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Posted May 12, 2001 Where are the Back-talkers? Can you guys please post some email that does not agree with your stance?
Thanks.
~ Kris Plasun You emailed your suggestion on May 8, Backtalk's first day, and it's true that none of the eight emails that we posted on that day criticized our stance. I hope that the emails we've posted in the days since then have satisfied your desire for disagreement. Rest assured that we wish to live up to the contrary-ness implied by the name "Backtalk", and will publish well-written contrary opinions as we receive them. ~SK Question from Leftist Anti-Bigot I am very far to the Left of most Antiwar.com columnists on economic issues, but most of them are right on the mark on criticizing American imperialism, war-mongering, and Empire building. I also think that is it great that you have recently added Alexander Cockburn's Left Coast, to give a Leftist perspective on anti-war issues. One thing I am curious about, though. I noticed that today you featured an article by Eric Margolis. Are you aware that Mr. Margolis is an anti-Serb bigot? His article in The Ottawa Sun, April 16, 2001, Serbia Needs Moral Cleansing, compares Serbs to "Nazis". I've also noticed that in the past you've featured articles by Robert Fisk of The Independent, who is also known for many anti-Serb writings. It doesn't seem to me that you would want to give credence to such bigots by publishing them on Antiwar.com. ~ Nancy Hey Antiwar.com assumes different levels of responsibility for different types of material: very little responsibility for the Backtalk letters, somewhat more for off-site linked articles, more for single articles published on-site, and most of all for Antiwar.com's columnists. Even that highest level of responsibility is quite limited: as you've probably noticed, the site's columnists frequently disagree with each other. Antiwar.com takes no responsibility for – and intends no endorsement of – the views expressed in non-columnists' unlinked-to articles. Pursue the Truth I am sorry Kerrey's such a nice guy, but I believe the truth must be pursued, no matter what. I have no quarrel with forgiving the vets and memorializing those who were sacrificed in our dumbest war… I am sure – because I have heard it so often – that some returning soldier somewhere was abused and spat upon by antiwar activists, but there were Vietnam vets in every [antiwar] rally I attended, and they were honored and listened to. I talked to several relatives after they returned from their tours and they had become callous and bragged about torching people's homes and neighborhoods – which they preferred to call "hooches" and "gook villages." When do our victims get their memorial? When does America admit that we engaged in a genocidal war against impoverished third world peasants? Meanwhile, just as every last, doddering Nazi is pursued, no matter how blameless their lives since the end of WW2 may have been, the truth of this incident must be uncovered – there is no justice, but maybe there could be truth. ~Anne Arquist Veteran Cudgels Jackasses Dear Mr. Raimondo, I greatly appreciate your article on Kerrey. What times those were! I flew medical evacuation in Hueys one year later [than Kerrey's unit allegedly killed civilians] in the Delta. …Had I been ordered to performed missions similar to Kerrey's, I would have ended up in the cracker factory making little baskets… And as far as his being brought to justice, of course, we must consider dragging all his superiors in too. The destroy-the-village mindset ran all the way up to the top. I noted your use of "truth will out" and believe it is a variation of "murder will out," which Bartlett points out was used by Chaucer in the Prioress's Tale… Oddly, above that entry is the response provided by a Henry Watterson after he'd been rebuked for criticizing the governor of Kentucky: "Things have come to a helluva pass when a man can't even cudgel his own jackass." I concur: power to the people and cudgels to Washington! ~ John Miller |