 2009 04:40:15 +0000 http://bnn.weightshift.com/2009/02/i-faced-the-enemy-and-lived/#comment-87616 yg, what I obviously have here is a failure to communicate. Perhaps I'm being too subtle, my juxtaposition of images is too confusing, or you're getting all the irony supplements you need, but my goal is not to champion Bush. Instead, my points (ardently made without further obfuscation) are as follows. President Obama has ordered an additional surge of 17,000 Americans (with perhaps 13,000 or more to follow) into what he believes is a winnable war in Afghanistan, one in which past major powers such as Britain and Russia failed to achieve victory and left. Obama's surge exposes these men and women to considerable physical risks — when they engage in combat, it is certain that some of them will become additional mental and physical casualties. Although Obama claims he will engage in more diplomacy, his war orders will intensify the conflict, inflate its considerable expense during a depressed national economy, and increase the chance that more people will be wounded, maimed, and killed. How does Obama's Agenda for Afghanistan substantially change what the Bush Administration started? One way that President Bush demonstrated his support for veterans severely wounded in Afghanistan (and Iraq) was by briefly jogging with them during a photo opportunity on the South Lawn of the White House. Was that an effective and credible public relations effort? When Candidate Obama was on his world public relations tour to gain international exposure, he briefly played basketball with American soldiers in a gymnasium on a U.S. base in Kuwait. Now that he has assumed the role of War President, might he show support for severely wounded veterans by physically interacting with them in a similar manner? If he were to do that, would it be a more effective and credible public relations effort than what Bush did previously? yg, what I obviously have here is a failure to communicate. Perhaps I’m being too subtle, my juxtaposition of images is too confusing, or you’re getting all the irony supplements you need, but my goal is not to champion Bush. Instead, my points (ardently made without further obfuscation) are as follows.
President Obama has ordered an additional surge of 17,000 Americans (with perhaps 13,000 or more to follow) into what he believes is a winnable war in Afghanistan, one in which past major powers such as Britain and Russia failed to achieve victory and left. Obama’s surge exposes these men and women to considerable physical risks — when they engage in combat, it is certain that some of them will become additional mental and physical casualties.
Although Obama claims he will engage in more diplomacy, his war orders will intensify the conflict, inflate its considerable expense during a depressed national economy, and increase the chance that more people will be wounded, maimed, and killed. How does Obama’s Agenda for Afghanistan substantially change what the Bush Administration started?
One way that President Bush demonstrated his support for veterans severely wounded in Afghanistan (and Iraq) was by briefly jogging with them during a photo opportunity on the South Lawn of the White House. Was that an effective and credible public relations effort?
When Candidate Obama was on his world public relations tour to gain international exposure, he briefly played basketball with American soldiers in a gymnasium on a U.S. base in Kuwait. Now that he has assumed the role of War President, might he show support for severely wounded veterans by physically interacting with them in a similar manner? If he were to do that, would it be a more effective and credible public relations effort than what Bush did previously?

]]> By: yg http://www.bagnewsnotes.com/2009/02/i-faced-the-enemy-and-lived/#comment-87615 yg Fri, 20 Feb 2009 01:49:26 +0000 http://bnn.weightshift.com/2009/02/i-faced-the-enemy-and-lived/#comment-87615 oh yeah, bush was an ardent champion of diplomacy. oh yeah, bush was an ardent champion of diplomacy.

]]> By: yg http://www.bagnewsnotes.com/2009/02/i-faced-the-enemy-and-lived/#comment-87614 yg Fri, 20 Feb 2009 01:08:35 +0000 http://bnn.weightshift.com/2009/02/i-faced-the-enemy-and-lived/#comment-87614 "i have met the enemy and the enemy is us." “i have met the enemy and the enemy is us.”

]]> By: Ursula L http://www.bagnewsnotes.com/2009/02/i-faced-the-enemy-and-lived/#comment-87613 Ursula L Thu, 19 Feb 2009 14:48:34 +0000 http://bnn.weightshift.com/2009/02/i-faced-the-enemy-and-lived/#comment-87613 This image presents an interesting and unintended message about the rewriting of history, and covering up of military failure. The message that Lieberman wrote was an indictment of the army and the military. It is so awful that he could survive the enemy, but could not survive the actions of his own side. In the image, the indictment, that he could was destroyed by his own unit, is being painted over. The message left behind is only that he faced the enemy and lived. This is the message the military <i>wants</i> us to see. The soldiers are supposed to be seen as heroes, not people destroyed by the things they're asked to do. The result is supposed to be triumph and joy, not pain and brokenness. The true indictment is, literally, being whitewashed, leaving behind a false message of victory and survival. This image presents an interesting and unintended message about the rewriting of history, and covering up of military failure.
The message that Lieberman wrote was an indictment of the army and the military. It is so awful that he could survive the enemy, but could not survive the actions of his own side.
In the image, the indictment, that he could was destroyed by his own unit, is being painted over. The message left behind is only that he faced the enemy and lived. This is the message the military wants us to see. The soldiers are supposed to be seen as heroes, not people destroyed by the things they’re asked to do. The result is supposed to be triumph and joy, not pain and brokenness. The true indictment is, literally, being whitewashed, leaving behind a false message of victory and survival.

