Da Hawg Frog Blog

Today, on the 40th Anniversary of the My Lai massacre, young veterans of today’s generation are testifying about the horrors they witnessed in Iraq and Afghanistan. The group is called the Winter Soldiers and they have been active in bringing to the American consciousness the toll war takes on those who participate in it. Their’s is a painful message and one not that all Americans wish to hear.

Another group of veterans called A Gathering Of Eagles, takes the opposite stance. They claim to be supporting the troops at all costs. This, too, is a good thing. But, it too has a toll. As they “support the troops” they discount and ignore what many of these soldiers, sailors and Marines are saying. It is a sad day when brothers in arms find themselves so polarized into two camps. Neither willing to hear out the other.

My Lai was without a doubt the darkest hour of American involvement in Vietnam. When Charlie Company of 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 11th Brigade, 23rd Infantry Division (the Americal Division), entered the village of My Lai 40 years ago today they were worn down and angry. Their unit had sustained many casualties through prolonged fighting with the Viet Cong and were ready to take care of business. Unfortunately, the stars were aligned, and the ensuing melee that resulted would forever tarnish the reputation of an entire generation of soldiers.

A young Army Major, Colin Powell, was dispatched to gather information on the rumors of an alleged massacre in the hamlet of My Lai. It would be a harbinger of things to come in the career of Powell. In his futile attempt to cover up the truth we see a glimpse in to this politicized officer. He would again 35 years later try to disseminate disinformation for his political masters by claiming to the United Nations that concrete proof of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq was a given fact. In 1968 he didn’t handle his assignment to discover what really happened in the small Vietnamese hamlet of My Lai honestly either.

It was during this time that Powell, as deputy assistant chief of staff for operations G-3 at Americal Division headquarters in Chu Lai, was asked to handle a potentially embarrassing letter a young soldier had written to Gen. Creighton Abrams, commander of all U.S. forces in Vietnam.

The soldier had written about rumors of a massacre that Americal Division soldiers had committed in the hamlet of My Lai 4 in South Vietnam. Although he did not mention My Lai in the letter, the soldier complained that Americal soldiers were indiscriminately killing Vietnamese civilians. Such acts, the young soldier warned, “are carried on at entire unit levels and thereby acquire the aspect of sanctioned policy.”

Powell sent a memo to his superior, the adjutant general, positioning that the young soldier had not given enough specifics upon which to base an inquiry. Powell said the soldier’s charges were false except for “isolated instances.” He wrote that “relations between American soldiers and the Vietnamese are excellent.” (Source: Unbound)

It is a shame that this social catharsis called the Winter Soldier still has to go on today. We simply refuse to learn from the lessons of the past. It is disheartening to see those very soldiers who once stood side by side, facing a common enemy, now square off against each other. Both groups, A Gathering of Eagles and the Winter Soldiers, have a lot to say and some good ideas about how to fix things. Unfortunately this will never be. The chasm between them cannot be bridged. Why is it that so often the bitterest fights are between brothers?

Who’s going to clean up the mess we are in now?

The present political campaign for the highest office in the land is the most disgusting in my memory. We’ve arrived at a point in history where the will of the people is being totally ignored. Our choices of candidates is being determined by the media and special interests.

The debates leading up to where we are right now have been a farce. If the moderator, and his corporate network, were against a particular candidate, then we wouldn’t hear from them. A perfect example was CNN’s Anderson Cooper and the way he rudely ignored and stifled Ron Paul’s participation in the debate he moderated. The result was we only heard from the individuals Cooper and CNN supported. Of all the Republican candidates Ron Paul was the only one who made sense. He spoke with an honesty and intelligence not seen from the others present. He raised the questions the rest of the field didn’t want to hear or were ill equipped to answer. Cooper didn’t want to hear any of it.

The Democratic debates were just as poorly handled. The media chose Hilliary Clinton and Barack Obama as their superstars and focused all the attention on them. John Edwards, the only real Democrat with a chance of defeating McCain was marginalized and ignored. Now we are stuck with Hilliary, read Bush Lite, and Barrack Obama. The depths to which Hillary has gone in her bid to be nominated has shown a dark side to the Clintons many were not aware of before. I think Tom Degan in his article “oh, and speaking of “Contemptible”, aptly states:

When it became obvious to the Clinton campaign that the dream of a lifetime for so many of us of sending an African American to the White House was on the cusp of possibility, they derailed that dream with tactics so vile and vicious it must have brought tears of joy to the eyes of Karl Rove. When she told the press that McCain is better qualified to be president of the United States, damaging the Obama campaign possibly beyond repair, she stupidly destroyed her own candidacy as well. The Democratic party, the party of John Fitzgerald Kennedy (Tee hee hee! Sorry about that!) cannot win without a huge turn out of African Americans. If Hillary Clinton is given the nomination in August, they’ll remember what the Clintonistas did to Barack Obama, and a whole hell of a lot of them will be staying home on November 4th – or voting for Ralph Nader. Come to think about it, I just might do the same – what the hell. A choice between Hillary Clinton and John McCain is really no choice at all. (Source: Tom Degan’s “The Rant”)

I have to agree, a choice between Clinton and McCain is no choice. How did we get to this point? First and foremost is the Democratic National Committee and Howard Dean. The DNC apparently believes they speak with more authority than state laws in choosing when individual states can run their primaries. Michigan and Florida held their election before the time frame appointed by the DNC and Howard Dean decided to make an example out of them. Because the Florida Legislature determined the state would vote before the DNC edict they have been stripped of their delegates. Now, after all the mud and bullshit, the Democratic party can’t come up with a viable candidate because they can’t seal the deal with enough delegates. What is their answer? Who knows they are still working on it.

I have to agree with some in the Florida Legislature on this one. If a candidate’s party doe not seat our delegates then they should not appear on our ballot. That said I also believe that to make this process fair then a truly open primary should be mandated. You should be able to vote for who you think the right person is the first time and not be restricted by party affiliation. But then that is too much like real democracy.

In Florida you can only vote in the primary for the party you are a member of. In this lopsided and rigged system that means you are a member of one of two parties or you have no voice whatsoever. Those of us who are Green, Independent or Libertarian are left with absolutely no say in who the candidates will be unless we enter a horse in the race. Ron Paul should have run as a Libertarian. I think the turnout would have been impressive. When Paul was lumped in with the other Republicans and ignored by the media a great disservice was done to the American people. If he had been allowed to speak many would have embraced his ideas. Instead, the remaining candidates adopted those ideas Paul espoused that were popular and claimed them as their own.

So here we are, the Democrats are again the laughing stock of the country. While they bicker and stab each other in the back McCain is quietly focusing on what he is going to say and do over the next few months. Clinton and Obama are destroying each other’s ability to launch a viable campaign against McCain. So come November what choice will there be? None. All three of these people sound the same. Endless war, deepening recession and an agenda fueled by special interest. I agree with Tom Degan and I’ll probably stay home November 4th. Besides, what does our vote matter? The media has chosen the field and they will determine who wins. Meanwhile we all lose.