printHere’s how you know the Republicans are the enemies of liberty and justice. Not a word have their megaphones among the media said about “the deaths of tens of thousands,” often at the hands of our forces, revealed in the release, by WikiLeak, “of over 75,000 secret US military reports covering the war in Afghanistan.”
FoxNews focuses on the obscure Iran-extremism connection. Fox would never jeopardize an occupation.
The Washington Times took the side of the administration by choosing to belabor its warnings about the potential harm the truth could do “to those that are in our military, those that are cooperating with our military, and those that are working to keep us safe” (namely the networks of criminals, terrorists, and warlords we are nurturing in that blighted part of the world).
Similarly—and predictably—The War Street Journal zeroed in on the administration’s hunt for a culprit, “Bradley Manning, a U.S. Army intelligence analyst charged this month with leaking [the] classified information”— “thousands of military documents published Sunday by WikiLeaks.
I had to switch Glenn off; his sermons sans information are fit for packaging in a cheap, motivational DVD box set. But no, I heard nothing from him either that would indicate that he favored pulling back the curtain to show the facts of this war.
In fascistic fashion, other NEOCONSERVATIVES called for the arrest of the founder of WikiLeaks. “Julian Assange, once described as the elusive Scarlet Pimpernel of cyberspace, is uncompromising in his scrutiny of big business and big government.”
Kudos to Rachel Maddow’s program which told it like it is, with no regard for Obamby’s feelings.
“The documents — some 92,000 reports spanning parts of two administrations from January 2004 through December 2009 — illustrate in mosaic detail why, after the United States has spent almost $300 billion on the war in Afghanistan, the Taliban are stronger than at any time since 2001.
As the new American commander in Afghanistan, Gen. David H. Petraeus, tries to reverse the lagging war effort, the documents sketch a war hamstrung by an Afghan government, police force and army of questionable loyalty and competence, and by a Pakistani military that appears at best uncooperative and at worst to work from the shadows as an unspoken ally of the very insurgent forces the American-led coalition is trying to defeat.”
“THE UGLY TRUTH ABOUT AFGHANISTAN AND IRAQ BEGINS TO EMERGE FROM THE SHADOWS,” writes war correspondent Eric Margolis.
And that’s a good thing.
What in the world are our young people dying for in these wars? Can anyone please explain?
Why, oh, why have we gotten ourselves into this global mess? First, has anyone ever considered the absolute real reason why we, citizens of the U.S., HAVE A 2ND AMENDMENT? Tyrants flourish when citizens are unarmed. Second, our touchy-feely politicians have led us and our military into a very unwise venture – nation building. Let each nation build itself. Our military has a single purpose: it is to keep us safe from those who wish to harm us. How is that done? Conan’s answer was “To defeat your enemy, to see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of the women”. We are now entangled in entanglements. Years ago, I wrote President Bush that we need to remove all of our troops from foreign lands, friendly or not, and bring them home. We can obliterate any country without setting foot on their soil. If certain countries and peoples cannot or will not operate in a civil, non-aggressive manner, then place them on notice to don’t even let the thought of harming our country and our citizens cross their collective minds or “poof”! and “poof” means we will not rebuild their country. If our government wants to help the persecuted masses of the world, invite them here to become productive members of our land, to merge the best of their cultures with our culture, to respect our laws and culture, to learn to read, write, and speak English so we can communicate, and to achieve their life’s goals through their own efforts and merits. Then, finally, we may not have to worry about secrets being leaked and our youth being needlessly wounded and killed for barbarians and for those who will not stand-up for themselves.
One would think the mainstream press would be a little embarrassed by recent developments. They’ve gone from being watchdogs to lapdogs.
Is there any doubt that a whistleblower giving this bombshell directly to the NY Times would discover the story being squashed? It takes a few brave individuals to FORCE the media to report the obvious, that our involvement in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan is futile, immoral, and self-defeating. The war on terror is a trillion dollar flop and the meter keeps running.
It’s time for Americans to demand an end to the insanity. Bring the troops home and end the empire.
