Talk Nation Radio blog: Thursday, June 18, 2009

Talk Nation Radio for June 18, 2009

Camillo 'Mac' Bica of Veterans for Peace on US Forces in Afghanistan and Iraq

Vets4vets
Read books published by Veterans for Peace

TRT: 29:38
Produced by Dori Smith, Storrs, CT
Talk Nation Radio studios
Download at Pacifica's Audioport or at Archive.org and Radio4all.net

Books featuring work of Camillo Mac Bica
Veterans for Peace: Dayl Wise - Post Traumatic Press 2007
Poems by veterans

We discuss the March 22, 2007 open letter to fellow veterans by Camillo "Mac" Bica published by Foreign Policy in Focus, www.fpif.org. We must support U.S. soldiers by bringing them home now, says our guest. We can also help Veterans of the Afghan and Iraq Wars by supporting Vets 4 Vets and other organizations that help to bring veterans together to share their common experiences.

At Cairo University June 4th, President Obama told reporters that there is a schizophrenic view in the MidEast about America. He said, 'On the one hand, everybody wants America to stop meddling, don't interfere, don't be imperialist. And then, on the other hand, when is America going to solve the Palestinian crisis? Why haven't they done this? Why haven't they created democracy and human rights in -- throughout the Muslim world? Well, you can't have it both ways, right?'

According to Camillo 'Mac' Bica, this assumption is false. He says America is viewed in more realistic terms abroad. Ha also says we should prosecute the war and seek justice for wrong doing, but we can still support the troops while doing so.

While it is painful to look at the truth about what war is, soldiers should be encouraged to face the truths they know in their hearts. Flag waving and 'celebrating the warrior' is not going to help US soldiers, but we must 'celebrate the human being' who comes home.

In fact, when Camillo “Mac” Bica greets a fellow veteran of the Vietnam War he fought in as a US Marine Corps officer he still says the words 'welcome home'. That greeting reflects the understanding veterans have that what went on in terrible war zones may still be as fresh to them years later as if it were yesterday. That doesn't mean soldiers can't get over their suffering about the wars they served in though. US veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan can heal from the impact of war by talking with one another and developing strong bonds.

Camillo Mac Bica is a professor of philosophy at the School of Visual Arts in New York City and a contributor to Foreign Policy in Focus as well as numerous other magazines about news and politics as well as philosophy. He is a founding member of the Long Island Chapter of Veterans for Peace.

Part one of a two part program. Each stands alone.
Special thanks to Veterans for Peace, the Long Island Chapter

Articles by Camillo 'Mac' Bica
OPed News: 4/2/09: Deconstructing President Obama's New Strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan
ZNet - Euphemism for Murder
Cyrano's Journal Online - Beyond PTSD: The Moral Casualties of War