Evan Solomon was in his glory today on CBC TV's Power and Politics, denouncing the U.S. Marines who had the temerity to piss on Taliban dead. Evan thinks it an inappropriate way for combat soldiers to shake it off after the killing is done. I guess he thinks Hollywood does it better... back to the hooch to get fried on whiskey or high on weed, acting the fool to the greasy-grind of some good 'ole Rock n' Roll, just like their Daddies did in Vee- et - nahm.
Well Mr. Solomon, many Canadians would like to piss on the ponces in Ottawa who got us into this filthy war that has cost our country hundreds of dead soldiers, and hundreds of maimed and crippled Canadian young men and women. Need I mention the billions of dollars pissed away on a war we have lost?
There is no equivalency between this piss-parade and the breakdown of military conduct which occurred at Abu Ghraib. None whatsoever. "Soldiers urinating on corpses" teased TMZ. Well, they were actually Marines (3rd Battalion, Second Regiment) and due to the promise of mature content ... the infamous video clip "went viral" today. Well let's skip the horse apples of hypocrisy. If you want to watch the clip it's HERE. Be warned. It's boring. Worse, it's meaningless.
Let's get more pertinent. Instead of pontificating about a few Marines pissing on Taliban guerrillas, Mr. Solomon should be grilling the Ottawa dunces who are about to get us into yet another war - GULF WAR THREE. Soon the monkeys in Ottawa will announce our participation in crushing Iran's nuclear ambitions and rubber stamping America's latest intervention. Once again hooting from their benches, the Tories, the NDPee and the Liberals, will be unanimous and very shrill. Support the Troops, Support the Mission, Support their Sacrifice.
The famous cartoon by Andy Donato - "The American Dream".
Iwo Jima metaphor updated: Reaming out the Ayatollah.
In bad taste? I am reminded of Andy Donato's famous editorial cartoon published and syndicated by the Toronto Sun in 1979. You remember! The one which incorporates the iconic Rosenthal image of U.S. Marines planting Old Glory into the volcanic soil of Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima. In Donato's version U.S. Marines shove their flag up the ass of a religious fanatic, The Islamic Republic of Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini. As we are less than two months away from the Israeli air strikes which will entomb all of those scientists and personnel working to enrich uranium in underground bunker complexes, this is perhaps a great time to resurrect the Donato cartoon. Soon it will be the Israeli's shoving their flag up the ass of Iran's scruffy leader. But editorial cartoonists be warned! Do not mock the Iranian's in their hour of humbling defeat at the capable hands of the "Satanic" Zionists.
I didn't buy the "American Dream" T-shirt in 1980. This is the ad from the Windsor Star. I did though buy one of the Donato cartoon colour pins for a buck, and I still have it. 30,000 pins were sold, so I guess it's still just worth a buck. Let's hope the Persians are willing to swallow their pride when the I.A.F. takes out Iran's nuclear facilities and ballistic missile sites. If Teheran is stupid enough to retaliate with an attack on Israeli territory the United States will then pulverize the Iranian airforce and navy, and then we have another fiasco on our hands. Thousands of Iranians who keep Canadian passports handy (Safe Conduct Coupons) will demand that Ottawa provide Free Flights "home". Any way you look at this, it's going to cost us $$$.
A Skull-full of coral pebbles
I sometimes encounter reference to the "brutality" of war, as if the term "WAR" does not convey sufficiently painful and bloody connotations. I don't need video images to remind me of man's brutality. My mind began registering far too many images of "War" when I was a schoolboy, watching Viet Nam, Bangladesh and Biafra on a B&W television receiver. Recently a good friend gave me the extraordinary HBO series THE PACIFIC as a Christmas gift, and it is about as faithful a rendition of the "brutality" of war as anyone need be exposed to. If the stories do not move you to tears then you are made of stone. One story jolted me more than any other because I realized I had read it long ago and discussed it with students. It is the scene where E.B. (Sledgehammer) Sledge observes another Marine idly tossing coral pebbles into the gaping skull of a Japanese machine gunner. The skull is brimming with rainwater and a perfect toss makes a "plopping" splash. I know that I haven't read Sledge's war memoir WITH THE OLD BREED (1981). I believe I encountered the anecdote in Studs Terkel's oral history of World War Two - THE GOOD WAR (1984). I realize now that I hadn't set the anecdote up properly, so memory does play tricks. I can't help wondering how memory of this silly, and not so horrifying incident, of pissing on the Taliban, will linger and possibly reappear in popular culture - like the Donato cartoon. I'm willing to cut the Marines some slack, and I'm very grateful that I don't have to march in their capable boots.
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