Comments Posted By BumperStickerist
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Rick,
That post I gave was put up by Kos a day or two after the original "Screw them" post, not two years. Really. No tricks, no fudging of server data.
Sure, he made the original 'Screw Them' remark - but he soon thereafter both explained himself and apologized and not in a half-assed Ann Coulter manner.
Speaking as a vet, I find Kos's recharacterization of his enlistment and service to suit his present needs annoying. (Kos's first take was given here: http://www.bu.edu/alumni/bostonia/2004/fall/partisan/ ) I just think you're making too much over a comment that Kos has both acknowledged was wrong and one he has publicly apologized for.
But, hey, if you and Michelle can still get rhetorical mileage out of the 'Screw them' remark, what's to stop you?
Comment Posted By BumperStickerist On 26.07.2007 @ 15:50
I'm a two time Bush voter, still support the war in Iraq, don't agree with Kos, et cetera - but please either include the 'Rest of the Story' when talking about Kos's 'Screw them' comment or stop complaining when the Left doesn't bother to keep up with the story once it suits their needs.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/4/2/175739/8203
Kos Apologia
Fri Apr 02, 2004 at 02:57:39 PM PDT
There's been much ado about my indifference to the Mercenary deaths in Falluja a couple days ago. I wrote in some diary comments somewhere that "I felt nothing" and "screw them".
My language was harsh, and, in reality, not true. Fact is, I did feel something. That's why I was so angry.I was angry that five soldiers -- the real heroes in my mind -- were killed the same day and got far lower billing in the newscasts. I was angry that 51 American soldiers paid the ultimate price for Bush's folly in Iraq in March alone. I was angry that these mercenaries make more in a day than our brave men and women in uniform make in an entire month. I was angry that the US is funding private armies, paying them $30,000 per soldier, per month, while the Bush administration tries to cut our soldiers' hazard pay. I was angry that these mercenaries would leave their wives and children behind to enter a war zone on their own violition.
So I struck back.
Unlike the vast majority of people in this country, I actually grew up in a war zone. I witnessed communist guerillas execute students accused of being government collaborators. I was 8 years old, and I remember stepping over a dead body, warm blood flowing from a fresh wound. Dodging bullets while at market. I lived in the midsts of hate the likes of which most of you will never understand (Clinton and Bush hatred is nothing compared to that generated when people kill each other for politics or race or nationality). There's no way I could ever describe the ways this experience colors my worldview.
Back to Iraq, our men and women in uniform are there under orders, trying to make the best of an impossible situation. The war is not their fault, and I will always defend their honor and bravery to the end of my days. But the mercenary is a whole different deal. They willingly enter a war zone, and do so because of the paycheck. They're not there for humanitarian reasons (I doubt they'd donate half their paycheck to the Red Cross or whatever). They're there because the money is DAMN good. They answer to no one except their CEO. They are dangerous, hence international efforts (however fruitless they may be) to ban their use.
So not only was I wrong to say I felt nothing over their deaths, I was lying. I felt way too much. Nobody deserves to die. But in the greater scheme of things, there are a lot of greater tragedies going on in Iraq (51 last month, plus countless civilians and Iraqi police). That those tragedies are essentially ignored these days is, ultimately, the greatest tragedy of all.
That is, to me, a non-weasely apology from Kos regarding the "Screw them"comment.
One which doesn't happen to fit the narrative ....
Comment Posted By BumperStickerist On 26.07.2007 @ 15:28
