Useful Men

Submitted by Bill St. Clair on Sat, 02 Jul 2005 12:00:00 GMT
From samizdata:
"You know what, I've finally understood what this whole 'live 8' nonsense is about. I twigged when I heard a quote on the news, something like 'this is all about you, the leaders of the G8, because you make the decisions'. Recognise the instinctual pattern: singing and dancing, mass ecstatic rallies, high moral cause, loud appeals for attention and for aid from on high - they're praying, to the only gods they know." -- Julian Morrison

From jomama:

"History deals mainly with captains and kings, gods and prophets, exploiters and despoilers, not with useful men." -- H. L. Mencken

# Joe Galloway at Military.com - From Iraq, a Soldier/Father's Perspective on the War - Sgt. Zachary Scott-Singley tells of the killing of a 3-year-old boy by a fellow soldier who mistook a piece of wood for an AK-47. [lew]

"To this day I still think about that raid, that family, that boy. I wonder if they are attacking us now. I would be. If someone took the life of my son or my daughter nothing other than my own death would stop me from killing them. I still cry when the memory hits me. And I cry when I think of how very far away I am from my family. I am not there, just like the boy's father wasn't there. I have served my time. I have my nightmares. I have enough blood on my hands. Just let me be a father, a husband, a daddy again."

Add comment Edit post Add post