Neil: An Unsung Hero of the Iraq War

A new book, "So Wrong for So Long: How the Press, the Pundits -- and the President -- Failed on Iraq" by Greg Mitchell is a timely read. As we enter the 6th year of the Iraq war with 4,000 U.S. soldiers and thousands of innocent Iraqi's dead, Mitchell's book arrives at a particularly relevant moment to look back at who was wrong -- but just as importantly -- who was right about the fiasco.

Among those who Mitchell credits as right on Iraq is Neil Young. From Salon

Neil Young: Rock star as journo? It essentially happened in 2006 when Neil Young, son of a famous Canadian sportswriter, hurriedly wrote and released (only online at first) his ripped-from-the-headlines "Living With War" CD. He even proposed impeaching the president "for lying" (and "for spying"). In one of the songs in the collection, Young sang repeatedly: "Don't need no more lies."

He emphasized the prohibition against the media showing pictures of coffins with the American dead being returned from Iraq, singing: "Thousands of bodies in the ground/ Brought home in boxes to a trumpet's sound/ No one sees them coming home that way/ Thousands buried in the ground." In another song: "More boxes covered in flags/ but I can't see them on TV."

When Young urged that Americans "Impeach the President," he included audio clips of embarrassing Bush statements ("We'll smoke them out ..."). But a highlight of the collection was the blistering "Shock and Awe," which, along with its antiwar lyrics, included the more philosophical "History is a cruel judge of overconfidence." He also recalled that "back in the days of Mission Accomplished ... the sun was setting on another photo op."

And Mitchell replies back on Pressing Issues: May he stay, forever Young.

More on "Living With War" as rock's "Fahrenheit 9/11".

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