Our
View: Controversial cartoon shows need
for debate
Freedom of speech is one of the fundamental rights upon which our country bases
itself and is the cornerstone of all democratic societies. In order to have fair
representative government, all people should have the opportunity to make their
beliefs heard. But recently, this freedom has come under attack from some Republicans
who are trying to silence any intelligent
dissention toward the war in Iraq.
An obvious example of this Republican bullying would be the vehement rage that
some rightists are showing toward a recent political cartoon published in the
Washington Post.
The cartoon featured a quadruple amputee solider in a hospital bed with bandages
wrapped around his severed arms, legs and head. At his bedside was Secretary
of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, serving as his doctor. Rumsfeld is shown writing
something on a clipboard and saying, “I’m listing your condition
as ‘battle hardened.’” In small print in the corner of the
cartoon Rumsfeld is shown saying “I’m prescribing that you be stretched
thin. We don’t define that as torture.”
The latter dialog serves as a subtle allusion to the Rand Corp.’s “Stretched
Thin” (a book about how the U.S. Army sorely lacks necessary resources,
including willing and eager soldiers) and the government’s response toward
the recent allegations that the United States employs torture as a means of acquiring
information from prisoners abroad.
The response from the right is that the cartoon is in poor taste and that it
is disrespectful toward the soldiers who have lost their lives or limbs in combat.
These arguments can’t be further from the truth. This cartoon honors the
sacrifices that have been made in vain by our country’s defenders and the
callous attitude the government is showing toward them.
The soldiers in the Iraq War only represent an expense in the eyes of many governmental
officials. Like money, armor or ammunition, their lives have been reduced to
commodities expendable and replaceable. Often, when opposition for the war is
presented, many politicians choose to focus on the loss of money before the loss
of life is mentioned (if it is even mentioned at all).
Even the media is guilty of allowing soldiers to become an afterthought instead
of a primary concern. Photos or stories featuring the human cost of this war
are scarce. Those that do contain information regarding the loss of life merely
rattle off numbers or feature deceptive photos of a dignified, peaceful death.
The truth is war is brutal and devastating.
During the Vietnam War, it was the graphic photos and vivid portrayals of war
that spurned the American public against it and inspired the overwhelming rejection
and protest that is necessary in getting the attention of any politician. Getting
recognition from any politician is tough, but getting the attention of one as
stubborn and defensive as President George W. Bush is nearly impossible and would
require an extraordinary number of people to show their opposition to the war.
The Iraq War has not seen such images. Bush has de-personalized the face of the
war through actions such as not allowing photos of soldiers’ coffins to
be published and withholding the numbers of soldiers wounded in the war.
Rather than condemning the actions of the cartoonist as disrespectful, he should
be thanked for reminding us of the tremendous sacrifice and intense violence
still occurring in Iraq. Seeking the recognition of a mistake from the current
administration would be as likely as getting blood from a rock. It’s not
going to happen. But, with enough outspoken opposition, soldiers might be able
to rejoin their families much sooner than if only a few feeble voices are heard.
In a free civilization, society requires debate and argument on pubic issues.
With access to what is truly taking place in Iraq perhaps Americans would reconsider
their support for the war. Condemnation from public officials of freely expressing
dissent to the war goes against the freedoms our nation stands for. Not only
should the American public be outraged that our government is constantly restricting
our freedom of speech, but we should be offended that our opinions are deemed
distasteful and wrong.
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