Sir! No sir!

[funeralcrasher]

Go see it.  For someone born in the late sixties, in a conservative fundamentalist family that shielded us from anything real, seeing Sir No Sir was quite an eye opener.  Decades after the fact I learned about SDS, the Weathermen, the Black Panthers, and others strongly opposed to war and oppression.. I just had no idea there was so much resistance within the military itself.   

Some of the stories in Sir No Sir, including the testimony provided by one resister about a psychotic commander that gutted and skinned a Vietnamese woman (whose sole crime was having been found carrying bandages), were sickening to hear.   At the same time I was moved by the soldier who threw away his dog tags in favor of a peace sign. I was encouraged knowing so many GI's openly spoke out against the war, and when things got desperate some commanders began losing their lives.  The fact that enough GI's resisted to possibly cause Nixon to shift from ground to air - because he didn't trust the troops anymore - was encouraging.

Like many who grew up after the fact and didn't know any Vietnam vets first hand, I was relieved to learn that the oft touted spitting on soldiers returning home may not have happened at all (or perhaps on a much, much smaller scale that we've been led to believe).  

Anyway, all this left me wondering what sorts of atrocities have been done in Iraq by crooked soldiers and evil commanders.. and whether there is noticeable resistance within our troops stationed there.   I found Courage to Resist and a few other references to modern GI resisters, but not much else.  

Is the reason we aren't seeing more GI protesters because it's simply not covered in corporate or underground press?  Or are there too many differences between soldiers of the 1960's and 70's, and today?  Modern soldiers appear to be well taken care of compared to combatants from 35 years ago.  Also, the racial tensions evident in the 60's have long since died down.   All that is left is the war itself, and I wonder whether that alone will be enough to urge people out into the streets in greater and greater numbers.  

Maybe NSA's spying eyes will provide new motivation.  Maybe the pending collapse of the dollar & increased numbers of poor and un/underemployed will be enough to snap people out of their daze.    One thing is certain, if soldiers in Iraq and elsewhere begin to speak out - loudly - against this war and evil administration we may finally see a turning of the tide.  We may experience hope.  

I for one don't feel much of that right now.