^moctober 18,2001
The Blue Banner
Page 3
Opinions
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HBO series compares to war
Josh Day
Columnist
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The HBO mini-series “Band of
Brothers” offers a looic back at tra-
iitional warfare during the second
'J/orld War. Objectives were clear-
itorming beachheads, holding cit
ies, taking enemy strongholds-and
there were few ambiguities.
The allied invasion of Nazi-occu-
jied Europe measured their suc-
;esses in terms of geography, and
pushing the front closer to Hitler
md Berlin.
In one sense. World War II was
the purest war of the century, if you
;ver deigned to apply the word
pure” to a war. A tangible war,
unlike Vietnam, where success was
not measured in geography, but in
Viet Cong body counts, World War
[I was the last war fought on the
traditional stage of warfare.
Indeed, when one thinks of war,
ne often imagines barbed wire,
mine fields, and Marines storming
beach.
Over the course of 12 episodes,
“Band ofBrothers” shows the allied
invasion of France through the eyes
of Easy Company, a paratrooper
unit of the acclaimed 101st Air-
' borne Division.
,f In light of Operation Enduring
Freedom, the cut and dry progress
af Company E through war-rav-
Bged Europe almost radiates a nos
talgic glow for a time when the
enemy had a face, and objectives
were as clear as pushing Hitler out
of France.
Easy Company jumps on
Normandy on D-Day, getting scat
tered all over the country with the
rest of the 101st. The company
then proceeds to slice through
France, participating in many of
World War II’s most famous battles.
Author and historian Stephen E.
Ambrose wanted to capture the
whole of the American soldier’s
experience in the allied invasion,
and Company E was the perfect
choice.
From parachuting into Normandy
under heavy artillery fire, to the
Battle of the Bulge and, ultimately,
the discovery onto Hitler’s Eagle’s
Nest (the vacation getaway where
the Reich’s highest ranking offi
cials met and planned strategies and
tactics). Easy Company saw it all.
Beautifully filmed and well-writ
ten, “Band ofBrothers” is an excel
lent production, although it may
not appeal to someone who isn t
specifically versed in World War II
history.
A general knowledge of World
War II goes a long way, and is
almost necessary for getting the full
effect of the series. Characters phase
in and out, and there are so many of
them, it’s hard to keep track of all
the names and faces.
Although produced by Steven
Spielberg and Tom Hanks, “Band
ofBrothers” is no “Saving Private
Ryan.” The series focuses more on
historical fact and the broader re
sults of battles than it does on indi
vidual characters or gratuitous car
nage that was so abundant in “Sav
ing Private Ryan.”
While keeping the big picture of
the war in focus, the action often
stops to zoom in on a smaller scene
that encompasses the whole, like
the shining blue sky with wisps of
smoke trailing through the air after
D-Day, or a burning town seen
from a distance.
Visually and thematically, “Band
ofBrothers” is more like “The Thin
Red Line” than “Saving Private
Ryan.”
As I watch the series, I can’t help
but contrast World War II to the
military campaign against Afghanistan.
Every major war is fought accord
ing to the rules learned in the previ
ous war. Operation: Desert Storm
is obviously on the minds of the
George W. Bush administration in
their current bombing campaign
against the Taliban.
The public has been given the
following campaign rhetoric: If we
bomb the hell out of them, then
Osama bin Laden will be forced to
crawl out of his caves or else be
blasted to death.
The bottom line, however, is that
we don’t know where bin Laden is,
and the results of this operation,
whether positive or negative, will
not be known until we know who
or what we’re fighting.
We are bombing the Taliban be
cause they are harboring bin Laden
and refuse to give him up. We are
not bombing the Taliban because
they attacked the World Trade
Center and the Pentagon.
If they had, then we would simply
declare war on that government
and destroy it. Instead, we are fight
ing the only face we see, while the
true enemy hides in caves in the
desert.
There are no beachheads in this
war and no front line to push to
ward the heart of the enemy. Right
now, there is no definition to this
war. Only history will define what
we are actually doing.
"We are bombing the Taliban because
they are harboring bin Laden. We are
not bombing the Taliban because they
attacked the World Trade Center and
the Pentagon”
Tales of Middle Eastern cxdture
Craig Lovelace
Columnist
For the past few weeks. I’ve been
: doing a lot of research on the Middle
East, for the purpose of having some
idea what I’m talking about. I have
come to one inescapable conclu
sion: this place is screwed.
It’s been screwed largely from the
leginning of time. For those who
think the Middle East’s troubles
a new phenomenon caused by
Islam, Israel or America, let me
turn your attention to a book, “The
[ewish War,” recounting a first-
century A.D. Holy Land rebellion.
It describes a region torn by groups
battling each other, and occasion
ally themselves, over religion, land,
food, and pronunciation. It takes
place a half a millennium before the
rise of Islam, and much longer be
fore the little brawl we call the
Revolution.
The description is remarkably
close to a description of the Middle
F,ast today, complete with ham-
fisted dealings by outside powers of
every stripe. The fashion arud hair-
ityles are largely the same.
The only difference is the choice
ofawarrior’s weapon, Kalishnikovs
instead of scimitars.
It becomes obvious reading these
old histories that no simple solu
tion for the violence exists.
Unless, of course, you take the
Stalinesque approach: burn crops,
raze buildings, sow the ground with
salt, and kill anything that moves.
In some circles, this solution has
not been written off
Perhaps the best experience I’ve
had in dealing with the Middle
East’s crankiness was at Indiana
University.
