Now they're coming home from war.

[phantom power]

When you're the father of two beautiful daughters, your house becomes a gathering place for young men. That was certainly the case when my daughters were in high school. We were lucky, most of them were good kids. I spent quite a bit of time with them and got to know them very well.

Now they're coming home from war. The all American boy with a heart of gold talks of his hate for "hajis" and wishes we could nuke the place. The class clown sits in his room all day staring at the Cartoon Channel while self medicating with pot and booze. The nice liberal Jewish boy who melted my wife's yenta heart tells us in a dispassionate, far-away monotone that "killing those animals was like stepping on ants." Our "son" screams at night.

My heart breaks for these boys we adopted in their teenage years. They've lost their souls. And for what?

War does this to people. That's why it should never be entered into unless there is no other alternative. That wasn't the case for this war. As far as I can tell, we invaded Iraq because Bush and the necons wanted to be remembered as great men like Roosevelt or Lincoln, or perhaps more accurately, Augustus. It's there in the subtext of PNAC papers for all to see. The oil is just gravy. That's evil.

http://patriotboy.blogspot.com/2005_06_19_patriotboy_archive.html#111959460816140699

[NMDemDist2]

1. K & N n/t

[MadMaddie]

2. Damn......

That's all I can say....Damn...Damn...Damn..

[monktonman]

3. yeah. my neighbor had to give up driving.

every mail box , garbage can, or parked car is a potential bomb for him. He had to give up driving after his third head on collision. Damn shame. Joined the gaurd to get health benefits for his kid.

[phantom power]

5. Can you imagine having to live with that shit in your head...

for the rest of your life? And I bet the number of soldiers coming home like this is more than the number of killed and wounded combined. The author is right. It's fucking evil. Mind-fucking a whole generation.

[babylonsister]

4. Sad, chilling, and for what? Worse, these young men won't

get much help from their government who created their hells.

[400Years]

6. a whole new generation of homeless lifeless veterans

[Catamount]

8. And if desperate enough...a new generation of Tim McVeighs!

It's just shocking...you guys have said it all

nominated

[RazzleDazzle]

9. Committing suicide slowly

[understandinglife]

7. Once again .... an again that should have never been.

Recommended.


Peace.

[DemReadingDU]

10. K&R

[tomreedtoon]

11. Is this the "Vietnam baby killer" argument again - or something worse?

An important part of the right-wing support for Bush came from a group of Vietnam vets who reacted the same way that the fictional John Rambo did in the original "First Blood." They hated being called baby-killers by protestors. And they helped push the neocons into power, on the principal that those evil liberals had no respect for the military.

If we start caricaturing the Iraq veterans as baby-killers, aren't we perpetuating the problem?

True, this time around the veterans should remember that this Republican government didn't support them, forcing them to beg their own families for flak jackets and putting their own "hillbilly armor" on their crappy Humvees. That disrespect for our fighting men might help make the case against Bushco. But if there are veterans whose lives have been wrecked - who turn into the psycho killers from all those bad TV series of the 70's - I'm afraid the Republicans will be able to label all progressives as backstabbers calling veterans "baby killers" again, and we will run into the same hatred down the line.

[jbnow]

12. What are you talking about?

The article in the original post talks about kids he knew that came home and what he saw.

The news is filled with snippets about those with PTSD not getting the care that they need.

Is telling the truth wrong?

[tomreedtoon]

20. I'm talking about making soldiers easy targets - again.

I have PTSD myself - not from battle, from a robbery - and while it's not as bad as that of a combat veteran, I can sympathize.

What I'm talking about is that, if we start talking up how evil and psychotic soldiers are, we will stigmatize ALL soldiers who served in Iraq, turning them into "baby killers" that the population will be afraid of - and thus make sure the Republicans will again be able to say that progressives hate the military.

You DO know how stereotyping works, don't you? Or do I need to dig out all those 70's TV shows that showed ex-soldiers going psycho and killing people to show you how the media will start treating Iraq War veterans?

[jbnow]

22. OK, it sounds like your concern

is that we don't start stigmatizing them and that makes sense.

There is a difference between trying to put them down and being concerned that they get the help and support that they need, noting the problems some come home with.
It can be easy for the good intentions to have bad consequences.

Ignoring the issue isn't the answer either. It is so hard when you read about the waiting list for services, the fear of stigma from asking for services, some of the problems they are facing.
Silence doesn't solve it but I agree with you that we don't want to deal with it in ways that might make it harder for them.

I am a wimp and don't watch many shows where anyone shoots anyone, so can't answer to that part. I was a bit young to be too attentive to Viet Nam, but by my late teens I knew many vets. It was hard for many. I had an uncle in Korea who just started talking about his trauma in the last few years. He'd held so much inside. What finally helped him was support groups with other veterans. Some study showed that was what was helping the kids coming home from Iraq too.

We want them to find peace...the soldiers, the countries, the civilians.

[Daphne08]

21. Excuse me, but you've bought into pure propaganda when

you start with the "baby-killer" crap!

I'm old enough to remember the truth.

[tomreedtoon]

23. The important part is, LOTS of people bought into it.

And it was mosty psychology. The people who protested the war knew that they didn't end the war; Richard Nixon got the credit (deserved or not) for ending the war. So they felt better with the symbolic revenge of picking on soldiers, especially after My Lai, and how Lt. Calley was defended by the right wing.

And then the right wing saw the "baby killers" stuff and proclaimed that anyone to the left of Reagan was a traitor to America. Heck, Sylvester Stallone made his film career based on "First Blood" and his screaming against the people who called his brothers-in-arms "baby killers."

You see? It's all psychodrama, but it has real political results; there's a large body of people, including some hard-working and honest people I know, who are solidly convinced that liberals and non-Republicans hate America. And not even Bush's incompetence will sway them; "at least he isn't spitting on our troops like Hillary and Jane Fonda did."

And if you don't personally know any of these people who believe this yourself, you must be living in a Starbucks's, not the United States.

[lumpy]

13. KIck

v

[opihimoimoi]

14. Kick 2

[kiteinthewind]

15. K&R!

:cry:

[Uncle Joe]

16. Kicked and recommended.

:kick:

[sablefish]

17. Ahhh these guys would make a great police force..

For getting rid of dissident voices.. Who wants to deal with soul less killers in police uniforms. Maybe I better shut up because they're commin' to get us all.

[Uncle Joe]

18. These guys are the victims,

of Bush's insane war policies, they are going to need extensive counseling just to get their heads straight again. These guys were just your average neighborhood boys before they were put in to an illogical situation where they could not distinguish between foe or friend. Eventually put in to that position long enough, for your own survival sake, everyone is foe, and if everyone is foe you demonize or dehumanize them. This is a direct result of Bush's lazy, incurious, greedy, power hungry, non diplomatic megalomania.

[stop the bleeding]

19. what a terrible way to be introduced into adulthood, your twenties

are hard enough without having to worry about getting your ass shot off.

Peace!