Keep the truth coming. I think the sad fact is, certain factions within America will support their President in any foreign war if he goes along with the social agenda they favor. Bush gained great support for the unjust Iraq War due to his stances against abortion and gay marriage; Obama’s folk are (for the most part) quiet about Afghanistan because they like his “community organizer” socialist domestic policies. Now, this Assange fellow has shown the horrid consequences of wars favored by the primary constituencies of both presidents. An equal opportunity offender.
we are no longer left to wonder why war was only to be declared by congress, we have lost/stalemated every major conflict since veering off course on this matter.
we can also see, not heeding the warning to avoid “entangling alliances” has turned out badly as well, the obvious answer is return to the constitution, mind our own damn business
I’ve been reading all the illogic that is being used against WikiLeaks and also wondering what in those 92,000 documents are really surprising and secret… – such as: the Taliban fired missiles (don’t you think the Taliban KNOWS what they fired!), they have beards, bears s**t in the woods, … whatever. The war is not just a little stupid – it is Megastupid. And yet, unaccountable high-paid mercenary “contractors” are fighting much of it with a big defense lobby at home plugging it. The Government uses our tax money to organize political campaigns of deception and bribery to keep the war going. This is supposedly insuring our “freedom”.
Sadly, the public is even more apathetic than the war is stupid. The multi-terabuck deficit is too much for most overspending yokels to comprehend. Afghanistan itself is no more real to most Americans than the Andromeda galaxy. And none of the important people: Archer Daniels Midland, Goldman-Sachs, the AARP, the NRA, the labor unions have anything at stake in Afghanistan. With an all volunteer military and contractor force, college students are apathetic as well.
As far as the WikiLeaks documents go, it seems to me to be a lot of sound and fury signifying nothing. While I have not read the documents, every news report I see seems to indicate they are telling information that most astute observers already knew. We all knew that civilians were being killed, we all knew that the Afghan government is rampant with corruption, we all knew that Iran and Pakistan were playing footsie with the Afghan insurgency, and so on and so forth.
That being all said, the time has come (and it has been a long time coming) for a real debate about the merits of the “good war” in Afghanistan. Both the pro-war liberals and the neo-conservatives would have us “stay the course”, but neither can tell us what the course is and exactly why so many young Americans must be killed and maimed for it. Maybe it’s just me, but I do not think my countrymen should give their lives to build a few girl schools (ones that will be blown up or burned down shortly after being built anyways) or prop up a useless and corrupt politician like Hamid Karazi.
Our only business in Afghanistan is to prevent it from ever again being used by jihadists to prepare attacks against our country and our allies. Nation building and establishing a liberal democracy in Afghanistan are of absolutely no concern of ours. We should kill as many of our jihadist enemies as possible and then come back home (and implement some immigration policies that will keep the future Muhammad Attas out of our country).
As one who is a “johnny come lately” to the anti-imperialism side, I have to say, “It’s about time the truth about this “non-war” war is coming out”.
War is Big Business.
I’m a native of Washington, D.C. I travel to D.C. a few times a year.
I remember the TV commercials when I was last home. I saw three in quick succession. Two of them were from military defense contractors. Elsewhere in the country one might see commercials advertising beer, diapers or automobiles. But in D.C. the commercials involve warfare. It’s called knowing your target audience.
There are too many persons in D.C. who profit personally from permanent war.
As for Glenn Beck, he needs to ask himself why George Bush, even after the (alleged) terrorist attacks of 9/11, refused to hermetically seal this country’s borders.
We unilaterally invade other countries.
And Mexico unilaterally invades ours.
Myron Pauli
I’ve always wondered whether abolishing the draft was on utilitarian terms a net benefit or cost. The argument that with the draft, deployment of troops would not be so easy and without opposition seems unassailable.
But then, I remember Vietnam. How long did that go on again?
I guess I’ll keep the liberty and apathy of no draft.
Contemplationist: I oppose the draft just like I oppose “compulsory voluntary service” requirements in schools – they are slavery. Nevertheless, the downside of hiring $300,000/year mercenaries is the widespread apathy among all the people who can opt-out of the war (since the deficit is too remote as is Afghanistan itself).
Roger: It is difficult to accuse Mexico of “invading” the US when the McCains, Obamas, and federal judges welcome them in. As I said, put the tuna out on the porch and the cats will show up! OUR OWN POLITICIANS and “judges” are far more blameworthy than Pedro the dishwasher.
With respect to the draft, it’s been proposed here: http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=184325
Draft = Involuntary servitude. When I entered the Air Force, I did so of my own volition. No one put a gun to my head and said “I had to join”. A good number of my class-mates is school didn’t have that option in the sixties and early seventies. The military is only good if there is war, to go in, get the job done and come home. Any other use of the military, whether nation building or “policing” different countries is out of purpose