EnMasse

Maestro · Posted: Fri Jan 13, 2012 3:52 am Post subject:

However, the video is not bothering the Taliban much. No surprise there. Their expectation of US soldier conduct in Afghanistan is necessarily already low.

Taliban say Marine tape won't hurt Afghanistan talks

sparqui · Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2012 7:33 pm Post subject:

That Taliban spokesperson sounds very thoughtful and rational.

And in contrast, we have this from one obnoxious US cheerleader:

Dana Loesch cheered for it in order to fuel the unhinged Muslim hatred that has become a staple of modern day right-wing media
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“If my grandmother had wheels, she'd be a tractor.”

-- Gilles Duceppe

anne cameron · Posted: Sun Jan 15, 2012 6:53 pm Post subject:

Such a tempest in a tea pot. To me, it shows clearly just how contradictory we are, how hypocritical. Running around like nuns in a whorehouse because some kids pissed on some dead bodies... oh how horrible, how bestial, how unlike us, ... while overlooking the fact those kids just sent hot metal into the bodies of those very corpses.

Any soldier who has seen action is traumatized. See enough action and you probably are no longer "sane". How does anyone find within him or herself the capacity and ability to slaughter another human? Our kids are brought up on "love thy neighbour" , "turn the other cheek", "do a good deed every day"... then we send them out and expect them to murder other people... often the only way they can is by dehumanizing the enemy... and the dehumanization is encouraged in basic training, the enemy is called "gook" or "charlie" or "hajii" or "camel fucker", or "goat sucker" or...reduced to something other, something less, something NOT human...except then you blow his chest apart and that's real blood and real splinters of bone and...you have to reinforce the dehumanization so you pee on the body...after all, he'd have killed you, he may have killed your best friend, and what about public decapitation and dragging "our" dead through the streets and spitting on them and...

and Hilary seems to see nothing at all wrong with twisting the minds of young people and turning them into assassins willing to kill other people, sees nothing wrong in drones dropping death on wedding parties, sees nothing wrong with inflicting lasting PTSD on an increasingly heartbreaking number of young people but ohmigawsh she's offended and shocked that they pee'd on the corpses.

We just do not want to let go of the bullshit, all that "glory of war" and "badge of courage" and "finest hour" crap. We don't want to admit that war is insane and the insanity is contagious.

Pee'ing on them is nothing at all compared to blowing them to grue. What is truly horrific and unforgiveable is what was done to the minds and souls of the ones pee'ing that prompted them to whip'er out and drain the snake.

The real obscenity is that they were in someone else's country with the intent to kill.

unionist · Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2012 2:49 pm Post subject:

Anne Cameron hits the spot. We are supposed to be shocked by the actions of the lowest-level cannon fodder on the military food chain, but not by Obama and his military chiefs who continue the occupation. We are supposed to be shocked by desecration, but not by assassination. Let's keep our eye on the big picture.

Sibjyn · Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2012 3:37 pm Post subject:

voice of the damned · Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2012 3:58 pm Post subject:

Sibjyn · Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2012 4:54 pm Post subject:

Well I would agree that murder is taken more seriously than desecration of a corpse, but the law does take it seriously. Section 182(b) of the criminal code.

Just seems to be that ignoring things like this is somewhat akin to arguing that the feds should not have pursued charges of income tax evasion against Al Capone, since evasion is not nearly as bad as murder, which he was also guilty of.

voice of the damned · Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2012 5:29 pm Post subject:

al-Qa'bong · Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2012 5:59 pm Post subject:

Well, Patty Krenwinkle did write "Healter Skelter" instead of "Helter Skelter," so some amount of outrage ought to be expected.
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"The purpose of government is to protect the weak from the powerful" Hammurabi

"We can't all be Sam the Sham; some of us have to be Pharoahs" Larry, brother of Darrel, and his other brother Daryl

Slumberjack · Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2012 6:16 pm Post subject:

al-Qa'bong · Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2012 6:29 pm Post subject:

unionist · Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2012 7:29 pm Post subject:

Exactly. That's why this pathetic puppet, Karzai, who sold his country into ruin to the western saviours, makes grandiose declarations about desecration of corpses. He's responsible for all the slaughter, on both sides, involving the occupation forces (because they installed him and he demands that they stay). He's not very well placed to express outrage when the U.S. forces act according to their racist and imperialist character. They can piss all over his country, and his response is: "More, sir, please!"

voice of the damned · Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2012 9:35 pm Post subject:

Sibjyn · Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2012 11:26 pm Post subject:

Sibjyn · Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2012 11:27 pm Post subject:

al-Qa'bong · Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2012 2:50 am Post subject:

I have to admit to being confused here.

Are you trolling rabble now, Sibjyn, or EnMasse?
_________________
"The purpose of government is to protect the weak from the powerful" Hammurabi

"We can't all be Sam the Sham; some of us have to be Pharoahs" Larry, brother of Darrel, and his other brother Daryl

The Evil Twin · Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2012 3:07 am Post subject:

Leaked NATO report surprises some dummies, even though the conclusions should have been obvious for a while

anne cameron · Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2012 5:37 am Post subject:

Kind'a sort'a makes a person want to slap her forehead and yell "DUH!"

ronb · Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2012 1:23 pm Post subject:

Does this mean Harper will start referring to Sarkozy as Taliban Nick?

al-Qa'bong · Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2012 9:14 pm Post subject:

Slumberjack · Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2012 12:14 pm Post subject:

CNN spent the day juxtaposing this crime against the deaths of US soldiers recently as blowback for Koran burnings. Troubling yes and all that...part of the tit for tat of war...its all so terrible...and no doubt the enemy will use it to their advantage...yadda yadda. And then, faces beaming....like three days in a row of positive territory on Wall Street.

Maestro · Posted: Sat Mar 17, 2012 12:31 am Post subject:

From
Glenn Greenwald at Salon:

NPR and NYT on Americans v. Afghans

al-Qa'bong · Posted: Sat Mar 24, 2012 3:22 am Post subject:

I don't suppose Omar Khadr has tried the "I was distressed because all those US soldiers were trying to kill me" defence.
_________________
"The purpose of government is to protect the weak from the powerful" Hammurabi

"We can't all be Sam the Sham; some of us have to be Pharoahs" Larry, brother of Darrel, and his other brother Daryl

anne cameron · Posted: Sat Mar 24, 2012 4:37 pm Post subject:

Right now I'm reading "King Rat"...it's very interesting and a tad upsetting, trying to hold in my head the WW2 story line and the slaughter in Afghanistan...

nothing has changed.

al-Qa'bong · Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2012 2:24 pm Post subject:

al-Qa'bong · Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2012 3:25 pm Post subject:

By the way, Bergdahl was home schooled:

Fidel · Fulltime enMasse Member Joined: 04 May 2006 Posts: 812

Not good. Not good at all.
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Democracy should more appropriately be referred to as Corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power. - George Washington

al-Qa'bong · Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2012 3:13 pm Post subject:

Slumberjack · Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2012 3:56 pm Post subject:

al-Qa'bong · Posted: Sat Oct 27, 2012 3:09 pm Post subject:

Maestro · Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2012 7:13 pm Post subject:

US military facing fresh questions over targeting of children in Afghanistan

anne cameron · Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:07 am Post subject:

Seems as if an increasing percentile of returning soldiers exhibit PTSD. Could it be that no amount of training can brainwash people into accepting the wholesale slaughter of children and civilians?

Harper and his crowd seem ever ready to huff and puff and threaten to blow everyone's house down in their slavish following of the military interests of the Excited States.

For myself, I'd rather all our troops be brought home. Of course, this would make things dicey around the pipelines the US oil interests want to string across Afghanistan.

Just as the same mind-set would like to run pipelines across some of the most pristine wilderness in our country.

There is strong opposition to pipeline construction in B.C. I sure hope that doesn't mean we wind up with the US Marines tromping up and down our streets or drone fighters blowing up our schools and hospitals.

The Evil Twin · Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2012 1:37 am Post subject:

al-Qa'bong · Posted: Mon Dec 24, 2012 4:26 pm Post subject:

anne cameron · Posted: Mon Dec 24, 2012 7:01 pm Post subject:

For reasons I don't understand I read this and immediately flashed on how similar it is, in some vague psychological way to what happens when a teen-ager blows up and attacks a controlling parent... you just get sick and tired of the constant superiority, seniority, and bullying...

I can't say "good on her" but with what we've learned about the sexual impositions some of the male US military visit upon women, even other military women, I can kind'a sort'a understand some of what might have been going on in her head when she said Enough!

It's a shame, and if it is true it's all part of a long-range Taliban plot... well, all the more reason to get the hell out of there and start learning how to mind our own beeswax.

Bring'em all home!

And all the best of the season to all of you out there. I want you to know I am very grateful to have you in my life, even if it's long distance and thanks to the etheric.

Maestro · Posted: Sun Feb 24, 2013 8:43 pm Post subject:

From the BBC:

Karzai orders US special forces out of Afghan province

The Evil Twin · Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2013 4:15 am Post subject:

anne cameron · Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2013 5:48 pm Post subject:

Anyone who claims to understand the swirling allegiances, alliances, and political tensions in Afghanistan is merely indulging in self deception.