'The Fallen' on Nightline

Via Atrios, here is an announcement regarding a special edition of Nightline airing this Friday night.
From Nightline’s 4-27 daily email (tonight’s show is on the Cheney Supreme Court case):

Now I want to tell you about this Friday’s broadcast. We’re going to do something different, something that we think is important. Friday night, we will show you the pictures, and Ted will read the names, of the men and women from the armed forces who have been killed in combat in Iraq. That’s it. That will be the whole broadcast. Nightline has been reporting on the casualties under the heading of “Line of Duty.”

But we realized that we seemed to just be giving numbers. So many killed in this incident, so many more in that attack. Whether you agree with the war or not, these men and women are serving, are putting their lives on the line, in our names. We think it is important to remember that those who have paid the ultimate price all have faces, and names, and loved ones. We thought about doing this on Memorial Day, but that’s a time when most media outlets do stories about the military, and they are generally lost in the holiday crush of picnics and all. We didn’t want this broadcast to get lost. Honestly, I don’t know if people will watch this for thirty seconds, or ten minutes, or at all. That’s not the point. We think this is important. These men and women have earned nothing less.

One point, we are not going to include those killed in non-hostile incidents. There’s no disrespect meant here, we just don’t have enough time in this one broadcast. But they are no less deserving of our thoughts. I hope that you will join us for at least part of “The Fallen” on Friday.

Leroy Sievers and the Nightline Staff Nightline Offices ABCNEWS Washington D.C.

Earlier today, Sean posted the following comment to my post about Pat Tillman. Since the same questions would apply to my feelings about all of those killed in battle, I thought I'd go ahead and answer them here.

That was a kind tribute to Pat Tilman, and I admire your gesture.

Here are some sincere questions/thoughts for you, and I truly would like your responses.

How do you consider Tillman honorable when he gave his life for a cause that you seem to abhor and DIS-honor? How do you think Tilman would respond to your tribute, in the context of your larger message and the majority of your posts about the subject? How would most soldiers feel if they read your comments about the cause for which they put their very lives on the line, every day?

First, regarding Tillman specifically, he had signed up after 9/11 and went to Afghanistan, which is where he died. I have never opposed our action in Afghanistan. There is no question that the Taliban was aiding Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda, and the fact that they sheltered him, along with any other kind of aid they provided him, facilitated the attacks on our country. Our action there was well-justified.

I do think that we've completely dropped the ball in the aftermath of overthrowing the Taliban, and I'm angry that the situation has been so poorly handled that the Taliban is making in-roads to regaining at least some measure of power. Diverting resources - both monetary and military - to overthrow Saddam Hussein has severely weakened our ability to finish the job in Afghanistan and undertake an effective rebuilding of that nation. But the war in Afghanistan was well-justified, and I have never spoken out against it.

Iraq is a whole different matter. I have always opposed our action there. But while I despise what our leaders have chosen to do with our military, I have no quarrel with the men and women who have chosen to serve our country in this way. For the most part, they had no choice about where they were stations.

Yes, I'm sure there are some who have deliberately chosen to join the armed forces specifically to serve in Iraq, and I would disagree with their choice - but I have no way of knowing which individuals they are, and I'm not going to allow the possibility of a few whom I might consider to be misguided cause me to view all of our volunteer soldiers that way.

To deter a response that I can almost feel coming: I question the cliched stance that "I don't share his beliefs, but I admire his conviction." This just seems like a cop-out. I prefer the other cliche, "I don't share your beliefs, but I would die fighting for your right to hold them."

As I said, I don't agree with how are leaders have chosen to use our military. My disagreement is with them, not with the soldiers themselves. I don't have an issue with someone who wants to serve the country and is willing to put their life on the line to do so. That our leaders choose to dishonour their courage by sending them to fought an ill-begotten war is not the fault of the soldiers themselves, and I will not blame them for it.

You see, that is precisely what Tilman did. At least to some degree, you and I can express our beliefs because people like Tilman have fought for them. Regardless of what you and I believe, the enemy would gladly kill both you and me if it furthered their cause.

Yes, I know. And in Afghanistan, we were fighting against those who were aiding our enemies in their attempts to do just that.

There are countless examples of people who have died for terrible causes for which they had strong convictions, and their lives (and deaths) were anything but honorable. Is it honorable when Palistinians blow up their bodies in Jewish markets?

No, it isn't. They are deliberately choosing to target civilians, which is a whole different matter. I have no respect for anyone who deliberately and intentionally chooses to go after civilian targets. (And yes, I do know that civilians are killed all the time during war - even if the attacks are aimed at military targets - but, while tragic, it is different than purposefully trying to kill ONLY civilians.)

Posted by thorswitch at April 27, 2004 09:27 PM | TrackBack