Katherine is working on a show for Wednesday on people deploying to Iraq for the third or fourth time. She’s booked Seth Moulton and is looking for other reservists. We’re wondering: how do you get ready for this, how is it different after several previous deployments, can a commitment to national service override what begins to look like a lost cause? Do you have any experiences to share? Do you know anyone who does?
Sunday February 12 2012
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Why so many shows on Americans going to war (haven’t we all heard enough from the fighters, those brave killers of foreign civilians?) and so few on Iraqis and others suffering those waves of invasion? Where is the ROS show on what the US has done to that society? How come I never hear Iraqi voices? Where is the ROS show on war crimes? If you want to present the human face of war, why not a show on the many people permanently injured, physically and mentally? If anything, how about a show on all those who have refused to fight or deploy for a second time. Why not a show on the pending Iraq oil legislation? At least highlight the reason for these repeated deployments.
Do I need to hear Chris again thanking troops for there service? Why not bring on people that serve humanity through acts of kindness? Why not NPO aid workers who have been “deployed” to dangerous zones 3 or 4 times?
Hi sidewalker. You can find some amazing Iraqi voices here and here and here and here. Robin produced a show on Iraqi oil not too long ago, and we’ve started researching hours on the Iraqi Army and the Baghdad wall. We’d love to do many more shows from an Iraqi perspective, but it’s unfortunately extremely difficult, working from the US, to find English-speaking Iraqis able to talk in the middle of the night (time change) on phone lines that work well enough for live radio…
Torture is here and here and here. Guantanamo is here and here.
Although we haven’t had time to post it yet, we’re looking into a show on Iraq-war casualties.
An hour on aid workers sounds like an interesting idea. Do you have any particular suggestions for NGOs or possible guests?
Katherine, thanks for pointing out what my memory had put away in nested files somewhere. Now that I go back over those shows, I think my comment above was too tough and provocative and I do appreciate the difficulty of coverage, though I still think not enough attention is paid to the Iraqi face of this conflict.
Just the other day on the front page of a local paper here in Tokyo, there was a long article on the over 3,000 US soldiers killed in Iraq and not one mention on the tens of thousands of Iraqis civilians who have lost their lives, through no choice of their own. They did not volunteer to be put in harms way for the sake of some other country’s mission, whatever it may be.
I also think I face a culture gap, having not grown up in the US. I just can’t understand the patriotic outpouring lavished on the members of the military (is there a show here). First, they are paid professionals who more or less choose to join and fight (the issue of recruiting from the lower classes noted). Second, they are not serving for the betterment of humanity. Third, they are not defending home soil from any real threat, so there is nothing noble in what they are doing, despite the spin. Please tell me if what I am not understanding.
Although we haven’t had time to post it yet, we’re looking into a show on Iraq-war casualties.
Any show on the reality of an irrational rush to war is greatly welcomed. Everyone needs to be better informed so that it might not happen again.
An hour on aid workers sounds like an interesting idea. Do you have any particular suggestions for NGOs or possible guests?
OK, let me look into this in more detail. Here is a start.
One possible guest, who is studying Post-Traumatic Stress for aids workers, is Barbara Lopes-Cardozo. She is a psychiatrist with the international emergency and refugee health department at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia.
Here are some aid workers’ blogs
http://www.aidworkers.net/?q=blogs
Agency Coordinating Body For Afghan Relief (acbar)
http://www.acbar.org/
See their member’s list
Off topic, but why are recent broadcasts (William James, Notes from New Orleans) not appearing in the podcast?