Searching for the Iraq War's Own John Kerry

As the late Shelby Foote might have put it, it's a curious thing. Academics employ myriad strategies to enforce ideological conformity in their own ranks. Hiring practices keep conservatives off the short list, tenure decisions toss out the occasional renegade who made it into academe, and social and professional ostracism are employed liberally to punish the ingrates who get out of line.

Yet when they turn their attention to the extramural (beyond the walls) world, which most of us simply call earth, these same professors suddenly discover the virtue of dissent. That's nowhere truer than in war, to which the academic left's opposition is directly proportional to the benefits any war might confer upon America.

Put succinctly, if it's in defense of America, it's an offense to the world.

Just ask John Kerry.

Viewed in this light, this seemingly peculiar project at Brown University's Watson Institute for International Studies makes sense, at least in the intramural (inside the walls) world of most faculty members. Titled Breaking Ranks: An Oral History Project on Iraq War Veteran Dissent, it:

[S]eeks to document the stories of veterans and soldiers who oppose US involvement in the war in Iraq. While a number of oral history collections focusing on those who support US policy in Iraq have been initiated across the country, these interviews provide a unique critical perspective on the war.

Here's the official site, some of the text of which reads:

The book reflects on common themes and sociological distinctions in the experience of these young men and women through the recruitment, training, and combat periods. It also explore their postwar experience, which includes, for most, significant anti-war activism and service to fellow veterans, as well as coping with their wartime physical and mental injuries.

Will this discover this generation's John Kerry, who will return from war to heap calumnies on his brothers in arms? It's still early, but rest assured that his ideological supporters in his old Ivy League are doing their best to find his youthful soul mate.