from Robert Cohen -
[email protected]
Ex-Nebraska Senator Bob Kerrey has been in the news this
recently. Kerrey was a Navy Seal in Viet Nam, and participated in a 1969
incident in Thanh Phong in which thirteen women and children were
massacred. The slaughter continues to haunt Kerrey.
What I find remarkable is Kerrey's attempt to
rationalize the horror of war by relating his experience to a routine
farm practice. A few minutes ago, while catching up on my reading, I
came across this quote which appeared on page 133 of the New York Times
Magazine Section, April 29, 2001:
"Around the farm, there is an activity that no one likes
to do. Yet it is sometimes necessary. When a cat gives birth to kittens
that aren't needed, the kittens must be destroyed. And there is a moment
when you are holding a kitten under the water when you know that if you
bring that kitten back above the water it will live, and if you don't
bring it back in that instant the kitten will be dead. This, for me, is
a perfect metaphor for those dreadful moments in war when you do not
quite do what you previously thought you would do."
Go on to McDonald's
Secret Sauce
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