In an effort to better understand
the violence, one of the Profes
sional Worrywart’s clubs invited a
“former terrorist” to speak to the
group. Since all were welcome, and
I was bored, I tagged along.
I first met “Ali” (called both to
protect the mindless and because I
can’t spell his real name) at an in
formal reception hosted by the club.
I fully expected to meet a body bag,
since there aren’t any terrorist re
tirement plans.
Apparendy, Ali was part of their
equivalent of Sinn Fein, the branch
of people who want to help, but
can’t be trusted with a rifle.
He seemed pleasant enough, even
telling some Syrian border patrol
stories, which are the Polack jokes
of the cradle of civilization.
Ali, it turned out, had been with
one of the Scrabble triple word
score groups in the land of Lebanon
(it’s improper to call most of these
places countries - they’re arguments
with boundaries).
He had represented his organiza
tion in a human rights board exam
ining incidents of mayhem in a
community outside of Beruit.
You can imagine the meetings:
“Abdur, your district has not thrown
an adulteress off a minaret in al
most three weeks. Stand on your
chair and sing ‘Danny Boy!’”
When the time came to give his
talk, Ali proceeded to rail on West
ern civilization, to the great ap
proval of the Sandalistas who
wanted to show how everything is
America’s fault, from World War
II to “Three’s Company.”
His Patrice Lumbaba University
education showed through, as he
attacked American foreign policy
using quotes from Saddam
Hussein.
If I were going to accuse someone
of devious political maneuvering,
I’d try to find better source material.
I’m amazed Saddam has time to
foam at the mouth, considering
he’s busy slaughtering Kurds, giv
ing his son’s victims torture ses
sions for their birthdays, and writ
ing the new Iraqi national anthem,
an up-tempo number called,
“America Will Choke on its own
Imperialist Excess.”
Even better than this, however,
was his frequent references to Idi
Amin. It wasn’t as funny to the
Sandalistas, of course, who still
think Amin was a CIA plant who
ate people on orders from former
president Richard Nixon.
The most useful part, however,
was the question and answer pe
riod. Ali answered questions about
Arab culture from some fairly level
headed people.
For example, if I’m ever in the
Middle East, I’ll stay out of neigh
borhoods filled with one-armed
men, something I should have
known from watching “The Fugi
tive.”
Overall, accounts of Arab customs,
and horror stories concerning them,
are absolutely true. The people are
hospitable to the point of Alfred
Hitchcock psychopaths.
When in London, I was trying to
get a needle and thread to sew a fly
button back onto my chinos before
going to see a play.
I was directed to speak to Mustafa
down the hall. Knocking on the
door, I was invited in, then was
given little thimbles of coffee.
It was only after half an hour of
small talk, I found out I wanted the
other Mustafa, at the end of the
hall.
I left with a profound understand
ing of how inhospitable I am.
I finally understood why you can’t
get real coffee at Starbucks any
more. It’s all being served to lost
houseguests in Riyadh.
Things were fine at the talk until
one of the Sandalistas asked Ali
what he thought would bring last
ing peace in the Middle East.
“The creation of an Islamic Para
dise for the faithful is our aim,’ ’ he
answered (it’s amazing how these
things always sound like failed
projects from a sociopolitical
Disneyland - Islamic Paradise,
Worker’s Eden).
The follow-up talk, given by a
middle-aged former marine, won
dered if this meant incompatibility
with states having secular on other
religious findings.
Ali assured us the Islam had a
place for believers and non-believ
ers, all except for Zionists, Imperi
alists, hockey players, and other
infidels.
I clapped loudly, then did what
any right-thinking, un-brainwashed
American would do: I left.
Being a proud American, I then
went to a bar, put a big dent in their
bourbon supply, and lit some fire
works while singing theme songs to
old John Wayne movies.
I thought it was amazing that any
one could live with his head buried
that far in the sand.
Maybe American life isn’t founded
on whiskey and the Duke, but that
makes it worth living.
If we want to help the downtrod
den people of the world, we can
send them big-screen televisions,
VCRs, and wide-screen versions of
“Rio Bravo,” “The Longest Day,”
and “Big Jake.”
‘‘Overall, accounts of Arab customs, and
horror stories concerning them, are
absolutely true. The people are hospi
table to the point of Alfred Hitchcock
psychopaths.”
The Blue Banner Staff
Editor-in-Chief
Lena Burns
News Editor
Luke Knox
Features Editor
Rachel Grumpier
Sports Editor
Deleon Dendy
Photo Editor
Walter Fyler
Copy Editor
Sarah Wilkins
Online Editor
C.J. Eland
Assistant Online Editor
Holly Koss
Advertising Manager
Emily Schell
Business Manager
Dearborn McCorkle
Circulation Manager
Matt Deal
Photo Technology Manager
J.R Ammons
Computer Consultant
Breandan Dezendorf
Faculty Advisor
Mark West
Reporters
Lori Brenner, Hollie Childers, Lana Coffey,
Megan Fazekas, Ed Fickle, Lynne Fox, Stuart
Gaines, Sachie Godwin, Sarah-Vance Goodman,
Jenna Lahmeyer, Margaret Lee, Ben Martin,
Alison McKone, Rae Stephens, Sarah Wilkins,
Ryan Wilson
Photographers
Ian Baillie, Jon Basirico, Lou Horton,
Erik Jacobs, Sean Stevens,
Leah Tedrick-Moutz
Columnists
Josh Day, Craig Lovelace
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