Dave Rabbit off to Iraq

Salon features an article on Vietnam War pirate broadcaster Dave Rabbit who has begun podcasting since he discovered an underground following for recordings of the programs he did in 1971. Now Rabbit is off to Iraq to produce a new podcast, probably from inside a Baghdad hotel filled with journalists.

Although he claims to be apolitical, he tells Salon,

“How many jobs could you make, or people could you feed, with all that money being used to stir up a civil war in Iraq? The only thing we do by staying there is get more American soldiers killed. It’s insanity. I’m really scared about where it’s all headed. Nothing is going to stop the fighting. Just like in Vietnam, you can’t defeat an enemy that doesn’t know the word ‘defeat.'”

I don’t mean to be cynical, but I have to ask the question: if Rabbit is going to be cooped up under armed security in a hotel and broadcasting on the internet, what’s the point of being in Iraq? How is that hotel room different from any other, aside from the sound of distant carbombs? Perhaps it’s an act of solidarity, but frankly not quite the same as being outside the green zone. Wouldn’t it be even more symbolic if he fired up the transmitter there and broadcast directly to the soliders? At least then the location would seem more material.

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