I have been working on editing my book CALLED TO SERVE these past several weeks; hence fewer posts. I attended the extraordinary one woman play, “No Background Music” at the Springfield Armory two weeks ago and could not resist the temptation to add one more interview to my project with the nurse, Penny Rock, whose experiences in ’67-’68 were the basis for the performance. I journeyed to Stockbridge, MA where she was staying at the Red Lion Inn and conducted one of the most moving interviews of the close to 60 I have participated in. Penny’s stories humanized the Vietnam War by consistently demonstrating how each of the men she took care of was so much more than the uniform or the supposed cause for which he was “in country”. She also spoke with great humility about her encounters with Viet Cong people with whom she worked. My friend, Lola, the first person to witness one of these intense interviews with me, and I were able to experience the depth of commitment and integrity that Penny brought to her work as her words brought her back to those days and those men. It was overpowering.
Then this morning I was browsing www.commondreams.org and found a story that is also about humanizing a place and a people, but this time in the hopes of avoiding yet another misbegotten war. It is about a photo exhibit focused on the culture of Iran. Some of the bellicose talk of Mr. Obama and others about our possibly having to invade either Pakistan or Iran to eradicate terrorist cells has inspired Tom Loughlin to take his slide show of Iranians living their lives to the Democratic National Convention. If only someone had done that with Bush and Co. and Iraq, but there was such a frantic rush to war that such efforts would most likely have been futile. Maybe this time, especially after witnessing 5 years of horrific results from the U.S. invasion, there is hope for us to see that when we look at these photos we see, as the Rumi poem, which is the basis for the title of the show, PICTURES OF YOU, says: No matter how I see myself, I’m nothing.
Anything I am entirely is you.
Mr. Future President: This is Iran
by Deena Guzder
As the hawkish debate on the “Iran Question” continues to possess Washington, most Americans’ exposure to the country is limited to photos of a bespectacled, bearded Supreme Leader and an unshaven, uncouth firebrand of a President. But one American, Tom Loughlin, is adamant that the next President of American knows that Iran is a vibrant society of millions of people.
Loughlin, an American-born lawyer-turned-photographer, has visited Iran three times to capture Iranian life for his installation, “Pictures of you: Images of Iran.” Photos of sepia-eyed young women, downy-haired scholars, and dimpled-cheeked adolescents are part of Loughlin’s innovative effort to humanize “the other,” the Iranian people.
This week, Loughlin is taking his exhibit to the Democratic National Convention in Denver in hopes that presidental contender Barack Obama makes eye contact with a Iranian day laborer with a shy smile, a Iranian girl wistfully playing with her silk scarf, and Iranian professor with gentle eyes and a iridescently white beard. “I want all Americans to have a chance to come face-to-face with their Iranian counterparts, and I want to document Americans’ responses to the encounter,” says Loughlin whose steel-blue eyes glisten with purpose. Loughlin’s dynamic exhibit consists of an interactive 3-D still movie of photographs with sound and light that is displayed in a 26-foot-high octagonal dome, a dome which symbolizes openness and warmth in Persian culture.
For Loughlin, the exhibit should illicit a visceral response from Americans, including Barack Obama, and make them grapple with their preconceptions.
“Many Americans have strong feelings and intuitions about Iran,” Loughlin notes, “and many of their ideas have developed in an environment tainted by ignorance and suspicion . . . I hope that the show will ultimately transcend the issue of Iranian/American relations. It will illustrate how Americans exercise their freedoms and privileges – including the privilege to remain uninformed about other nations and cultures without suffering any significant consequences. We’re all made of the same flesh,” he continues, “and that somehow got lost. I want this show to make that point viscerally through the humanity of Iranian citizens and the beauty of the Persian culture.
The show is a mirror.” The name of the exhibition, “Pictures of You,” comes from a poem by Rumi:
If my head holds one thought wise and clear, it’s you.
Poor as I am, what I hold dear is you.
- (Rumi’s Kolliyaat-e Shams-e Tabrizi)
Loughlin hopes that Americans will confront their fear of “the other” and the photos of ordinary Iranians will encourage them to look more openly at other nations and cultures. And, ultimately, Loughlin hopes his exhibit will dissuade warmongering by American policymakers.
Although Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama is far less of a saber-rattler than John McCain, Obama has suggested that the United States one day might have to launch surgical missile strikes into Iran and Pakistan to keep extremists from getting control of nuclear bombs. The Bush Administration’s flawed reliance on violence has no place at the Democratic National Convention and Americans must demand to know how presidential candidates, especially ones who allegedly represent “hope” and “change,” will promote a better future for both Americans and Iranians. Loughlin is confident that recognizing the extraordinary commonality of the human experience is the first step in a new direction for a new America.
Loughlin’s work can be viewed at http://www.picturesofyouiran.com
Boys will be boys! I bet none of the supervisory military officers would want their sons or daughters in the situation so many other military personnel have faced. Maybe,if the DoD would “walk in the shoes of another”, then maybe, they would take criminal assault seriously.
“…how recruiting will fare when young women learn that one in three women is sexually assaulted and when young men find out that one in 10 men is raped while in the military.”
Who’s going to tell them? The military? The media?
I haven’t seen any such information on any military tv ads. It should be mandatory, just like all the side-effect caveats at the end of drug ads.
“You may notice adverse side-effects to military enlistment, like bleeding from rape trauma, feelings of utter helplessness and paranoia, followed by what will be described officially as your suicide.”
When a systematic regime of torture (General Taguba’s conclusion) is left to sham military tribunals and the people ordering it not held accountable, is it any wonder that similarly criminal activities (a systematic regime of rape) within the Army is dealt with with similar disdain? Zero tolerance is the only way to make torture and sexual assault become uncommon occurrences. Better still, get rid of the military. No grey here.