]]> By: cenoxo http://www.bagnewsnotes.com/2009/02/i-faced-the-enemy-and-lived/#comment-87612 cenoxo Wed, 18 Feb 2009 11:32:27 +0000 http://bnn.weightshift.com/2009/02/i-faced-the-enemy-and-lived/#comment-87612 <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aUWFaWvXjzFU&refer=us" rel="nofollow"><i>Obama Says Afghan War ‘Winnable,’ Sends 17,000 Soldiers</i></a>:<blockquote><i>Feb. 18 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama ordered an additional 17,000 U.S. soldiers to be sent to Afghanistan, saying the war against the Taliban is “still winnable.” Military force alone won’t be able to deal with the threat posed by a “resurgent” Taliban, Obama said in an interview with Canadian Broadcasting Corp. late yesterday. The war is “still winnable -- in the sense of our ability to ensure that it is not a launching pad for attacks against North America.” Only a “comprehensive strategy” that also relies on diplomacy and development can halt the Taliban and the spread of extremism, Obama said.</i></blockquote>And so the Great Games go on...<blockquote><img src="http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/2475/bushampjoggingkd9.jpg"> <i>US President George W. Bush (C) jogs with US Army Sergeant Neil Duncan (L) and US Army Specialist Max Ramsey (R) on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, 25 July 2007. Duncan lost both legs in Afghanistan in December 2005 and Ramsey lost his left leg in Iraq in March 2006. Both met the President on his visit to Walter Reed on 24 July 2006</i></blockquote>...anyone for <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j87k1j4CpOw" rel="nofollow">basketball</a>? Obama Says Afghan War ‘Winnable,’ Sends 17,000 Soldiers:
Feb. 18 (Bloomberg) — President Barack Obama ordered an additional 17,000 U.S. soldiers to be sent to Afghanistan, saying the war against the Taliban is “still winnable.”
Military force alone won’t be able to deal with the threat posed by a “resurgent” Taliban, Obama said in an interview with Canadian Broadcasting Corp. late yesterday. The war is “still winnable — in the sense of our ability to ensure that it is not a launching pad for attacks against North America.”
Only a “comprehensive strategy” that also relies on diplomacy and development can halt the Taliban and the spread of extremism, Obama said.

And so the Great Games go on…


US President George W. Bush (C) jogs with US Army Sergeant Neil Duncan (L) and US Army Specialist Max Ramsey (R) on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, 25 July 2007. Duncan lost both legs in Afghanistan in December 2005 and Ramsey lost his left leg in Iraq in March 2006. Both met the President on his visit to Walter Reed on 24 July 2006

…anyone for basketball?

]]> By: Ursula L http://www.bagnewsnotes.com/2009/02/i-faced-the-enemy-and-lived/#comment-87611 Ursula L Tue, 17 Feb 2009 23:19:08 +0000 http://bnn.weightshift.com/2009/02/i-faced-the-enemy-and-lived/#comment-87611 <i> Is the Veteran's Administration prepared to offer forgiveness to people who know in their hearts they've done terrible things? Not likely.</i> Not likely? Not capable is more like it. The VA <i>can't</i> offer forgiveness, because they aren't the ones wronged. For forgiveness to have any meaning, it has to come from the person or people you've harmed, and it generally also needs to be paired with some sort of atonement, a way to try to make right the wrong you've done, or if you can't make right, at least make amends. And forgiveness needs to be given freely to have meaning - certainly something that can't happen as long as occupation continues and the people they've harmed remain under coercion from the US. The VA can't forgive - as part of the US government, it is part of the same group as the soldiers driven mad - the group causing the harm. The US needs to ask forgiveness, as much as any soldier caught up in misguided US policy. Is the Veteran’s Administration prepared to offer forgiveness to people who know in their hearts they’ve done terrible things? Not likely.
Not likely?
Not capable is more like it.
The VA can’t offer forgiveness, because they aren’t the ones wronged. For forgiveness to have any meaning, it has to come from the person or people you’ve harmed, and it generally also needs to be paired with some sort of atonement, a way to try to make right the wrong you’ve done, or if you can’t make right, at least make amends. And forgiveness needs to be given freely to have meaning – certainly something that can’t happen as long as occupation continues and the people they’ve harmed remain under coercion from the US.
The VA can’t forgive – as part of the US government, it is part of the same group as the soldiers driven mad – the group causing the harm. The US needs to ask forgiveness, as much as any soldier caught up in misguided US policy.

