One of these men is leaving Iraq in a matter of minutes. Can you tell which one?
Photo credit: AP
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That’s funny, thanks! Have you seen the one of Snow and Barlett in flak jackets and little helmets? They’re so cute when they’re wetting their pants.
I saw that (I think Josh Marshall linked to it). It’s funny, but it also shows how photos can’t be relied on for truth content. The same site had other AP photos of Snow and Bartlett in their protective gear, and in one of them Snow is sort of laughing. Sure, those guys might still be scared shitless, but they don’t have that scared-shitless look on their faces in that photo. (I mean, is it wrong for them to be scared shitless, flying in a helicopter over Baghdad?) I’m often troubled by how photography freezes a moment unnaturally, allowing the viewer to dwell on something that was just a flicker in the flow of time, turning it into something profound or at least extra-meaningful.
I hope I didn’t do that with Bush and al-Maliki—i.e., I hope it was clear that I was injecting meaning into the photo, not finding it.
It’s not wrong to look scared (if they were). It will be hypocritical to come back and say everything is hunkydory in Iraq.
I think there’s also some laughing about “boys with toys” going on — all dressed up in their GI Joe outfits.
But you’re probably right that I was misinterpreting Bartlett’s expression.
Here’s the other photo I was talking about. It supports your “GI Joe” interpretation.
And I agree, of course, with your point about hypocrisy.