Date: Mon, 31 Mar 2003 02:02:53 -0600 (CST)
From: TS Kim <kimx0184-AT-tc.umn.edu>
Subject: Re: "We had a great day. We killed a lot of people."


Excuse me if someone has already mentioned this but I've read most of this
thread and what I haven't seen and don't understand is why is no one
condemning Iraqi solders for using civilians as shields? This is in no way
a defense of the US Military nor the statements made by the soldiers in
the article but if we're going to wax vitriolic over the inhuman actions
of US soldiers then should we not be equally angered (and verbal) about
the inhuman actions of the Iraqi soldiers? Even if one were to make the
argument that the Iraqi solders are defending their homeland against
imperialist invaders, that still does not excuse using civilians as
shields.

Secondly, in a more recent development in this thread, I'm wondering just
how informed are the statements regarding reasons why one would join the
military. The consensus here seems to be that people join the military
either for economic reasons or simply because, as one poster put it, they
want to "kick ass." Is this simply an assumption or an informed
generalization? If we're going to condemn solders for their inhumanity
then it seems we're not doing much better by dehumanizing the soldiers
into simplistic tropes. I don't think anyone on this list would stand
still of such broad statements were made about a race of people or about a
particular sex.

Again, I'm not here to take sides or to defend any person's actions. It
just seems to me that there are some very important issues that are not
being addressed.

Tommy S Kim
University of Minnesota
Department of English




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