November 8, 2009
Notes

Surprising Lessons (How News Magazines Can Use Iconic Pictures to Keep the Neocon Dream Alive)

The November 16 issue of Newsweek (on newsstands November 9), "How We (Could Have) Won in Vietnam," argues that unraveling the mysteries of Vietnam may prevent us from making its mistakes when it comes to Afghanistan.  Plus, an essay by Sen. John Kerry, how 1979 changed the world, why right-of-center candidates are succeeding in the age of Obama, and the fall of the House of Versace.  (PRNewsFoto/NEWSWEEK)

With Obama still assessing options in Afghanistan, this is one loaded and thoughtless picture to throw on the national newsstand.

Remember when the neocons pushed back against the growing opposition to the Iraq war with phrases like: “these colors don’t run.” Well, Newsweek is doing something similar here, not just equating Afghanistan with Vietnam, but linking any American withdrawal at this point with failure and shame (based on the out-of-nowhere delusion, highly equivocated in the article, that “we could have won”).

(photo: Hubert van Es. Saigon. April 29, 1975)

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Michael Shaw
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