Psychoanalysis of the USA

[Otto]

----- Original Message -----
From: KXX4493553 at aol.com
To: Pynchon-L
Sent: Friday, October 03, 2003 1:08 PM
Subject: FWD: Psychoanalysis of the USA


Instead of writing to email lists for the last two months, I've been writing
this:

http://fullyevolved.com/dace/war.html

My psycho-analysis of the US in light of the invasion of Iraq.  With a brief
history of war from a psychological perspective.  5400 words.  It was
written for a newspaper, and I'll be submitting it this weekend.  Hoping for
some feedback in the meantime.  Thanks.

Ted
___________________________________________________



kwp



"(...) So what is our purpose here? Was this invasion because of weapons of
mass destruction, as we have so often heard? If so, where are they? Did we
invade to dispose of a leader and his regime because they were closely
associated with Osama bin Laden? If so, where is the proof?

Or is it that our incursion is about our own economic advantage? Iraq's oil
can be refined at the lowest cost of any in the world. This looks like a
modern-day crusade not to free an oppressed people or to rid the world of a
demonic dictator relentless in his pursuit of conquest and domination, but a
crusade to control another nation's natural resource. Oil - at least to me -
seems to be the reason for our presence.

There is only one truth, and it is that Americans are dying. There are an
estimated 10 to 14 attacks every day on our servicemen and women in Iraq. As
the body count continues to grow, it would appear that there is no immediate
end in sight.

I once believed that I was serving for a cause - "to uphold and defend the
constitution of the United States". Now I no longer believe that; I have
lost my conviction, as well as my determination. I can no longer justify my
service on the basis of what I believe to be half-truths and bold lies.

With age comes wisdom, and at 36 years old I am no longer so blindly led as
to believe without question. From my arrival last November at Fort Campbell,
in Kentucky, talk of deployment was heard, and as that talk turned to actual
preparation, my heart sank and my doubts grew. My doubts have never faded;
instead, it has been my resolve and my commitment that have.

My time here is almost done, as well as that of many others with whom I have
served. We have all faced death in Iraq without reason and without
justification. How many more must die? How many more tears must be shed
before Americans awake and demand the return of the men and women whose job
it is to protect them, rather than their leader's interest?"

Tim Predmore is a US soldier on active duty with the 101st Airborne
Division, based near Mosul in northern Iraq. A version of this article
appeared in the Peoria Journal Star, Illinois
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1045297,00.html