If you watched Nightline tonight you know why we can't win this war

[bribri16]

in Iraq and you know why it will never end.

[Postman]

1. Tell me more, I didn't see it..

n/t

[Pirate Smile]

4. I haven't seen it but an earlier thread explains what it is about:

Wow! Nightline tonight (Wed) looks revealing and bad for BushCo...
I rec'd this in my email today. I thought others might be interested in the topic of tonight's Nightline. I'm very interested in what this man has to say. ---Cheers!

"There's a reckless arrest policy, and there's a tremendous amount of humiliation that follows that arrest policy, and I strongly believe that one of the major reasons that the insurgency is growing is because when detainees are released they come out and they're looking for retribution." -- Cyrus Kar

------------------


Part of my job as a producer in Los Angeles is to book "first" interviews for ABC News. I helped to do that for "Good Morning America" in late July when Cyrus Kar, a Los Angeles documentary filmmaker, had just returned home from a harrowing experience in a U.S. detention camp in Iraq, where he was filming. Kar is an American citizen and Navy veteran, and a supporter of the war. He was arrested in Iraq as a suspected terrorist. His story was checked out within days by the FBI, yet he was held by the U.S. military for nearly two months. His family brought in the ACLU. The perfect ending to a perfect nightmare.

The requisite scramble of reporters and hot-heeled booking producers ensued; the series of quick, live network interviews concluded. But when you've experienced the level of fear and abandonment Kar felt as he sat day after day in solitary confinement, the sound bites don't always roll off the tongue. The three-minute live interviews don't do the story justice. I watched Kar's interviews and saw his eyes communicating something much deeper than a description of the facts. Over the following two weeks, Kar revealed to me at greater length his thoughts and feelings about his captivity and the war in Iraq. The shock of his experience was wearing off, the determination to speak out was settling in. He had a lot more to say.

We brought Kar to Washington to sit down in the studio with Ted Koppel and recount, in depth, not just the circumstances of his detention in U.S. custody, but his thoughts on how that detention may be emblematic of a larger problem in Iraq -- one that may continue to create a rise in Iraqi insurgency, and a rise in American deaths. Through his voice you hear the frustration at the slow wheels of justice. Through his eyes you see a sense of humiliation and betrayal from the inside out.

We found Kar and what he has to say compelling enough to devote the next two shows to it. Tonight, the story of his arrest, and what he thinks would save lives in Iraq. We hope you join us for both nights.

Dina Demetrius & the "Nightline" Staff
Producer

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4450828

[cliss]

6. WOW. Pirate, that's amazing.

Thanks for the update. We got rid of our TV. It was Bush. We just couldn't take his asinine behavior any longer.

So we're missing out on some good programs.

At this point, I'm surprised that Mr. Kar was brave enough to go to Iraq. Journalists have a notoriously high death rate in Iraq. The minute the U.S. spots them, they turn their gun barrel and fire away. Look at Sgrena from Italy. She's lucky to be alive.

Anyway, thanks for the awesome update on what's really going on in Iraq. It just reinforces what everyone is saying now: WE CAN'T WIN.

[Mr_Spock]

2. Isn't is great - death and destruction for all eternity

Man, I just love turning on the TV and seeing dead bodies being buried - gotta love it :D

:sarcasm:

[Bluebear]

3. I didn't, can you explain for us? nt

[wli]

5. IIRC Cyrus Kar fought in BFEE DSW I. n/t

[Maru Kitteh]

7. I did. Oh my GOD.

I swear to God Wes Clark talked about this very thing in Iowa in October of 2003 at the Tom Harkin sponsored town hall.

I believe the term he used was something like a paradigm of escalating hostility. He talked about the very nature of extended conflict leading to a escalating proportion of war crimes in the field. This American and his Iraqi camera-person were a victim of this escalation and the resulting mentality.


The way I see it is this:
When your buddy gets his brains blown out by a guy who's language you don't understand, who's clothes you've never worn, who's culture you don't understand, who's religion you don't understand and then this guy has his gun aimed at you next.... the natural reaction is to beat his head in and DO NOT STOP. Just like all good conditioners this has an added effect if you rinse and repeat. Rinse and repeat. It really does not take long until ALL of the people in the funny clothes that look different are automatically considered to be enemies. It's how you stay alive.

On the other side of the conflict is a guy just like you. He watched his buddy die at the hands of the people who's culture he doesn't understand.......

Repeat with step one.


WE NEED TO GET THE HELL OUT OF THERE. WE FUCKING FAILED. THERE IS NO WAY TO "WIN".

This is the main reason I will vote for Chuck Hagel long before I vote for Hillary Clinton.

I've become a one issue voter. No more war.

[bribri16]

8. I too have become a one-issue voter. NO MORE WAR/NO MORE

REPUBLICANS. to me, they are one and the same.