Why Do Americans Care So Much Less About Captured Troops Than Israelis?

[xchrom]

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2011/10/why-do-americans-care-so-much-less-about-captured-troops-than-israelis/246985/


U.S. Army Private Bergdahl, missing in Afghanistan since June 2009, watches as one of his captors displays his identity tag at an unknown location / Reuters

In the years since their capture in Afghanistan and Iraq, U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl and Army Staff Sgt. Ahmed Altaie have been largely forgotten by both Washington and the American public. There have been no protests demanding the government make whatever concessions necessary to win their release. Most Americans don't even know their names. The situation in Israel, one of America's closest allies, could not be more different. The Jewish state held a national celebration on Tuesday following the safe return of Gilad Shalit, a young soldier freed in exchange for the release of more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners. Shalit had become a household name in Israel, where pop stars composed songs honoring Shalit and hundreds of thousands of Israelis regularly demonstrated to pressure the government to strike a deal with his captors.

Bergdahl, who was captured in Afghanistan 2009, and Altaie, missing in Iraq in 2006, are both thought to still be alive and in enemy captivity. The Haqqani Network, the militant group holding Bergdahl, regularly releases propaganda videos featuring the 25-year-old soldier, who looks increasingly haggard and frightened.

Yet the missing soldiers are largely invisible here at home. The White House and Pentagon rarely mention the two men and have made clear that they won't consider paying ransoms or freeing prisoners in exchange for the men's release, as Israel has done.

The difference between Israel's national obsession with Shalit--and its willingness to pay such a price to win his freedom--and the American indifference to Bergdahl and Altaie underscores a fundamental difference between the two societies. In Israel, where all citizens serve, the connection between nation and military runs deep. In the U.S., most Americans have no firsthand connection to the all-volunteer military, whose bases are located outside major cities and whose troops are largely invisible to the general public.

[era veteran]

1. Bush Rummy & Company! This is why we don't use torture

We know that people get captured in war. Privates & Enlisted men are just throwaway pawns to the rich and powerful.
After all, they KNOW it won't happen to their family members.
Bring back the draft. NO DEFERMENT draft this time.
Chickenhawks every damn one.

[Obamanaut]

5. If the two missing soldiers are *still* missing, how can we say

"Bush Rummy & Company"?

Were they not replaced a couple of years ago by another group?

[era veteran]

18. Do you think the Taliban forgot about torture because

we have a new President?
I don't think they are acquainted with Pollyanna.

[Obamanaut]

26. I read the OP as being about missing soldiers, and the US seemingly forgetting

about them.

And then came the 'blame Bush Rummy' meme.

The missing soldiers have been missing for over two years under the current administration. The wars have been ongoing for over two years under the current administration. It is unreasonable to continue to place the blame on the administration that ended over two years ago.

They may have started these things, and the soldiers may have been captured during their tenure, but that administration is history - and the current one has allowed a continuation. All of it now belongs to the current admin, not Bush/Rummy. Any continual torture belongs to the current admin, not Bush/Rummy.

It is not too soon to start a redistribution of blame.

[era veteran]

28. I, again, was placing the onus of torture on Bush

We are not doing it anymore.

[Cirque du So-What]

2. Sociopath nation

It's always been part of this nation's DNA, but it's positively pathological nowadays. The US has become quite comfortable throwing around doublespeak as well, tossing around worthless phrases like 'support the troops' without so much as a hint of irony.

[I Have A Dream]

3. My heart hurts from looking at this picture.

:cry:

Thank you for posting this.

[xchrom]

7. i know, right? nt

[bluerum]

4. What a frickin nightmare.

[Motown_Johnny]

6. Because in Israel everyone serves in the military

unlike here where more like 1% do


In many ways the "99%" are the people who never had to face this reality



They care more because they all know that it could have been them, or their child, just as easily as the person who was actually captured

[Cid_B]

8. As an active duty service member let me say...

I don't expect to be "traded" and that is the way it should be... Might as well put a bounty out on Americans (more than there is already)

[Scuba]

10. Not traded, no. But not forgotten either....

... Rescue mission? End to hostilities? Maybe. But not forgotten.

