"The wealth and confusion that man has created"*

"Even we girls can make them cry," quipped our blogfriend Julie last year re this photo of Private First Class Jessica L. Nicholson and "her beloved SAW she named 'Camille'" (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Conrad College).

Michelle Malkin invites bloggers to post and trackback their favorite snapshots from the front in solidarity against the Pulitzer Board's unfortunate awarding of its "Breaking News Photography" prize to an AP stringer whose picture of terrorists murdering an Iraqi election worker suggests the cameraman was most likely in cahoots with the enemy.

A pussycat brings the army to its knees in this photograph (attribution unavailable -- if you have info, please let us know) that made the rounds of the blogosphere last year. We posted about it here.

We found this hearts-and-minds winner on the Drudge Report last year. Later reader Eric K. identified the soldier as Sgt H. at Abu Hassan village 11 October 2003, credit SSG K.

This sweetheart of a snapshot of the American soldier as hero, published by Drudge -- and then ourselves -- during the Abu Ghraib scandal, drew one of our first InstaLanches last year for "Bypassing the nattering narratives of negativity." Drudge explained:

As the world's satellites and printing presses await fresh images of troop horrors and abuse, soldiers on the ground e-mailed this snap of warm greetings from some of Iraq's women and children.

Blogpal Teresa of Technicalities puts Pulitzers and such in perspective:

What I find continually amazing -- people placing such stock in the results.  If Michael Moore can win an Oscar for documentary -- with a movie that is demonstrably not a documentary at all . . . If Yassir Arafat can win a Nobel Peace Prize . . . Why is anyone shocked that pictures of terrorists and pictures depicting (tangentially) Americans as bad have won the Pulitzer?

It's really about who's doing the judging.  As with other trash, Anti-Americanism in, Anti-Americanism out. Greyhawk at Mudville Gazette has a better idea.  Blogger that he is, he's going straight to the source, accepting photo entries for the Milblogger Prize.

*"Photography records the gamut of feelings written on the human face -- the beauty of the earth and skies that man has inherited; and the wealth and confusion that man has created. It is a major force in explaining man to man.* Edward Steichen.

Comments

[Sharp as a Marble]

Man. She's hot. One thing I had a hard time dealing with in the Marines were the girls in uniform. There's just something sexy about a woman in camo!

[Sissy Willis]

Hubba, hubba. :)