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Too Lazy To Read The Wikileaks Data? Here It Is, In Easily Digestable Video Format
Too lazy to comb through the thousands of disclosures in the Wikileaks data? Shannon Larratt has created the following youtube video of monthly IED events in Afghanistan, in which a monthly tally of injuries and casualties is kept, both "friendly" and "enemy." The results are dramatic, and reminiscent of the clip showing how the US and Russia nuked their own territory several thousand times in the past 60 years. They are also reminiscent of various admonitions (unheeded) from The Prince Bride.
Here is how Shannon describes the data:
I made this animated map showing IEDs as documented in the recent major data leak facilitated by Wikileaks (overlaid on a NATO map of the area). It starts off slow, but the longer you wait, the more furious the attacks seem to get.
The green explosions are ones in which no one was hurt, yellow ones are injuries only, and red ones are fatal IEDs. On the death and injury tallies, the left column is friendlies (including both allied forces and civilians), and the right column is so-called "enemies". Everything else should be obvious.
I created this with some quick one-off custom software written late at night to do the required animation (loosely inspired by a tool I built in the 90s to animate web server log files, but only very loosely since I no longer have the source code). The reason I mention this is to apologize in advance for any errors.
FINALLY, please do feel free to repost this anywhere you would like. If you need raw video, or want my cleaned CSV files of the IED data, or want a different rendering, feel free tp drop me a line at snowrail@gmail.com or at my zentastic.com website.
Full clip below:
h/t AJ
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F'ing brilliant.
And much more action than the Nuke video.
And with 0% chance of PTSD!
Exactly. Now, pay close attention to where most of those IEDs are exploding, eastern or western Afghanistan. Next, identify the country which is closest to the epicenter of those blasts and whose intelligence agency has been reported to be supporting the Taliban and Al Qaeda. Then you will pretty much have a clear picture as to which country has a more destabilizing influence in that region and who is hurting American interests the most. Now, if we are trying to spread democracy and eradicate evil and, in the process, are spending billions of dollars, somebody please tell me why we aren't targeting the country that's the root of the problem. Because it does not have oil and "trillions of dollars" of mineral reserves?
Because they (Pakistan) are already are our friends and have the nukes to prove it. We have already won the hearts and minds of the people... a strategy that has paid dividends already in such places as Vietnam and Iraq. Our intelligence in previous instances has a poor track record of accuracy.
Are you being facetious or sarcastic? If so, please ignore my response.
Else, who told you that they are our friends and we have won their hearts and minds. 6 in 10 Pakistanis view US as their enemy.
http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/Poll-Majority-of-Pakistanis-View-US-as-Enemy-99620719.html
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ixrZW8sn1EDe82amVKRoungNdldgD9H8TRB83
Furthermore, what has nuclear weapons got to do about friendship or otherwise. We did not give this technology to them. Dr. A. Q. Khan stole that technology while working at the Dutch research firm URENCO. And then China pitched in, surreptitiously, to help them advance the technology and build the atomic bomb. We have the wrong countries in our crosshairs.
6 out of 10 pakistani's are correct. The US is THEIR enemy.
How quaint to sit there in you lazy boy and point fingers when your life expectancy is twice theirs.
Duh
Okay, dogbreath, you got me there with your brilliant observation. My apologies; yes, exactly, "how quaint to sit there in you lazy boy and point fingers when your life expectancy is twice theirs". So, let's see. Life expectancy in Pakistan is 63.39 years. So, twice that number is the life expectancy in the US. How much is that? Okay, let me get my calculator to find out how much that is. Let's see, that's right. It is 78.2 years. That was difficult, even the calculator got confused.
Yep, your theory holds water. We are to be blamed for their life expectancy being half of ours. They do not have any faults of their own. The Shias and Sunnis, and local Shias and Muhajir Shias and local Sunnis and Muhajir Sunnis are all living peacefully, and do not hate or kill each other regularly. The Sindhis love the Punjabis, who in turn love the Balochs, who in turn love the Pashtuns. The political establishment is very stable and democracy is in full bloom. The government has total control over the country, especially the NWFP. All U.S. and World aid have been used properly and not used to buy arms and ammunition to fight multiple wars with India. They haven't started and fought any unnecessary wars with India or supported separatist movement in India or attacked India via proxy. Since its independence, it hasn't had a single coup or its politicians assassinated by disgruntled entities of its intelligence arm. They have been a beacon of hope and prosperity for the entire world.
Sorry, my bad, I was wrong. BFF?