[Cid_B]

11. What about a rescue mission?

Do you think that they know where he is and just aren't acting?

The administration would love nothing more than to drop a team and extract Bergdahl.

[Scuba]

19. I know nothing about the odds of a rescue mission. I DO know that...

...abandoning them and forgetting about them is not the right thing. That appears to be what we're doing.

[jberryhill]

23. Yes, we should engage in a full-on mass national freak-out every time a prisoner is taken...

...so that anyone who wants to cause a full-on mass national freak-out will know exactly what they need to do in order to get attention.

[Scuba]

24. False choice. n/t

[jberryhill]

25. No, the false proposition advanced here is that "media attention" = "caring"

Where did you get the impression that anyone has "abandoned" or "forgotten" about this prisoner.

Your assertion is premised on "That appears to be what we're doing."

How do you know what we are doing, if not through media attention on the subject?

Media attention is counterproductive.

[leveymg]

9. The Israelis are so obsessed that it was used as the pretext to invade Leb. They lost that war.

This singular obsession is compensation for that sense of loss. Hysterical conversion. The context of Shalit's capture and the ensuing events seem to be lost on practically everyone. The Israelis were so worked up by the incident that they not only invaded Gaza, but also Lebanon after Hezbollah used similar tactics to capture two Israeli soldiers on that border. There is little attention focused on the thousands of Palestinians who continue to be held.

But, I am glad that 1001 human beings are finally home with their families after being held hostage for so long. Including Corporal Shalit.

[WinkyDink]

14. Wow, a screed AND a note of gratitude all in one. Bravo.

[leveymg]

15. Do I have mixed feelings about this? Of course. Most Americans do.

Not a screed, exactly. Just a note of realism and context mixed in with a lot of mindless celebration of an episode that points out the brutalities on both sides.

[Enrique]

12. because we're an Empire

Israel is a normal country, they can behave like normal human beings.

[msanthrope]

21. Israel is a 'normal' country? Obviously, you've never been.

Do normal countries have a Ministry devoted entirely to their desert god?

Israel does.

My friend, when you have to take a ferry to Cyprus to avoid the rabbinical marriage monopoly in the country you are born in, well, you ain't in a 'normal' country. You are in a theocracy.

I love Israel. If you have a chance to go, GO. But if you think it is a 'normal' country, where people 'behave like normal human beings,' then I kindly invite you to take a drive some Friday night anywhere near the East Jerusalem Haredi....

[jberryhill]

13. Compulsory Service

However, if you equate "caring" with media attention etc., then you increase the incentive.

Prisoners make great propaganda tools IF you can be sure that you'll gain sufficient attention with them.

[Poll_Blind]

16. Because we throw us away. If we cared about us, we'd spend us more wisely. nt

PB

[xchrom]

17. +1

[ArtiChoke]

20. "Don't mention the war!..."

I mentioned it once, but I think I got away with
it..."

-Basil Fawlty(John Cleese)

[FarCenter]

22. It is not a matter of draft vs no draft -- some WW II, Korea and Vietnam POWs were not repatriated

The exact numbers of draftee soldiers not repatriated are subject to a lot of debate and uncertainty.

But clearly there were some, probably hundreds to thousands in each war.

[Xithras]

27. Because "America does not negotiate with terrorists."

You can thank old Ronnie Raygun for starting that canard, but it's been a standard public claim among politicians since then. ANY American politician who "negotiates with terrorists" can expect to be isolated within their party, and blasted by the media as being a traitorous coward. It's political suicide.

This is America. We kill terrorists, not talk to them :eyes:

[Robb]

29. My experience on DU has shown me quite clearly

Any narrative that puts a human face to American soldiers in an unpopular war is seen to be propaganda.

The http://upload.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4336801">topic is http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x581658">not very http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4449271">popular here.

[Behind the Aegis]

30. And the irony...

...now it is being linked to Israel, another "fan favorite" topic at DU.