Piss Christ, Madonna with Dung (WAS:This is Why We Fight...)

[Paul Mackin]

On 3/1/2012 10:23 AM, bandwraith at aol.com wrote:
> War is hell, no question, and its horrors have been
> covered by many artists. What occurred to me while
> trying to process the behavior of the marines involved
> in the desecration of the dead Taliban was that they
> were not fighting or stressed out at all. They were
> performing for an audience. The thrill of battle- the life
> and death struggle of combat- was apparently not
> sufficient to satisfy whatever possessed them to take
> up arms in the first place. They wanted to perform
> for the camera, to go viral on You Tube.
>
> There has always been "trophy taking," the odd body part,
> the taxidermy of big game hunting. Frank is offered the
> opportunity in Mexico after avenging Web. There have been
> "pictures" of triumphalism as long as there has been
> portable cameras, but there was something different about
> this production. To me, it ranked right up there on the creep
> out scale with killing by drones, activated by joystick, 1/2 a
> globe away.
>
> The angel of history might find cause to blink at such stark
> contrast between "progress" and barbarism.


Warriors (on both sides) understand these things. War is hell and 
there's no point pretending otherwise.

>
> What I found especially fascinating (perplexing?) was
> the lack of anger by the opposing Taliban culture. From
> all accounts, the news of the pre-meditated desecration was
> taken in stride- the trials and tribulations of war, nothing that
> would upset the delicate peace negotiations that were ongoing.
>
> But then, when a truck load of Korans was accidentally
> incinerated, the streets are filled with violent protests, leading
> to scores of deaths, and suicide attacks on NATO compounds.
>
> I guess I should be able to understand the difference- why
> certain acts and images strike raw nerves, and cause people
> to pick up arms and fight, while others, of seemingly worse
> atrocities, elicit only a disdainful shrug, but I never will. I would
> be inept as a politician or propagandist. I have no feel for these
> things. But it all makes me think that the anarchist dream is not
> something that is compatible with striving, and that Pynchon
> made a good choice, way back when, when he decided to keep
> out of camera range.

Just as civilians have a hard time understanding how soldiers think (and 
must think), modern Western people have difficulty with the idea of the 
Sacred. It doesn't make sense to us (a lot of us).

P
>
>
>
>
>
>