Assuming it is all true, I still have to wonder about the politics of this line of criticism. I wonder if there are any veterans, especially Viet vets, on this list.
There is a legend about U.S. leftists looking down on Viet Vets as moral lepers. I've never seen it. I was never guilty of it myself, not even close. In college 30+ years ago, returning vets -- "Vets for Peace" -- had a big impact on me. We were using ROTC as an issue to talk about the war, and the vets supported us and called the ROTC students "little kiddie kadets." You can imagine how delightful that was.
Regarding Powell and My Lai, I have to wonder if this indictment satisfies the needs of some, present company excluded, for some kind of veiled political attack on veterans who served in Viet Nam, or veterans in general. I don't dispute that the story is legitimate. I do wonder about the line of argument that My Lai's were sufficiently routine that an attack on Powell or Lt. Calley is just an elliptical way of attacking veterans, another surrogate for anti-working class prejudice. Is My Lai a way of distracting us from the more fundamental atrocity that was the war as a whole, for which people like Powell and those under him were not responsible?
I do not mean that many or most servicemen were amoral, bloodthirsty animals. I don't believe that either. I wasn't in Vietnam, so I suspect it's all more complicated. I am suspicious of moral posturing (again, not criticizing anyone here) by those who weren't there.
The criticism of Powell re: Panama, Iraq, etc. is well-taken. That's a different story than My Lai, in my book.
mbs
Hi -
I usually just read and keep quiet, but I noticed the recent post from Chris Kromm that included something on Colin Powell. I thought it might help to give the URL for the same thing in much more readable form:
http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/45c/235.html
- David