On Sun, Nov 16, 2003 at 06:05:35AM +0000, ben wrote: > > there is definitely a huge gap between how one imagines something to be > and to witness the actual event of the same. you're absolutely right, > and to shock people into civility might not be a bad idea; one which > might be the reason why the return of dead troops to dover air base is > off-limits to the press, at the moment, for fear of shocking the > domestic audience, in that manner. i'm old enough to remember when the > press had the courage to record the return of the remains of those who > died in vietnam. that was also a reality check.
That would be a bad idea. I'm currently reading John Keegan's "The History of War" -- he's a military historian, he was recently on C-SPAN and Charlie Rose. He's got a new book out, "Intelligence in War." There's also a new documentary with Robert Macnamara coming out. The history of why and how men butcher one another is absolutely fascinating. The recurring question is: is violence intrinsic to man or contingent? It's easy to be glib about it. Fact is war has been here for millenia. Better to be well-informed. Norman Podhoretz said only ex-communists can talk intelligently about anti-communism. My ex-wife also told me to listen to old people, they're probably gonna tell something true. -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
