Popular Culture and the War in Iraq

Generation Kill by Evan Wright is my favorite work we have read in this class so far because it is written in a way that is extremely readable but still makes arguments about the war in Iraq. Wright argues that the Marines he was riding along with had no idea of the mission they were on or what their role was in Iraq. Early in the book, Wright establishes this position and states, “the lack of information provided to the Marines about their role in the grand scheme of things is beginning to erode morale. They simply don’t know that brazenly driving into ambushes is part of the plan” (146). In the subtext of this quotation, Wright points out that he sees this as an unfair practice. In all his discussions of the men he is traveling with, Wright points out their innocence and their task of blindly following orders. Through this, he criticizes the institution of the military and the choices they made on how to conduct themselves in Iraq.

The book ends with Wright making a very powerful commentary about the fault of the Iraq war. He states,

If the shame is to be had when the Iraq conflict ends—and all indications are there will be plenty of it—the veterans are the last people in America to deserve it. When it comes to apportioning shame my vote goes to the American people who sent them to war in a surge of emotion but quickly lost the will to either win it or end it (370).

This quotation is significant for a number of reasons. First, Wright takes a stance on who is at fault for the Iraq conflict. He does not think it is the veterans, but instead blames the American people and expresses the idea that we got involved in Iraq because of emotional reasons. This goes along with arguments we have discussed before regarding the lack of planning on behalf of government officials. If people felt inclined to get involved in Iraq and do it quickly, they were acting on emotion and not putting in enough thought as to how this war would turn out or what would need to be done to resolve it.

Wright’s words also evoke a memory of the Vietnam War and how Vietnam veterans were treated when they got back to America. They were blamed for a war that was not their fault, as they were following orders. The same idea is expressed here. Many times throughout the book, the Marines struggle with following orders they disagree with, but they follow because that is what they were assigned to do. This being said, the American people would be wrong to use the Marines as a scapegoat for their problems, because the Marines were doing what they were told to do in the name of America.

Because of Wright’s position as a reporter that drove along with these specific men, he is close to them and understands their perspective. Due to this, Generation Kill has undertones of government unfairness and the brutality of war, as Wright sympathizes with the position his Marines were put in as ambush bait in Iraq.