الفهرس 
IntrductionOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Iraq War which is universally referred to as The Second Persian Gulf
War is the first U.S. long war against an Arab country, being intended to
open the way to colonize the Middle East as a whole. It is also the war
that many think of to be the one which is waged really in quest of some
noble ends particularly promoting peace and obstructing dictatorship and
terrorism not to advance American ambitions as with its precedents
especially that of Vietnam. 20 March 2003 becomes, as a result, another
notable date in the history of the American nation if not the history of the
world at large soon after 11 September 2001. Since the American-British
troops officially launched the war, talks, analyses, supporting and
opposing writings do not stop for a moment. With the irony of not finding
weapons of mass destruction and not proving Saddam’s links with Bin
Laden and Al-Qaeda, the new war becomes a controversial international
affair that is worth discussion. This, actually, attracted one to take the
initiative of handling the human side and trace the impacts of such a
grieving recent experience of purely dishonest goals on Americans who
have a direct and indirect share in its burden as reflected in the first
trilogy of plays to be written in revolt against the combat: Harmless
(2007), Weapon of Mass Impact (2007), and Old Glory (2009).
The three plays seek to dishonor warfare and emphasize the beliefs
that “glorious war does not exist … it is not good, and it is not useful, to
make corpses” (Kirkpatrick 240) through depicting the totally destructive
results that innocents have to endure without any guilt but believing Bush
and his government. First, soldiers are the ones who undergo most of the
direct pain. Since the outbreak of any war, they are destined to die or to
live in utter emotional, psychological as well as physical suffering.
Harmless (2007) and Old Glory (2009) are very much concerned with the
trauma of American soldiers during and after wartime. Both plays never
idealize soldiers or present warrior as a hero to whom the whole nation
should be grateful. Instead, they are presented as ordinary people sent to
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commit and accordingly to get victimized by awful military crimes
overseas.
Harmless (2007) points to the tragedy of young soldiers when
returning from the trenches to find themselves in a direct struggle, they
are not capable of, with an unaware, ignorant society where they are
treated as outsiders not the ones who sacrificed everything in quest of
everything good for their country and fellow citizens. Through the play,
Brett Neveu detects the attitudes of those victims as a result of their
totally subverted expectations of post-war life particularly violence,
isolation or detachment, and sometimes social contact in an attempt to
relieve the consequent pain. Old Glory (2009), on the other hand, presents
a live portrayal of the soldiers’ trauma on the battlefield. Trough Rat and
Goss, it stresses the appalling conditions American veterans live in during
the fight, waiting for death at any moment. It also refers to the unfriendly
atmosphere between soldiers which is imposed by the overall horrible
atmosphere of the battle, being perceived as much more dangerous than
the military mission itself. It is such a hostile atmosphere that motivates
Rat to murder his co-sufferer, Goss. In addition, the play highlights the
moral degradation that the war leads soldiers to. They get converted by
their military experiences from amiable, decent people to those who utter
coarse and rude words and drink heavily. It presents soldiering as merely
a job they wish to finish as soon as possible especially after the real aims
of the mission are unveiled. Old Glory also criticizes the army’s attitude
toward those unfortunate freshmen who have nothing left to give to their
country. Hence, both plays are seen as an endeavor to depict soldiers’ life
in the trenches and life at home and approach their psychology as a result.
Second, the trilogy is similarly concerned with those who have no part
in the combat but too heavy burden is there to bear. Weapon of Mass
Impact (2007) is wholly dedicated to displaying the miserable and
distressful life American civilians lead in the wak e of the war. It shows
how the war that is supposed to fight fear of terrorism involves
Americans in fiercer fear of inevitable terrorism that is directed against
the U.S. in response to its military transgression in Iraq. So, according to
this second part of the trilogy, having no military role in the war does not
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guarantee safety from the consequent injuries. The calamity of semi.