"Cover Up" - biography about Seymour (Sy) Hersch

[fwafwow]

This was released on 12/26 on Netflix. I thought it was great, but difficult to watch. (Some of the My Lai stuff is pretty horrible.) Here is a link to the trailer. Anyone else see it?

 

[TaperPin]

I liked it because it shows a taste of how unpleasant things are cleaned from the history books. Ever notice WW1 and WW2 accounts are short on any details that might reflect poorly on the US? It’s not by accident. Even Korea and Vietnam wars and most unpleasant things since are considered too controversial by many school boards and just can’t be taught.

The movement of museums and historians to add more realism into their recounting of events is uncomfortable for many. We grow up with a view of war and the secret wars as nice civilized with clear good and bad guys, when there are many horrific things swept under the rug. A WW2 vet summed it up well when he said you can pretty well figure out what brass wants you to do with prisoners and civilians that might cause problems when no additional troops are assigned to the mission to hold them after you passed through.

What has always been true is governments do all they can and then some to stay in power. At the same time mega corporations, the “military industrial complex” benefit greatly from conflicts and the long history of giving influential generals and politicians cushy jobs after retirement as a reward for contracts is not a random occurrence. We get stories about the operational level that is easy to see, but the strategic level should be better understood to put it all in better context. It’s too bad this side of history isn’t taught out in the open more.

I enjoy the clarity Sarah Paine brings to many of the under reported influences of what has shaped the world.