]]> By: Progressive Mom http://www.bagnewsnotes.com/2009/02/i-faced-the-enemy-and-lived/#comment-87610 Progressive Mom Tue, 17 Feb 2009 21:14:44 +0000 http://bnn.weightshift.com/2009/02/i-faced-the-enemy-and-lived/#comment-87610 As the mother of a child who attempted -- unsuccessfully -- to commit suicide, my heart breaks with this photo. I see a mom painting away the vestiges of her child's ligitimate, real, serious pain. Erasing her child's cry of pain. The cry that was ignored. I ache. As the mother of a child who attempted — unsuccessfully — to commit suicide, my heart breaks with this photo. I see a mom painting away the vestiges of her child’s ligitimate, real, serious pain.
Erasing her child’s cry of pain. The cry that was ignored.
I ache.

]]> By: Stan B. http://www.bagnewsnotes.com/2009/02/i-faced-the-enemy-and-lived/#comment-87609 Stan B. Tue, 17 Feb 2009 19:14:31 +0000 http://bnn.weightshift.com/2009/02/i-faced-the-enemy-and-lived/#comment-87609 The Bush/Republican Legacy-- International economic chaos, hundreds of thousands killed, thousands wounded and disabled for life, hundreds dead by their own hand... The Bush/Republican Legacy– International economic chaos, hundreds of thousands killed, thousands wounded and disabled for life, hundreds dead by their own hand…

]]> By: vcInCA http://www.bagnewsnotes.com/2009/02/i-faced-the-enemy-and-lived/#comment-87608 vcInCA Tue, 17 Feb 2009 17:43:48 +0000 http://bnn.weightshift.com/2009/02/i-faced-the-enemy-and-lived/#comment-87608 DennisQ- i agree with a lot of this, but don't think that ending with the Veteran's Administration is entirely fair--doctors, nurses & clinicians actually working with vets in VA clinics do a tremendous amount, but it seems, based on this report, that they are not sanctioned by the military to uncover all types of problems--that is, they're not given the liberty to be specialists they are trained to be. Or maybe they are, and then their findings, their diagnoses are screened or reinterpreted--either way, what seem like reasonable diagnoses do not eventually get filtered out. However, the issue, inherently has to do with the military & the government, which offers massive incentives to join (e.g. citizenship, life insurance, good pay) and preys on lower income & minority communities, but then does not have clear goals (larger goals with actual tasks which will accomplish them), nor does it apparently fully reconcile how they prepare troops with what they then ask them to do. If the troops were asked to just go build roads or do something 'wanted' by the local communities, they wouldn't return in as terrible a state, which the VA then has to handle. the government & military is never required to truly defend whether the ends justify the means. this picture on its own is also pretty cool-the Army can't just whitewash over this man's life--the fact that its being published in Salon means they've failed to whitewash/hide it, and it seems particularly ironic to me that his mother is both allowing the military to think they did hide it, by her act of covering his note up, but is also uncovering it for the rest of the world to see-in that sense, the army continues to live in a bubble of unawareness, but the public learns & gets outraged. DennisQ- i agree with a lot of this, but don’t think that ending with the Veteran’s Administration is entirely fair–doctors, nurses & clinicians actually working with vets in VA clinics do a tremendous amount, but it seems, based on this report, that they are not sanctioned by the military to uncover all types of problems–that is, they’re not given the liberty to be specialists they are trained to be. Or maybe they are, and then their findings, their diagnoses are screened or reinterpreted–either way, what seem like reasonable diagnoses do not eventually get filtered out. However, the issue, inherently has to do with the military & the government, which offers massive incentives to join (e.g. citizenship, life insurance, good pay) and preys on lower income & minority communities, but then does not have clear goals (larger goals with actual tasks which will accomplish them), nor does it apparently fully reconcile how they prepare troops with what they then ask them to do. If the troops were asked to just go build roads or do something ‘wanted’ by the local communities, they wouldn’t return in as terrible a state, which the VA then has to handle. the government & military is never required to truly defend whether the ends justify the means.
this picture on its own is also pretty cool-the Army can’t just whitewash over this man’s life–the fact that its being published in Salon means they’ve failed to whitewash/hide it, and it seems particularly ironic to me that his mother is both allowing the military to think they did hide it, by her act of covering his note up, but is also uncovering it for the rest of the world to see-in that sense, the army continues to live in a bubble of unawareness, but the public learns & gets outraged.

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