As the Iraq war continues towards the half-decade mark, the New York Times looks at children of fallen soldiers who were barely old enough to remember their fathers' deaths. Now they're growing up and asking questions. [NYT]
“As 3-year-olds, they have a pragmatic, concrete concept,” said Joanne
M. Steen, co-author of “Military Widow: A Survival Guide.” “They’ll say
matter-of-factly, ‘My daddy died.’ But at significant points in their
lives, they go back and revisit this, and it’s really hard on the
surviving spouse. They end up telling the story over and over again of
how Daddy died at each stage.”
A new report says vehicles are the number one accidental killer of soldiers. [Army Times]
Former American POWs of WWII and Korea were asked about the validity of using torture in wartime. Most denounced it, but added under certain circumstances the answers may not be black and white. [AP]
"He doesn't want detainees killed or bones broken, but 'if we can put a
little pain on one of them and get the information that we need that
maybe might save lives, we need to do that.'"
Brown University held a symposium about media coverage of Iraq, and how it connects, or disconnects the American public from the war. According to a military public affairs officer present at the meeting, "...more than 700 reporters were embedded with U.S. troops in Iraq in 2003. By 2005, there were about 20 embedded journalists." [Providence Journal]
The South Florida Sun-Sentinel looks at how the lure of a quick path to citizenship through the military leads many young immigrants to enlist.
"As of May, 21,521 noncitizens were on active duty in the military,
according to data from the Department of Defense. The number peaked at
37,000 in 2003, months after President Bush signed an executive order
in 2002 calling for the military to expedite the citizenship process
for military personnel. It cut the average waiting period to six
months, down from an average of five years."
John Bruhns, a prominent activist and Iraq vet leaves the Americans Against Escalation in Iraq anti-war campaign, citing frustration with the legislative process and some of AAEI's tactics. [The Hill]
“I feel I’ve done all I can,” Bruhns said. “I can’t continue to attack
members of Congress to pass legislation that isn’t going to get passed.”
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