universal soldier...

continued... re "immaculate genocide"...

over the weekend I read a very interesting publication-- I had a paper copy but you can read it online--"Traveling Soldier." It's a bunch of folks in Vietnam -- whoa -- that was a typo! in Iraq, I mean -- talking about their disillusionment and anger etc.

The thing that bothered me was that they're sitting there saying stuff about how the war is just for the ruling class to get richer, has nothing to do with security or 9/11 or anything else, etc. etc., and one guy who helped flatten Fallujah says he had hoped never to have to fire his gun, etc etc....

...and after a point I started thinking, well, if you know all this, then why are you still firing your damn gun? at Iraqis anyway?

It started to really bother me how they were talking about "counting down the days til they go home" and all this other stuff just like you would at any other job.

I have been accustomed to portraying them as victims, cannon fodder, dupes of the ruling class, etc. Maybe this has been overly simplistic.

If it's not the soldier's fault that he shoots people, whose fault is it?

What is the appropriate analysis of the soldier's role, vis a vis his working class or poverty status within the dominant imperialist power? And what is the appropriate response to that analysis?

You all probably know this song but here it is anyway... now that this post is long I will make it a separate post... whew!