Thats funny. You seem to fail to mention any involment in these intertribal rivalries by foriegn elements. Like they need any of our help to keep themselves fu'd. Keep rolling your rock.
The US has accumulated a lot of non-friend in the past 65 years. Could it be that prior to 65 years ago there was less US help available.
As I had said in my comment above, I agree with everything you have said. Your observations are very astute and backed with data and facts. You had me at 'their life expectancy is half of ours'.
We are not trying to spread democracy and eradicate evil. That's just the cover story that feeds into a lifetime of propaganda and indoctrination about how pure and righteous "we" (meaning the USA) are. What we are in fact doing is destabilizing the region for a whole host of reasons, many of which are often contradictory to each other.
But it does keep the military industrial complex and the bankers happy as hell, not to mention some dyed-in-the-wool patriots foaming at the mouth and a psychotic/insane population blood sated with all the violence between fall TV seasons and football, American style.
<sarcasm>
Just as sobering is this article from an embedded journalist, which brings back memories of everything that we did wrong in Vietnam.
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/LH03Df03.html
A good link. A factual and believable recounting of a personal experience. It's clear that we will not 'win' this war (though the bankers and corporations are winning). I do wish there was a bit more outrage, more reporting in the MSM (though it's available if you want to look for it).
I saw the other day a report on how little electricity is available in Iraq as we draw out - like 5 hours a day. We've accomplished nothing - even less than nothing.
Sad.
Bankers & Corporations always make allot on wars. That's why they start them.
Sorry CD, that was totally a tongue in cheek comment.
I should have know better, having read your comments for a while now. We are all prone to frustration at times and I assumed (mama always told me never to assume anything) that you were falling back into your lifetime programing and pulling up the indoctrinated cover story. I find myself doing it occasionally and I need to shake my head clear.
My apologies if I insulted or offended. I have totally given up with the nuanced replies on ZH and always use the <sarcasm> tag even when I think it's glaringly obvious. :>)
None taken, CD, none taken at all. Agree it is a good idea to have the <sarcasm> tag in ones responses. Does not leave anything to a misinterpretation, then.
This comment is a little OT, but it gets to the heart of why it's fairly easy to ascertain true, underlying actors & intent, whether it's in the ME or stock exchanges.
Basically, it relates to the nature of large organizations (public and/or private) and bureaucratic inertia. Ultimately human action can be reduced to each individual. In the case of primary wage earners, all they really care about is job security in order pay a mortgage, support a family, purchase goods, cover health care and perhaps save for/have a retirement plan.
What this means, is that once a public organization is established, it's very hard to alter course or even make the smallest alterations (eg cutbacks) due to, in essence, a literal fight for survival amongst each employee. As a result, once a policy is initiated, it tends to continue on auto-pilot, regardless of success/failure, merely due to the nature of human motivations underlying the organization itself.
So what does this have to do with the now obvious, absurd, transparent & ineffectual events we see taking place in the ME & stock exchanges? It means that they no longer care if it's obvious, absurd, transparent & ineffective. Any original policy goals have completely been divorced from the now true reality, which elevates maintaining one's livelihood at all costs.
Take the Fed for example. Ben has hired so many traders and has established so many contacts/transfer/support payment agreements with outside operators that there are now probably 1,000s of people who are dependent on their bi-monthly paychecks. What do they care if the market guns higher in the face of ridiculously poor economic indicators? They could hardly give a shit.
Just something to think about when considering why no one seems to care any longer that the emperor has no clothes. The policies will continue until something massively disruptive interferes with inertia guidance.
It has occurred to me, and I find this deeply disturbing, that governments, organized religions, large corporations and militaries when they reach a certain size are entities and perhaps, like Skynet, self aware.
These entities certainly act as though they are self aware. I guess the most interesting research one could do would be some kind of "hive theory" about how theses structures develop a sort of self aware quality. How would you test or verify the existence of such a thing?
You win the Burger King Crown of the day for that one.
Agreed.
Now, that Burger King guy takes creepy to a whole different level, but how much do we really know about such things? Where does self-awareness come from? Where does sentience reside? We know a lot about the architecture of the brain and the function of its structures, but I don't believe these questions have been satisfactorily answered. Besides homosapiens, bottlenose dolphins, elephants and some apes are believed to be self aware, and now they are considering lifting the humble magpie into those ranks. In his famous short story, The Damned Thing, Ambrose Bierce postulated that even as there are sounds we cannot hear, perhaps there are colors we cannot see. We know now, of course, that there are colors we cannot see.
