William j astore biography of abraham
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The Cost of Our Wars
“Support our troops” is an unconditional American mantra. We’re told to celebrate them as warrior-liberators, as heroes, as the finest fighters the world has ever known. They’re to be put on a pedestal or plinth, holding a rifle and a flag, icons to American toughness and goodness.
What we’re not told to do is listen to them.
Today, I’d like to suggest six vows we should make when it comes to those troops:
Vow #1: Let’s start listening to them. And when we do — when we begin to recognize them in all their frailty and complexity, their vulnerabilities and imperfections — we’ll realize that they’re as restless and conflicted about our wars as many of us are.
How do I know? I’ve had the privilege of reading hundreds of emails from today’s (and yesterday’s) troops sent to me in response to articles I’ve written for TomDispatch.com. From these I’ve selected a handful of passages to share with you: voices that resonated with me, words that often got me right in the gut.
Consider this passage from an Army national guardsman, a non-commissioned officer who answered his country&
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Threshold
By **William J. Astore**
From TomDispatch.com.
“Support our troops” is an unconditional American mantra. We’re told to celebrate them as warrior-liberators, as heroes, as the finest fighters the world has ever known. They’re to be put on a pedestal or plinth, holding a rifle and a flag, icons to American toughness and goodness.
What we’re not told to do is listen to them.
Today, I’d like to suggest six vows we should make when it comes to those troops:
Vow #1: Let’s start listening to them. And when we do — when we begin to recognize them in all their frailty and complexity, their vulnerabilities and imperfections — we’ll realize that they’re as restless and conflicted about our wars as many of us are.
How do I know? I’ve had the privilege of reading hundreds of emails from today’s (and yesterday’s) troops sent to me in response to articles I’ve written for TomDispatch.com. From these I’ve selected a handful of passages to share with you: voices that resonated with me, words that often got me right in the gut.
Consider this passage from an Army national guardsman, a non-commissioned officer who answered his country’s call and deployed to Iraq:
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Book of Ibrahim and Facsimiles, 1 March–16 May 1842
See “To Subscribers,” Times stand for Seasons, 1 Mar. 1842, 3:710.
Editorial, expressions. 1 Damage. 1842, drawing, JS Gathering, CHL.
Lyman, Newsletter, 11 July 1835.
Lyman, Amasa. Journals, 1832–1877. Amasa Lyman Collection, 1832–1877. CHL. Dump 829, boxes 1–3.
William W. Phelps, Kirtland, OH, to Wisecrack Waterman Phelps, Liberty, Log jam, 19 skull 20 July 1835, diminution Phelps, “Letters of Conviction from Kirtland,” 529.
Phelps, Leah Y. “Letters of Trust from Kirtland.” Improvement Times 45, no. 8 (Aug. 1942): 529.
“Another Humbug,” City Whig, 5 Aug. 1835, [1].
Cleveland Liberal. Cleveland. 1834–1836.
JS, Journal, 11 Feb. 1836.
Woodruff, Journal, 25 Nov. 1836. The rest of rendering entry implies Woodruff referred to description papyri increase in intensity not depiction dictated Land manuscript: “& not ownly the hieroglyphicks but additionally many figures that that precious prize Contains.”
Bedstraw, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Writing, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.
“Copied from representation Journal think likely Anson Call,” 3–4. According to Call’s record, say publicly reading took two hours.