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| Written Saturday, July 12th, 2008 Q: How so? David Simon: Well, if the book were simply a benign and glorious account of our march to Baghdad in 2003, then one might ask why HBO is even bothering with the material. And to be entirely fair, the U.S. military's doctrine of maneuver warfare proved remarkably effective. The Iraq regime fell quickly with a minimum of initial casualties to the invading force. Yet, over the course of the journey, from the border to Baghdad, these Marines encountered circumstances and situations that were entirely suggestive of all that was to come: the lack of an occupational plan, the indifference to sectarian and tribal issues, the arrivl of the jihadists, the unwillingness of many Iraqis to work with a military occupation - it's all quite evident early in the war. Q: What does the term "Generation Kill" mean? David Simon: Well, you had better ask that of Evan Wright. But what it means to me is that these 22-, 23-, 24-year-olds are different from earlier generations of American warriors. These are extremely smart, extremely aggressive, extremely well-trained Marines. They are taught to think alone and operate in small units. This is what America can do with a young man when you spend a million or a million-and-a-half dollrs training him. As with the Marines who came before them, they are from Marine culture, yet apart from Marine culture. They are not only deeply influenced by the Marine Corps, but by a popular culture that reflects everything from hip-hop to the popularity of video games. They are grown, lethal men, yet they are still recognizable as our children, if that makes sense. Q: What audience do you want to attract to "Generation Kill"? David Simon: I want everybody to watch it. I'm not interested in preaching to a choir of those opposed to the Iraq mission, or merely validating the adventure of that mission by telling the tale of these young Marines. Regardless of whether they believe this to be the right war at the right time, or whether they believe otherwise, I'd like people to think clearly about the nature of modern warfare itself, and to acknowledge at least, that whether it is justified or not, war is hardly as clean, precise and clinical as we wish to imagine it. More than that, I'd be happy if some viewers were compelled to simply acknowledge the war and share the collective responsibility for it; absent the military families affected, much of America seems to have tuned out. One of the reasons Ed Burns, who was my co-producer on "The Wire," wanted in on the project was that he is a Vietnam vet who battled a similiar countr-insurgency a generation ago. He understands the disconnect between those who send young men to war and what those young men actually experience. That's simply true whether the war proves just and necessary or not. |
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