Iraq article in "The Nation". - by *Zaccheus*
*Zaccheus* on 13/7/2007 at 18:13
This article has been covered by two major UK newspapers this week:
(
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070730/hedges)
Even though many of us knew what kind of stuff is going on over there, it still makes horrific reading.
I've never heard of this publication before, is The Nation viewed as a serious news source in the US?
The Alchemist on 13/7/2007 at 18:40
Edit: Working now. That's a difficult read.
nickie on 13/7/2007 at 18:43
Strange. When I first clicked on the link I was taken to a Donation page which I only scanned but was about postal charge increases which could cripple the publication - something like that anyway? The second time, I went to the article. Just wondered what the UK papers were as I don't buy any anymore. No need for links. And I agree, it sounds shocking in the extreme.
Don't know what's happened but either every TTLGer has clicked on the link at once or its been banned as I haven't been able to get there again.
I see I'm not alone.
I can get to it if I just google the nation and follow the trail. Interesting note on their methodology.
demagogue on 13/7/2007 at 19:35
Quote Posted by *Zaccheus*
I've never heard of this publication before, is The Nation viewed as a serious news source in the US?
It's not an objective news source. It's an ideological weekly, the self-described "flagship of the Left". But as far as ideological weeklies go, it's one of the oldest and most successful of the group of big opinion magazines.
Since it's ideological, you have to take "serious news source" with a grain of salt, I just mean in the sense of it being entirely objective or without an agenda. But because of its influential history and the good writers it attracts, you still have to take it seriously in other ways, as having editorial opinions that carry weight. They're not going to make up facts, but they won't hide the fact that their articles have a certain spin.
Nicker on 13/7/2007 at 19:45
The link worked for me - just click the "skip to The Nation" link in the upper right of the donation page.
nickie on 13/7/2007 at 19:53
Thanks *Zaccheus* - will check them out tomorrow now. And the link's fine again so guess it was just too many people trying to read it at once!
*Zaccheus* on 13/7/2007 at 19:54
Thanks demagogue.
:thumb:
oudeis on 13/7/2007 at 20:04
In after demagogue.
The Nation is exactly as he described it: it has an ideology but it isn't the Fox News of liberal print.
demagogue on 13/7/2007 at 20:05
As for my thoughts on the article itself, while of course shocking on a human level, nothing is really surprising ... all wars have a problem with brutality and civilian casualties and how to deal with it, and there are facts about the Iraq war that make it particularly vulnerable to these sorts of problems (high number of foreign irregulars and guerrilla warfare, longer tours of duty with fewer soldiers, military objectives that seem increasingly futile, a certain swarmy culture setting in unchecked, etc), and these sorts of stories have been leaking out all this time. But it's good they could get so many different perspectives on record in one place, and call more attention the issue.
I didn't like that it was a little too anecdotal, so it didn't give as good a feel for what the problem is on a broad scale (just because a high % of solders saw something doesn't make it a "common occurrence" in a statistical sense), what is really at the root at of the problems aside from soldier's speculations, and what's the best approach to reforms. And also because many of these stories are part of a much larger story (warfare in the global era) that was getting buried in the details. You need to keep both the broad perspective and the details on the ground in mind if you are going to be serious about reform. But there's no doubt that the article will put on some pressure for that, and it has gotten a lot of attention on the problem, which is its main virtue IMO.
