June 19, 2006/ New York TIMES David Carr Cascading Inconvenient Truths
THERE have been all sorts of pronouncements in the past week about the ambitions and absurdities of the Iraq war, but nothing in newspapers, on cable or even out there in the blogosphere matched the impact of a deft little turn in the middle of "The War Tapes," a documentary about — and filmed by — a New Hampshire National Guard Unit stationed in Iraq that opened in theaters two weeks ago. Specialist Mike Moriarty is filming his squad leader, Staff Sgt. Kevin Shangraw, as they bounce along in a Humvee. He asks his leader for his take on the broader mission, and Sergeant Shangraw comes straight off the dome with a government-issue rationale. "Well, I think it's a fantastic opportunity for the Iraqis to establish a new history in the country and be able to be a free and democratic society, which in turn should stabilize the whole Middle East and create a freer and more stable earth as we know it." "Tell me how you really feel," an unseen Specialist Moriarty prompts. Sergeant. Shangraw waits a beat as the bleak landscape flies by in the window before answering. "Then, after that happens, maybe we can buy everybody in the world a puppy." more at: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/19/business/media/19carr.html -- Jim Devine / "Advocates of capitalism are very apt to appeal to the sacred principles of liberty, which are embodied in one maxim: The fortunate must not be restrained in the exercise of tyranny over the unfortunate." -- Bertrand Russell