I've always felt (with no proof) that there could be other sentient things out there, like planets or human collectivities, that possibly cannot communicate in a way we can understand. That's fairly academic until we prove they're there though. For now just a cool/creepy thought. Like ants in a colony, the sub-elements of the greater sentience could contribute to the sentient existence without knowing what their role is or why they're doing it. The aggregate effect of the "free will" of each ant seems to be like separate cells in a brain I guess.
You negleted to mention the the peace luvin' leftist who continue to adore our one and only peace prize ownin' dear leader. (the escalator?)
Off to see the wizard!!
Wouldn't it be cheaper to just leave them to their business and purchase the minerals on the market when they have their act together?
BTW, anyone notice the poppy fields were left alone?
It's not that the Western forces are leaving the poppy fields alone -- it's that the Taliban weren't leaving them alone, and that was interrupting the flow.
Can't have that now! /sarc/
Um...so...weren't we supposed to be winning?
This is IDIOTIC-without the song, I wouldn't've stayed.
What's the big deal?
OVERLAY TIME OF OBAMA CHANGING THE RULES OF ENGAGEMENT YOU FUCKING COMMY HIPPY PUSSY FUCKWADS
USA should've just ****NUKED**** Afghanistan. I said it. FUCK OFF.
Iran & Iraq too.
did you notice that the bombings really pick up during the guitar solo?
still needs more cowbell...
what we need is to convert text/video into a pill.
Might that be the lesson of
never get involved in a land war in Asia
Inconceivable!
But Hussein Osama said that this is the "good war". Plus, pursuing Afganistan innoculated the Socialist from the charge that he is a pascifist.
A fairly large number of future US presidents are going to be inoculated from the charge of being a pacifist.
He said "future US presidents" -- hehe.
Let the political flailing begin:
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/other/president_obama_job_approv...
Chemba, an homage to your avatar:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_5IJRXoKQE
One amazing detail in Afghanistan is that the US could virtually be fighting Israelites:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_Pashtun_descent_from_Israelites
Damn Afghani spawn campers.
fucking rofl
LMAO!
we need to bubble hearth our guys out of there.
Amen.
Although, I'm pretty sure the mujahideen has got some guys that can do a Shattering Throw or Mass Dispel.
23,000 men were killed at Antietam in one day. All this video shows is the ineptitude and callousness of our opponents. They can't muster an army, all they can do is kill innocents.
Yeah. Innocents.
Audacity17
Third world got herders kicking the most expensive military in the worlds ass.
Was Grenada the last war the US won? It made a shitty movie.
Bingo Gully. In fact, the US has kicked such awesome as Panama, Haiti, Libya, Kosovo... all powerful nations, easily matching the US in Offense budget.
Of course, not to forget that they bombed Iraq for 12 years before boldly and gallantly stepping in to serve the Iraqi's Democracy at the end of a DU tipped munition (or many actually).
My god, if someone starts to list the list in the last century and then fast forward to this war of the terrified, not a war on terror (get that, war of the terrified, important distinction), we've (yup, even with the US at the head, we're all in it together) really made war, I mean peace, a Noble cause eh?
Eh? Noble! Dynamite man is representative of excellence in all spheres. Bizzaro world, I'll tell you that.
Here, let me drop 30,000 pounds of depleted uranium tipped peace on you, for your own good, towel head!
Such a ranty feel today. Sun zap happened, as predicted.
A petite pre-echo of what's up-coming.
Das Zap!
ORI
http://aadivaahan.wordpress.com
Oh regional Indian
Funny at the end of Battle Royal 2 those crafty Japanese listed all the nations the US invaded up until that time.
Even without the invasions we have something like 750 bases in about 135 out of roughly 165 countries.
We have plans to be anywhere in the world within six hours.
What the fuck does that say?
Except over New York City after 2 hours.
LOL and the damn Pentagon. Cave-dwelling goat herders unite!
Whenever someone points to Katrina rescue efforts to display Fed ineptitude I laugh.
"Don't you get it? Some brave bastard on United 93 said, "Let's roll!", and accomplished more than the most powerful empire this planet has ever seen on that day."
It says the emperor has no clothes.
ORI
http://aadivaahan.wordpress.com
mr indian (i don't know how to pronounce your name) i read your post today.
i really liked this. plus, same happened at lake powell. ruined the colorado river habitate along with it. man fucking with nature.
i think you would love to see this man's photography of Three gorges dam, prior to the fill up. it moved me another sphere. wide format and he had to be very very athletic to get the shots over a long timeline, and needed helpers, cause this equipment is H E A V Y . if i could of afforded a photo at the time i was at his opening in santa fe, it would be a very precious piece.
