Thursday, May 06, 2004

"Liberty Is Something You Need To Be Deprived of to Understand What It Is"

As the 60th anniversary of D-Day approaches, the press will be publishing more and more material about the greatest seaborne invasion in history. A full-page article in Le Monde describes get-togethers where veterans and civilian survivors, some of them sharing their experiences for the first time, remember the horrors of June 6, 1944, and the ensuing battle of Normandy.

The article ends with an old-timer from Sainte-Mère-Église saying, "But for us, it was the Liberation. Liberty, one needs to have been deprived of it to know what it is." The article is moving, as it is supposed to be. The problem, however, is that as Le Monde explodes with indigation over the war in Iraq and the scandal of a handful of Americans torturing Iraqi prisoners, the old Frenchman's words seem to be falling on deaf ears…

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