Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

lunatica

(53,410 posts)
Sun Sep 28, 2014, 12:37 PM Sep 2014

Deja Vu again

I remember when Americans were burned and tortured and dragged through the streets of Fallujah and hung upside down on a bridge. At the time none of us knew they were contractors who we later learned were wantonly killing Iraqis themselves and who we grew to despise. Along with a few other similar "this is war" naked brutality iconic photos it changed everything. The photo was taken after George Bush claimed his Mission Accomplished propaganda. That photograph on the bridge was the responding salvo to Bush's Shock and Awe which continued that war for the next 10 years. Now it's the photos of the ISIS beheading of non-military Americans. I feel like we're re-living the past again. Deja Vu.

http://www.cjr.org/feature/one_day_in_the_war_of_images.php?page=all

4 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies

Mnemosyne

(21,363 posts)
1. They can call them "contractors", but they were mercenaries, imo. The devastation of Fallujah was
Sun Sep 28, 2014, 12:53 PM
Sep 2014

another huge war crime.

Cleita

(75,480 posts)
2. Soldiers of fortune, we used to call them when I lived in So. America.
Sun Sep 28, 2014, 01:10 PM
Sep 2014

They were dregs left over from both sides of WWII, many were German, and they hired themselves out to revolutionaries or dictators involved in the various coups and revolutions that plagued South America at the time in the forties and fifties. I don't think the updated version is different. We think of them as Americans but many of them are from other nations particularly from Eastern Europe and the ME.

Mnemosyne

(21,363 posts)
3. I felt no outrage when they were strung up from that bridge, but felt horror when we went in and
Sun Sep 28, 2014, 01:13 PM
Sep 2014

destroyed everyone left.

Wasn't there a magazine called 'Soldier of Fortune' back in the 70's, iirc?

Cleita

(75,480 posts)
4. There was but it was mostly a gun magazine.
Sun Sep 28, 2014, 01:17 PM
Sep 2014

However in the ad section you could find ads for soldiers for hire. They also ran articles every now and then about little wars like in Africa and Asia that were mostly missing from the MSM. I worked in a book store that sold it and it was very popular with the LAPD.

Latest Discussions»General Discussion»Deja Vu again