Great essay Linh. I enjoyed that museum for the pretty clothes and shiny weapons. I don't recall the photos so it's good you give me a reason to re-visit. Also, your essay is suitable for our warlike world. The war on us is everywhere with non traditional weapons like needles and now pagers.
Once at college I watched an American Vietnam vet stare off into the middle distance and quietly offer, "... war is evil." Of course, war being evil must be why it's the biggest business in America, and increasingly the only business. I wonder how often Putin has to remind himself that—as maddeningly obnoxious and recklessly destructive as the USA is—these fools, clowns, and jerks are just trying to make money.
It's quite something the world hangs all day, every day, by the thread of the patience of a murderous ex-KGB agent as jackals of every sort try everything they can think of to get him to lose his temper.
...whilst, at the same time, they all claim that he's too reasonable to lose his temper and therefore it's perfectly ok to continue the ever increasing provocation.
“International humanitarian law prohibits the use of booby traps—objects that civilians are likely to be attracted to or are associated with normal civilian daily use—precisely to avoid putting civilians at grave risk and produce the devastating scenes that continue to unfold across Lebanon,” said Lama Fakih, Middle East and North Africa Director at Human Rights Watch, in a statement.
I recall a story of American GIs during the Vietnam who—annoyed after a series of successful raids on their camp outside a local village—decided to put out a tray of cookies near a road outside the village. Vietnamese children soon found the tray and were gathered around excitedly eating the cookies when the booby trap (a hand grenade under the tray) went off. One guilt-laden GI later said he could never get the the image of the children and their bloody faces and bodies rolling around on the ground in agony out of his mind.
Of course, that was more than 50 years ago, and things were comparatively quaint back then. These days, when children are left dead or in bloody agony as they are snared in your booby traps, just put up a video of yourself dancing in celebration about it on social media.
Of course, to spring such a clever booby trap you have to break the law, but that is only a problem for people living in countries the law applies to. I'm sure you can think of a couple where it does not. Speaking of, where's that ICC arrest warrant? Nowhere to be found.
Speaking of evil. The New York Times described the death of a nine-year-old victim of the attack:
“Fatima was in the kitchen on Tuesday when a pager on the table began to beep,” her aunt said. “She picked up the device to bring it to her father and was holding it when it exploded, mangling her face and leaving the room covered in blood,” she said. “Fatima was trying to take courses in English,” Ms. Mousawi said. “She loved English.”
Interesting panel here with John Mearsheimer and Jeffrey Sachs. Mearsheimer schools Sachs on why the United States will inevitably create a confrontation with China up to (and potentially beyond) the point where the world again hangs precipitously on a nuclear knife's edge:
As Mersheimer indicates, he'd *like* to agree with Sachs that these wars don't need to happen, but he knows too much about what drives the United States and that it will never change.
It's the same thing, of course, that drove Sauron (staying with the theme of evil): power. Evil always undoes itself in time, but not before it's done a whole lot of damage. Case in point:
Thank you for giving voice and face to these fellows Linh. I want to call them men and there's a notion in the military that dying a soldier's death is manly so if an eighteen year old kid off of the farm or city block gets shredded in a combat theatre, they earned their adulthood, albeit posthumously. Part of me understands and part of me thinks it's a load of shit, but I have a feeling that the powers that throw these individuals into harms way don't give a hoot what I or any of us not cheering the violence thinks.
Thanks for taking some time to bring some humanity to the soldier's plight.
One of my favorite subjects of Linh's commentary is Hollywood's portrayal of the war. The US was defeated but the blame for the defeat was placed on southern Vietnamese soldiers. It was presented that a typical north Vietnamese was wily and tough in combat and that he had a strong sense of nationalism, but his co-ethnic, when wearing an ARVN uniform, not only ran from trouble but threw away his weapons as he ran. Hollywood thought Americans were dumb enough to accept that at face value and of course Hollywood was correct.
Thank, Linh. Beautiful essay and great photos. Hope you are well.
