by John Mattingly Note: this is the first in a three-part series that looks at the current cultural sausage being made by our U.S. military, starting with the curious case of the American Sniper, followed by the troubling question of military honor and why our high-powered, big-dollar U.S. military keeps losing wars. The final piece …
To the Editor,
Regarding John Mattingly’s “Agriculture and War,” Paragraph 3: Naw, John, the bodies just couldn’t have been that deep. Considering that there are 27,878,400 square feet on every mile of the Earth’s surface, and that the average human body contains no more than 2.78 cubic feet of flesh, bones and blood, then you could fit ten million bodies into each square mile.
by John Mattingly
“You’re in the army now,
You’re not behind the plow. . .”
I remember hearing this verse from a song played on movie newsreels in the decade following WWII, in which the farmer appeared in agony, sweating behind a horse. Until he hears a bugle in the distance. Shedding the shackles of the field, the farmer dashes off to enlist, and is soon seen in uniform, holding a gun across a big smile as he enters a roaring field of battle, his honor and fate now restored far above those homely stands of corn.
Essay by Deric Pamp
War – May 2006 – Colorado Central Magazine
THE THIRD ANNIVERSARY of America’s invasion of Iraq was March 19. Whatever its strengths may be, this Administration does not cheerfully seek out opinions that differ from Administration policies, so I would not expect our elected leaders to respond to protests against the war. I doubt that they even notice them: Bush is too busy boogying on some mental stage, Rummy is planning the bombing and subsequent invasion of Iran, and Cheney simply doesn’t care about the little people who protest the war or fight in it. Nevertheless, I joined the small group of people who met in Riverside Park in Salida on March 19 to mark the date and to state our upset and disagreement with the war.
Brief by Central Staff
War – February 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine
Executives want their money (and country) back
In our December edition, we told you about locals protesting the war in association with a national peace protest that can be found on the web at www.notinourname.net. But now there’s another anti-war movement — one that we only wish we were qualified for — Business Leaders for Sensible Priorities.
Essay by Martha Quillen
War – July 2002 – Colorado Central Magazine
In February, I wrote that we needed to figure out how to talk about America’s war in Afghanistan. That letter got a lot of responses, some favorable — and some vociferously angry. Then, for months after encouraging everyone else to talk about the war, I avoided it assiduously. The war is still a touchy subject, rife with emotions, and I figured I’d said enough already.
Letter from Jim Ludwig
War – May 2002 – Colorado Central Magazine
Editors:
Martha, don’t hold your breath until you find someone to talk about this war.
Even you in your wisdom could not bring yourself to call the war what it is: It is a religious war, and it is not politically correct to talk about religion at this or any other time.