Skip to main content

New Yorker letter to editor

(In The New Yorker, 2/4/08, p5)

Jeanne Guillemin, a senior fellor in MIT's Security Studies Program, wrote an excellent letter to the editor regarding how Americans talk about casualties. I'm unable to find a link to a full-text example, but here is an excerpt:

"In wars since 1945, American combat mortality figures have
sharply declined, while the exclusivity of the American claim on memorialization
has intensified, as if U.S. soldiers were the only casualties in Korea or
Vietnam or, more recently, Iraq, and the deaths of many thousands of civilians
killed in those distant conflicts merited no acknowledgment and carried no
meaning. Whose deaths matter and whose do not always tells a great deal about
American politics and culture."

Comments

rjhintz said…
So, what do you think Jeanne Guillemin means by saying, in the excerpt you quote, ..."the exclusivity of the American claim on memorialization has intensified, as if U.S. soldiers were the only casualties in Korea or Vietnam or, more recently, Iraq, and the deaths of many thousands of civilians
killed in those distant conflicts merited no acknowledgment and carried no meaning. Whose deaths matter and whose do not"?

Does "exclusivity of the American claim on memorialization" mean that other countries and other cultures don't recognize their war dead and wounded? Or that Americans don't recognize anyone else's recognition as having value? Or something else?

And is she saying that civilian casualties are not recognized by Americans? A quick Google search on the term "civilian casualties" brings up pages of references. I'm not sure what counts as acknowledgment, but even one website devoted to Iraqi civilian casualties such as www.iraqbodycount.org would seem to count, at least, as minimal acknowledgment.

And what does she mean by saying that the civilian deaths "carried no meaning"? Meaning to whom? What sort of meaning? Clearly there are many people, Americans included, who are deeply troubled by any civilian casualty. The meaning of a civilian death might be said to be seen as a reason to bring an end to the war.

Is there evidence for any of this? Of course, one might say that the very publication of a note with such content in a respected publication is a counter-example to all that she asserts. But perhaps you have a different opinion?
February 1, 2008 at 12:59 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Real Estate in America

We sold our house this summer and bought a new home. The experience has led me to reflect on homes and home-buying in America. As in any industry, there are good and bad incentives at work in real estate. A home seller would like to get the highest price for their house and sell it in a reasonable period of time. The industry operates on a commission system so that the agent seeks to sell the house at a higher price. This incentive works, but only to a point. Consider the impact of $5000 on the seller vs. the agent. Six percent of $5000 is $300. After the realty company and purchasing agent take their cut, the agent isn't left with much. A $5000 difference in the price of the house means little to the agent, but a lot to the home owner. Does an agent become successful by getting the highest price or by turning over lots of houses? The answer is obvious. An agent's ideal world is not one where people get exactly the right price for their homes, it is a world where everyone is wi...
2 comments
Read more

The 2020 Vote: Bending toward justice

The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.  --  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. My hero, Dr. King, was wrong about justice. I love Dr. King. His writings and speeches are collected in a book called “A Testament of Hope”. That book was a revelation for me. Dr. King had a moral clarity that is rare in this world. Many of his observations were accurate, wise, and timeless. But the ‘arc of the moral universe’ statement is misleading. We are promised no such experience in this world. In Dr. King’s time, the quote may have been both accurate and wise. King saw the expanding reach of national newspapers and television networks. When the nation, through that new media, was exposed to the reality and brutality of overt Southern racism--then the nation, which believed it shared a common and decent morality, imposed that morality on the South. While Dr. King’s understanding may have been both accurate and wise, it was not timeless. This is where my moral hero comes u...
Post a Comment
Read more

Support Ukraine: contact your representatives.

Congress has held up another support package to Ukraine. The simple fact that the aid package has been delayed is a win for Putin’s authoritarian regime. I’ll start with what you should do, then a little about why, then address some objections to Ukraine aid. What you should do Please contact your Senators and Representatives to the US Congress and ask them to support Ukraine aid. Find them here . The US government, acting on behalf of US citizens, can do things that individuals just can’t do. That’s why contacting your elected officials is important. I also encourage you to contribute regularly to alleviate the ongoing suffering Russia causes. Here are some I have supported: Lutheran Disaster Response, Eastern European Crisis Fund , which supports Ukraine and Ukrainian refugees who have fled to nearby countries. Razom For Ukraine , which supports Ukraine in a variety of ways, which can include supplies for civilians or troops (but not weapons). Safe Skies , which raises money for rada...
Post a Comment
Read more