Happy Memorial Day

Do you know what gets me angry? As fucked as the damned war is gonna be for the United States both in the short and long term, it's godawful for the soldiers trapped in this--repeat after me--quagmire. What happens when the military is finally, and irrevocably, broken? That seems to be a grim and inescapable reality that too many people are tap dancing around. (Faux News: "The war? Let's ignore it, and hope it goes away--Hey, Lindsay Lohan snorting coke again! Ooooh, shiny! Details at 11.") What happens when you can't stop the desertions? What happens when a few stray grenades drop (oops) into officer's tents? What happens when a guy on his third tour decides to swallow his gun instead? What happens when an entire barracks gets taken out? What happens when you run out of soldiers? Maybe if you think of soldiers as collateral damage, it's no big deal. "Fuck 'em, those grunts knew what the deal was." But when you remember they're human, then there is another word we can use: Genocide. Don't believe me? Take a look: Happy Memorial Day. (Thanks to Hubris Sonic from The News Blog for the reality check. The photograph is by Aaron Huey.)