The Heroes of WWII and Iraq

[Avalux]

I have to rant a little - it's about a slide show, courtesy of my mother. (Have the link on my home computer). She e-mailed it with a little note saying "This is great, you must watch it. It will make you think".
So I opened the link and proceeded to watch one of the most blatant pieces of propoganda I've ever seen. It starts with text about "heroes being there for us before" and shows Pearl Harbor on fire and many battle photos from WWII. (I knew where it was going at this point). Then it moves to "heroes are here for us now" and shows photos of 9/11 (firefighers, nat. guard) - then - surprise! photos of troops in Iraq comforting Iraqis and in battle. More text about "freeing the oppressed" and how "we are with them" and finally -"sometimes they die" (heroes) complimented by a few choice photos of flag-draped coffins and the national cemetery. There's more to it, but summarized as best I could.
So I sat there, feeling as if I needed a shower; feeling pride, sadness, anger. Pride in our troops, yes, for what they are enduring right now, no choice of their own. Pride in what troops did 60 years ago against a horrible enemy. But the comparison to Iraq - anger. The Pearl Harbor/WWII, Sep 11/Iraq connection - anger. I kept thinking...we shouldn't be there - it was a lie....more anger, intense anger. Sadness as each photo of our troops in Iraq flipped by, sadness that those who have died should not have. Sadness and anger as I realized Vietnam had been excluded from this display of heroes. Anger again as I thought about my mother watching this and being moved enough to send it to me - oops - forgot to include disgust in my list of emotions.
It made me think alright - but not in the way she expected.

[sangh0]

1. Respond to her

with links to articles about how Bush* has not funded first-responders like those firefighter, about how injured Iraqi vets are now languishing without medical treatment at military camps in the US, and how Bush* lied about the unhealthy pollutants those first responders were subjected to on 9/11 and the days after.

PM me if you need any links

[sangh0]

2. Here's a link

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=571922

It's about how Bush* is putting curtains up to hide the caskets of soldiers KIA in Iraq. If they're heroes, why is Bush* hiding them instead of honoring them?

[Avalux]

4. Thanks

I am working on a reply w/links for dear mom, plus everyone on her distribution list. I'm upset with her because we've had conversations about * and Iraq; she's agreed with me. She knows exactly where I stand.
Did she miss the propoganda of that video completely; caught up in the whole red white and blue patriotic thing?
Scary.

[diamond14]

3. bush* is trying to compare his Iraq massacre to the wars that

Americans consider 'honorable'...you can hear and see it all over TV and radio...and I also consider this bush* propaganda to be a denigration of all OUR soldiers who fought for OUR country.....and it is critically important for the bush* war criminals to keep the asssociation AWAY from Vietnam...bush* certainly doesn't like the Vietnam comparison...the reality is that the bush* Iraq follies are not WW1 or WWII, but are exactly a reproduction of Vietnam (BTW, did the movie show Korea, where almost as many died as Vietnam in a real muddled mess still costing us $$$ and troops today???)

bush* approach (right out of the Department of Deception):

compare the HUGE amounts of money now being wasted to the "Marshall Plan"

compare the 'attack on Baghdad' to the beaches of Normandy

add the current movies about 'Flyboy' the bush* father, to keep the association to WWII glory AND (since bush*-the-younger looks a lot like his dad)....this overshadows the fact the bush* deserted, keeping the image of glorious 'Flyboy' in people's minds

compare any graves to the Holocaust

compare bush* to every GREAT President that has led American through war....trying to get Americans to associate bush* with Roosevelt and Eisenhower...

compare to the attack on Pearl Habor....

compare the time it's taking to the time to implement the Marshall Plan and also compare the great results of the Marshall Plan as something we can look forward to in Iraq...keep that money rolling in for haliburton...

[LoneStarLiberal]

5. Cherry Picking Propoganda

It particularly turns my stomach at how these nauseating little slide shows are devoid of Korean slides and Vietnam slides.

I guess that one of my uncles who was wounded during the initial attack at the Chosin Reservoir and limped all the way out with what was left of his Marine rifle company with Chinese shrapnel in his left leg and left abdomen doesn't make the cut. After all that was only a police action that ended in stalemate. It can't be heroic when it ends like that, right?

I guess that two of my other uncles (my parents came from large families), one who was killed with the 1st Cav in the Central Highlands and the other who was wounded in Hue with the Marines after the Tet offensive don't make the "hero" cut, either.

Leave it to a bunch of cowardly fucking dodger chickenhawks to come up with bullshit like that. The only thing that disgusts me more is that people just don't realize it.

Send my uncles' stories to your mom if you'd like. We're (some in my family) all about changing minds by opening them up with concrete examples.

[diamond14]

6. can someone send this thread to 'Bob Beckel' (link)...I don't know

how to send threads...

Bob Beckel has set up a site to identify these bush* propaganda blitzes (which can sometimes be subtle throughout lots of media)...
and has a team of people who can do something about it by exposing these lies....this new bush* crap must all be part of his new "everything's fine in Iraq" spin...


here is the link to Bob Beckel's web page...
http://www.bobbeckel.com/index.php

[Avalux]

7. I'll do better -

when I get home, I'll sent the link for the slide show to Bob Beckel. Thanks.