The situation is even worse for women working for private military contractors where justice seems even less likely.
http://tinyurl.com/48jr6w
“Rep. Jane Harman cited Veterans Administration statistics that one in three women in the military has been sexually assaulted. ”
A statistic for Outrage!
Letter to Congress on the way. It is becoming a full time unpaid job communicating with my representatives. I wish they would just do their job that they get paid for.
My, my – Rep. Harman is concerned about such things. Harman – the warmonger neocon Democrap, yuk!
Once upon a time, Congress had power and knew how to use it.
Did anyone notice the scene in “Charlie Wilson’s War” where he wants answers on what’s going on in Pakistan, and he threatens to cut money every day from the budget until he gets it. The CIA guy is in his office by 10 am to talk to him.
That’s how to handle this. You don’t BS around with contempt charges. Instead, they call Sec. Gates personally and say this ….
“Every day of delay before Dr. Whitley testifies before my committee means $10 billion gets cut off the overall DoD budget.”
Do that, and be willing to back it up, and I’d bet Dr. Whitley is there by 10 am.
and asked how recruiting will fare when young women learn that one in three women is sexually assaulted and when young men find out that one in 10 men is raped while in the military.
If I , a rationally-thinking female recruit surmised my possible fate when surrounded by ten , twenty , thirty…MALE “admiring eyes” who ,state-side, would be admiring spouses , girlfriends , fiances , kids… and whose punishment for “enhanced admiration” goes unpunished,unreported , I would weigh that fate against the alternative of perpetual poverty or the risk of being labelled unpatriotic and then politely shun the recruitment centres.
As with most “diseases” the Sexual-Assault-in-the-Military syndrome is going to have to approach HIV/AIDS proportions before there is a mass movement against the military in general.
Americans just don’t care;it’s understandable;it’s the “just say no” to socialism slip that’s showing.
In the mean time , a lotta lt.-and-under-ladies will die.
typical- this committee, not unlike other committees is shut out with wonderful excuses.
typical- the governmental systemic impotence is kept covered.
typical- the abusers shift the blame to the victims.
typical- justice in the courts is profaned daily.
break the traditional. vote Nader
wild
Ann Wright is correct in every facet of her article.
This is a disgrace for the service’s, but even more so for military leadership. Heads should roll and some careers should be wrecked because many senior officers forgot their prime directive. Protect theier troops. Not the service, not the officer corp and damn sure not the government.
The DOD needs a good house cleaning anyway. Why not start now?
Citizenbolog said: “When a systematic regime of torture (General Taguba’s conclusion) is left to sham military tribunals and the people ordering it not held accountable, is it any wonder that similarly criminal activities (a systematic regime of rape) within the Army is dealt with with similar disdain? Zero tolerance is the only way to make torture and sexual assault become uncommon occurrences.”
Exactly right! Either you have the Rule of Law or you don’t. Either officials are held accountable or they aren’t. Either the Congress does its job or it doesn’t. Pretty clear cut.
So, as citizens we also have a job. Either we hold our elected officials accountable or we don’t. Either we speak up or we don’t. Either we vote on principle or we don’t. Pretty clear cut really.
“One of the questions that would have been put to Whitley was why DoD had taken three years to name a 15-person civilian task force to look into allegations of sexual assault of military personnel.”
Well, it probably took them 3 years to figure out how to get around these allegations and/or destroy any evidence that would convict these misfits.
Rebel Farmer August 4th, 2008 5:22 pm &
Citizenbolog
“Exactly right! Either you have the Rule of Law or you don’t. Either officials are held accountable or they aren’t. Either the Congress does its job or it doesn’t. Pretty clear cut.”
Well said!
Citizens For Ethics and Responsibility in Washington Releases Report Honoring “Those Who Dared”
On July 16, CREW released a report titled “Those Who Dared: 30 Officials Who Stood Up for Our Country.” Offering a more optimistic view of Washington, the report tells the tales of thirty brave individuals who have acted and spoken out against unethical and dishonorable conduct in the Bush administration. The report is the culmination of the review of hundreds of news articles, inspector general reports, and congressional reports. The impact of the individual’s actions, the risk involved, and the changes that resulted were also taken into consideration in the decision making process. Some of those included in the report, such as Glenn Fine of the Department of Justice and John Higgins at the Department of Education acted to check agency-wide corruption, misconduct, and undue political influence. Other individuals are included because of a single act of courage, like Army Specialist Joseph Darby who was responsible for turning over the picture of detainee abuse at Abu Ghraib to authorities. Other honorees include Inspector General Earl Devaney, Dr. James Hansen of NASA, and U.S. Army Major General Antonio Taguba.
http://www.citizensforethics.org/node/33317
This has been going on forever. When I was a young PFC back in the 1950’s the women who were then called WACS were considered something less than trailer court trash and the fact that it continues today is a tribute to the military mind. The 4 star generals who set the pace are usually tough old birds of the paternalistic order who don’t take kindly to anyone telling them how to treat women folk; after all, its their property.
It is slowly changing; the rhetoric has certainly changed, but when women are being raped and murdered on a regular basis it is clear that the Department of Defense is largely responsible. I few well publicized castrations would cool the ardor of these cowardly military bastards.
Years ago I said to a group of women – all of whom had children, boys and girls – that the rate of violence in this world would be greatly reduced if at birth males had one testicle removed. Anticipating anger from the mothers of boys – they surprised me by saying (to a woman) “why stop at one?” (I like millions of women had MY ovaries removed at some doctor’s whim – I didn’t know better – so don’t start with the charges of male bashing.)
As a gender, males are dangerous to society.