Thursday, December 16, 2004

Good Soldiers

This "Quotation of the Day" from the New York Times: "People see the figure of 1,200 dead. Much more rarely do they see the number of seriously wounded. And almost never do they hear anything at all about the psychiatric casualties."DR. EVAN KANTER, a psychiatrist at a veterans' hospital in Seattle.

The above quote coupled with this, also from the New York Times, remains a pitiful but run-of-the-mill (if you will) commentary on the horrors of war, any war, that will continue to plague this country -- not to mention Iraq -- for generations to come.

I'll make this post short, with two quotes that seem ... well, appropriate:

"A good soldier has his heart and soul in it. When he receives any order, he gets a hard on, and when he sends his lance into the enemy's guts, he comes... He lets himself be torn to pieces for his superior officer, and as he lies dying he takes note that his corporal is nodding approval. That's reward enough for him. That's all he wants."

Bertolt Brecht -- The Caucasian Chalk Circle

"I am no longer a soldier. Soldiering, my dear madam, is the coward's art of attacking mercilessly when you are strong, and keeping out of harm's way when you are weak. That is the whole secret of successful fighting. Get you enemy at a disadvantage: and never, on any account, fight him on equal terms."

George Berhard Shaw -- Arms and the Man

As I revisit these quotes, I keep thinking of Dubya's "...bring 'em on..." jingoist, SPC (small penis complex) exhortation.

God, what a fucking mess this has turned out to be. But, then, God is on our side. Isn't he.

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