when you're
wounded and left on
afghanistan's plain, and the
women come to cut up what remains
just roll to your rifle and blow out
your brains, and go to your
gawd like a soldier
kipling / "young british soldier"

lessons learned from vietnam?
none. the obscenity lost on
most americans drains
the death of
mcnamara
of any real
significance
bob herbert
nyt 7.7.09 "after the war was over"

we burned to death
100k japanese civilians
in tokyo - men, women, children
lemay said if we'd lost the war, we'd all
have been prosecuted as war criminals. and i think
he's right. he - and i'd say i - were behaving
as war criminals. what makes it immoral
if you lose and not immoral
if you win?
robert mcnamara
nyt 7.7.09 "architect of a futile war, is dead at 93"

lbj:
i want you
to dictate to me
a memorandum of a
couple of pages. four letter
words and short sentences on the
situation in vietnam, the 'vietnam' picture
this morning, senator scott said, the war which
we can neither win, lose, nor drop, is evidence of
an instability of ideas. a floating series of judgements
our policy of nervous conciliation which is extremely
disturbing. do you think it is a mistake to explain
about vietnam and what we're faced with?
mcnamara:
well i do think, mr president
it would be wise for you
to say as little as
possible
the
frank
answer
is we don't
know what is
going on out there
the signs i see coming
through the cables are
disturbing signs. it is a
very uncertain period

as we know
there are known knowns
there are things we know we know
we also know
there are known unknowns
that is to say
we know there are some things
we do not know
but there are also unknown unknowns
the ones we don't know
we don't know
donald rumsfeld

i realized the war in iraq had
nothing to do with making
americans safer
after i got back
i started feeling
guilty about my
part in the
occupation
victor agosto
nyt 8.6.09 "soldier who didn't obey orders is jailed"
.
. .
.
recent afghanistan u.s. casualties 8.2009