Chris Hedges: Iraq War Now About Murder

As noted in the comments section of the post I'm about to refer you to, "[Chris] Hedges is the preeminent voice of the anti-war movement. His writings on the wars of our time will be the record that historians teach from generations from now. His speech at Rockford College in 2003 was one of the few acts of heroism and strength and truth spoken to power as the world went insane."

What Hedges has to say is, as another comment pointed out, nothing that human beings haven't known for thousands of years. But Hedges has a gift for outrage that we all need a good shot of now and then. If the rest of the book is like the excerpt, Hedges and Al-Arian have delivered.

Hedges piece in Salon originally appeared on TomDispatch.com and has been adapted from the newly released book Collateral Damage: America's War Against Iraqi Civilians, which Chris Hedges coauthored with Laila Al-Arian. Here's a taste:

June 5, 2008 | Troops, when they battle insurgent forces, as in Iraq, or Gaza or Vietnam, are placed in "atrocity-producing situations." Being surrounded by a hostile population makes simple acts, such as going to a store to buy a can of Coke, dangerous. The fear and stress push troops to view everyone around them as the enemy. The hostility is compounded when the enemy, as in Iraq, is elusive, shadowy and hard to find. The rage soldiers feel after a roadside bomb explodes, killing or maiming their comrades, is one that is easily directed, over time, to innocent civilians who are seen to support the insurgents.

Civilians and combatants, in the eyes of the beleaguered troops, merge into one entity. These civilians, who rarely interact with soldiers or Marines, are to most of the occupation troops in Iraq nameless, faceless, and easily turned into abstractions of hate. They are dismissed as less than human. It is a short psychological leap, but a massive moral leap. It is a leap from killing -- the shooting of someone who has the capacity to do you harm -- to murder -- the deadly assault against someone who cannot harm you.

Read more . . . .

Or better yet, read the book. I'm planning on it, myself.