Great essay Linh. I enjoyed that museum for the pretty clothes and shiny weapons. I don't recall the photos so it's good you give me a reason to re-visit. Also, your essay is suitable for our warlike world. The war on us is everywhere with non traditional weapons like needles and now pagers.
Once at college I watched an American Vietnam vet stare off into the middle distance and quietly offer, "... war is evil." Of course, war being evil must be why it's the biggest business in America, and increasingly the only business. I wonder how often Putin has to remind himself that—as maddeningly obnoxious and recklessly destructive as the USA is—these fools, clowns, and jerks are just trying to make money.
It's quite something the world hangs all day, every day, by the thread of the patience of a murderous ex-KGB agent as jackals of every sort try everything they can think of to get him to lose his temper.
...whilst, at the same time, they all claim that he's too reasonable to lose his temper and therefore it's perfectly ok to continue the ever increasing provocation.
You've got it.
Expanding on the previous evil:
“International humanitarian law prohibits the use of booby traps—objects that civilians are likely to be attracted to or are associated with normal civilian daily use—precisely to avoid putting civilians at grave risk and produce the devastating scenes that continue to unfold across Lebanon,” said Lama Fakih, Middle East and North Africa Director at Human Rights Watch, in a statement.
I recall a story of American GIs during the Vietnam who—annoyed after a series of successful raids on their camp outside a local village—decided to put out a tray of cookies near a road outside the village. Vietnamese children soon found the tray and were gathered around excitedly eating the cookies when the booby trap (a hand grenade under the tray) went off. One guilt-laden GI later said he could never get the the image of the children and their bloody faces and bodies rolling around on the ground in agony out of his mind.
Of course, that was more than 50 years ago, and things were comparatively quaint back then. These days, when children are left dead or in bloody agony as they are snared in your booby traps, just put up a video of yourself dancing in celebration about it on social media.
Of course, to spring such a clever booby trap you have to break the law, but that is only a problem for people living in countries the law applies to. I'm sure you can think of a couple where it does not. Speaking of, where's that ICC arrest warrant? Nowhere to be found.
Speaking of evil. The New York Times described the death of a nine-year-old victim of the attack:
“Fatima was in the kitchen on Tuesday when a pager on the table began to beep,” her aunt said. “She picked up the device to bring it to her father and was holding it when it exploded, mangling her face and leaving the room covered in blood,” she said. “Fatima was trying to take courses in English,” Ms. Mousawi said. “She loved English.”
Interesting panel here with John Mearsheimer and Jeffrey Sachs. Mearsheimer schools Sachs on why the United States will inevitably create a confrontation with China up to (and potentially beyond) the point where the world again hangs precipitously on a nuclear knife's edge:
https://youtu.be/uvFtyDy_Bt0?feature=shared
Thanks. That is a really fine panel discussion.
As Mersheimer indicates, he'd *like* to agree with Sachs that these wars don't need to happen, but he knows too much about what drives the United States and that it will never change.
It's the same thing, of course, that drove Sauron (staying with the theme of evil): power. Evil always undoes itself in time, but not before it's done a whole lot of damage. Case in point:
https://rumble.com/v5fbpmd-the-project-has-failed.html
Thank you for giving voice and face to these fellows Linh. I want to call them men and there's a notion in the military that dying a soldier's death is manly so if an eighteen year old kid off of the farm or city block gets shredded in a combat theatre, they earned their adulthood, albeit posthumously. Part of me understands and part of me thinks it's a load of shit, but I have a feeling that the powers that throw these individuals into harms way don't give a hoot what I or any of us not cheering the violence thinks.
Thanks for taking some time to bring some humanity to the soldier's plight.
One of my favorite subjects of Linh's commentary is Hollywood's portrayal of the war. The US was defeated but the blame for the defeat was placed on southern Vietnamese soldiers. It was presented that a typical north Vietnamese was wily and tough in combat and that he had a strong sense of nationalism, but his co-ethnic, when wearing an ARVN uniform, not only ran from trouble but threw away his weapons as he ran. Hollywood thought Americans were dumb enough to accept that at face value and of course Hollywood was correct.
Are the ARVN considered collaborators? That might explain why they are shunned.