Monday, July 06, 2009
Neither Dulce nor Decorum Est
Going to other people's homelands to kill them is dangerous and frequently fatal, as many young Americans have discovered. But those who arrange their travel often live to ripe old ages like 93. 'Tis pity that people like the late Robert Strange McNamara aren't obliged to go and do their own killing and dying, rather than conscripting or enticing those with less experience and fewer advantages into their filthy business.
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2 comments:
I was charmed by your reference to Wilfred Owen, Jim. And yes, MacNamara and all his ilk often enjoy a ripe old age while their victims rot in the grave.
The link you provided said McNamara was "a prisoner of his own background . . . unable, as indeed was the country which sponsored him, to adapt his values and his terms to Vietnamese realities."
Replace Vietnam with the killing field of your choice, and we find that McNamara was no more of a fool than anyone else in Washington.
(Thanks for posting this. I had missed it.)
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