New Book/Author interview--John Crawford: An Accidental Soldier's Account

[Up2Late]

Full Title "The Last True Story I'll Ever Tell: An Accidental Soldier's Account of the War in Iraq"

John Crawford is interviewed on "Fresh Air" on WHYY/NPR coming up at 3:00pm EDT (NOW!) in most of the Eastern U.S., times very, See link below for a link to a list of stations and times for Local and on-line streaming.

Iraq

John Crawford: The Accidental Soldier

Cover of John Crawford's The Last True Story I'll Ever Tell

Audio for this story will be available at approx. 3:00 p.m. ET

Fresh Air from WHYY, August 3, 2005 · With two credits to go before college graduation, John Crawford was called to active duty and sent to the front lines in Iraq. Crawford had joined the Florida National Guard in order to pay his tuition -- and didn't expect to go to war.

His new memoir is The Last True Story I'll Ever Tell: An Accidental Soldier's Account of the War in Iraq. It was written partly while on active duty and partly back in the United States after he returned.

<http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4783583>

[babylonsister]

1. This could be the writer on The Daily Show tonight. nt

[Up2Late]

2. Cool, I hadn't heard that, or didn't make the connection

Should be good.

[babylonsister]

8. Yep, just checked. He's on w/Jon tonight. nt

[deadparrot]

3. I heard about this on NPR last night.

Sounds extremely interesting.

[Up2Late]

5. He just said his commanders didn't like him talking about his "Job"

as, "Hi, My name is John Roberts, and my job is "Population Reduction."

He also said that a lot of the guys in Iraq are using a lot of Drugs (Valium, etc.) and Steroids.

[booksenkatz]

4. I heard this interview and thought it a little strange

He said something to the effect that we should stay in Iraq even though we know it's wrong because it's like a bar fight -- you know you're going to wake up the next morning and know that the other guy didn't deserve what you did to him, but once you're committed to the fight, you know you have to stay in it because you don't want to wake up the next morning feeling guilty AND having been beaten up on top of it. Maybe I misunderstood him, but man, if I heard him right, I don't understand that kind of thinking at all. To use his analogy, YOU picked an innocent person for a damned fight and the only way to solve the problem is to keep punching the guy until he's dead just so that you can save face? Is that honorable somehow?

Is it me, or is it them? It's them, isn't it? Am I right? It's them? I knew that.
/Nathan Thurm

[Up2Late]

6. I think you did mis-understand it a little, but I think he's still...

...(or was when he wrote his memoir) trying to sort through all the mind games (a.k.a. mental training, also known as "Brain Washing") that the military does to it's soldiers, before sending them to a War.

It also helps if you remember that he was using the example of a "Bar-room Bully" (a.k.a. a drunken Psychopath) as basically what the U.S. and it's "most advanced Military in the World" was, going into Iraq and picking a bar-room fight with, the equivalent of a guy on crutches.

[booksenkatz]

7. I admit

a) I did not hear the entire interview; and
b) I was on my way out the door when I heard this portion of the interview and was unable to stay to listen further.

I was unable to tell if this was his belief NOW, or if it was the mindgame he played to get him through it THEN. To be fair, I should give this guy a full hearing.

At any rate, there are people all over the U.S. who do think in the way I described earlier, and it frustrates me completely.

[Up2Late]

9. I'm just re-listening to this interview, something I usually do...,

...because during the day I tend to miss a lot while I'm working during the day.

What always amazes me is the HUGE amount of MONEY that must be going straight into the pockets of the Neo-cons and * administration War Profiteers, because this Florida Reservist is describing how they had to Steal Cars and Trucks, because they had no vehicles to do their missions.

No replacement Uniforms or Boots to replace their gear that wore out (boots with holes in the soles), let alone, no real Armor for their patrol vehicles.

And then, nobody seems to think that any of this is at all unusual.:wtf: