MAYBE TOM BROKAW HAD A
MAYBE TOM BROKAW HAD A POINT: Remember the late nineties, when Tom Brokaw wrote The Greatest Generation and men of all agies were weeping over Saving Private Ryan? I loved the movie, appreciated that the W.W. II generation was receiving its due, but then my own generational pride kicked in and suspected that it was ...
MAYBE TOM BROKAW HAD A POINT: Remember the late nineties, when Tom Brokaw wrote The Greatest Generation and men of all agies were weeping over Saving Private Ryan? I loved the movie, appreciated that the W.W. II generation was receiving its due, but then my own generational pride kicked in and suspected that it was all perhaps overblown. Then I read Neal Steinberg column in today's Chicago Sun-Times, entitled, "With us just 3 weeks, but already getting old." Read the whole piece to get the full flavor; here are the parts I choked on: "Don't get me wrong, I was very, very pleased. (I'm not one of those lemon-faced NPR liberals wringing their hands over the uncertainty of the weeks and years to come.) That misses the point. We won. We did it in high style, with a minimum of civilian casualties. Yes, we committed one gaffe: That soldier putting the American flag over the face of the statue of Saddam, which I guess is our atrocity for the war." (emphasis added) Steinberg is paid for his lexicographical skills, so I think it's worth questioning his use of "atrocity." Filling a children's prison is an atrocity. Forcing pregnant women to be suicide bombers is an atrocity. Gassing your own population is an atrocity. I'm going to go out on a limb and describe this phrasing as "unbelievably offensive." Later on, there's this: "So I was happy at the moment of apparent victory, but... it was a weary kind of happiness. All war, all the time starts to grate on you. It gets repetitive. I don't know how our parents got through nearly four years of World War II, because after three weeks of war, I'm ready to move on. I mean, there must be other news happening in the world, right, news we don't learn about because the war sucks up all the available attention. How could it not?" OK... someone needs to turn off their cable TV, get off their couch and actually search for what else has been going on. I've heard about this neat invention called the Internet that might be useful for this sort of activity. As for the war being grating after three weeks, I know what he means. After reading Steinberg's column for three minutes, I wanted to move on. Finally, there's this: "Perhaps, to be honest, I'm also a little leery about all this mock excitement over our liberating the Iraqis. Again, hooray for Iraqis living in freedom, but I'm not such a hypocrite as to claim to care. Do you? That's funny, you didn't care when they were living under the boot of Saddam since the Carter administration. It seems odd to care now, a feigned, passing interest. Have you checked in on the Afghans lately to see how they're doing since we freed them? Me neither." I don't think I'm going to be checking in on Steinberg's column anytime soon.
MAYBE TOM BROKAW HAD A POINT: Remember the late nineties, when Tom Brokaw wrote The Greatest Generation and men of all agies were weeping over Saving Private Ryan? I loved the movie, appreciated that the W.W. II generation was receiving its due, but then my own generational pride kicked in and suspected that it was all perhaps overblown. Then I read Neal Steinberg column in today’s Chicago Sun-Times, entitled, “With us just 3 weeks, but already getting old.” Read the whole piece to get the full flavor; here are the parts I choked on: “Don’t get me wrong, I was very, very pleased. (I’m not one of those lemon-faced NPR liberals wringing their hands over the uncertainty of the weeks and years to come.) That misses the point. We won. We did it in high style, with a minimum of civilian casualties. Yes, we committed one gaffe: That soldier putting the American flag over the face of the statue of Saddam, which I guess is our atrocity for the war.” (emphasis added) Steinberg is paid for his lexicographical skills, so I think it’s worth questioning his use of “atrocity.” Filling a children’s prison is an atrocity. Forcing pregnant women to be suicide bombers is an atrocity. Gassing your own population is an atrocity. I’m going to go out on a limb and describe this phrasing as “unbelievably offensive.” Later on, there’s this: “So I was happy at the moment of apparent victory, but… it was a weary kind of happiness. All war, all the time starts to grate on you. It gets repetitive. I don’t know how our parents got through nearly four years of World War II, because after three weeks of war, I’m ready to move on. I mean, there must be other news happening in the world, right, news we don’t learn about because the war sucks up all the available attention. How could it not?” OK… someone needs to turn off their cable TV, get off their couch and actually search for what else has been going on. I’ve heard about this neat invention called the Internet that might be useful for this sort of activity. As for the war being grating after three weeks, I know what he means. After reading Steinberg’s column for three minutes, I wanted to move on. Finally, there’s this: “Perhaps, to be honest, I’m also a little leery about all this mock excitement over our liberating the Iraqis. Again, hooray for Iraqis living in freedom, but I’m not such a hypocrite as to claim to care. Do you? That’s funny, you didn’t care when they were living under the boot of Saddam since the Carter administration. It seems odd to care now, a feigned, passing interest. Have you checked in on the Afghans lately to see how they’re doing since we freed them? Me neither.” I don’t think I’m going to be checking in on Steinberg’s column anytime soon.
Daniel W. Drezner is a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast. Twitter: @dandrezner
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