Edward Burtynsky - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
hi Rapunzel,
All good regarding my name. It's meant to be a tongue twister. And I'm fine as ORI here.
And thanks for the visit and the link to the Burtynsky site. Awesome images!
ORI
http://aadivaahan.wordpress.com
Not supporting recent US policies, it is fair to say USA won ultimately in Iraq. Now all the Iraqi Oil belongs to USA(via puppets). Objectively speaking - Iraq was a brilliant strategy for USA - when they were being beaten down by IED"s, I think internal strife was encouraged via civilian/religious bombings, creating insecurity by which locals started opposing Violent Islamists. In my view USA won by trickery - same thing being implemented in Pakistan to get pakistanis to support Pakistan Military Junta/USA against the Pak Taliban.
If they are so inept, why haven't we won yet?
We have. Only the victory conditions are not what we were told.
1. Secure the drug trade. Check
2. Create endless war for mil-industrial complex funding. Check
3. Secure pipelines for US conglomerates. Check
4. Set up military to menace Russia and China. Check
So far a total win for the real goals of the conflict. Do you really think we are over there looking for a dozen guys in caves? Even on Faux News they admit we are there guarding the poppy fields.
Shameful
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095956/quotes
Mousa: This is Afghanistan... Alexander the Great try to conquer this country... then Genghis Khan, then the British. Now Russia. But Afghan people fight hard, they never be defeated. Ancient enemy make prayer about these people... you wish to hear?
Rambo: Um-hum.
Mousa: Very good. It says, 'May God deliver us from the venom of the Cobra, teeth of the tiger, and the vengeance of the Afghan.' Understand what this means?
Rambo: That you guys don't take any shit?
Mousa: Yes... something like this.
I said nothing about conquering pacifying the Afghan people, that would be extremely difficult and almost require genocide. their culture is one of conflict and not giving in to the outsider. However, that is clearly not even on the table. Documents have surfaced all over that we are supporting them while we fight them. The goal is as I outlined above not to pacify the region and "Bring Democracy" or any such nonsense. Having an eternal insurgency is part of the plan. If it was "pacififed" then how could we justify the drug trade and massive mil expenditures, and deploying near Russia/China?
Shameful
Dude, pay attention to what the quote is from and when.
Then apply it to today, except without a Russian Stallone ( Well fuck maybe there is one)
I was just a kid then, but yeah I'm aware of the movie. And yeah the US made and supported the mujahideen. We are still working with them, there is reports all the time of the US supporting radical Islamic factions all over.
I'm merely saying the goals are different. The USSR was trying to pacify the region, the US is using it as a way divvy out loot to the oligarchs.
Shameful
"I'm merely saying the goals are different. The USSR was trying to pacify the region, the US is using it as a way divvy out loot to the oligarchs."
You sure? The recent mentioning of a trillion dollars in rescources in Afghanistan was based on Soviet surveys.
No power ever focuses in a single reason, only multiple ones.
Funny thing Shameful and it's shameful actually, but all of India's leading "Industrial" families, our version of oligarchies, all trace their lineage back to being agents in some form on the supply chain of British opium to China and the rest of the world.
I believe the drug cartels still rule the hidden hand. The dynasties from China. Same thing here, dynasties in India, lineage back to Queen's agency for the growng or distribution of Opium. Bombay exploded as an Opium trans-shipment point.
How far can a seed fall from it's pa-rent?
Can an apple seed grow an apricot, except in some GM franken researcher's dreams?
That, is the truth. And it's ruthless.
Cuts like a knife, what it takes to be "made" people.
ORI
http://aadivaahan.wordpress.com
Look at any rich family across the world. Behind every great fortune is a great crime. Most are even quite open about it, look at the Kennedy family. No one questions the illegal things they have done. Drugs are a great way to make money. Huge ROI and if you have the right connections in gov you are immune to prosecution for their illegality.
If you want to get ahead you have to be willing to kill, trample, and destroy your fellow man and have no regrets about it. This has been true since time has began. Is it any wonder how our "leaders" and "betters" have the morality of a sociopath?
A couple lurking junkers want to point out you are right.
nice post. Same goes for any great war. I assume you mean "get ahead" in a BIG way, not mom and pop. In a BIG way, you must indeed capture the market, corrupt your politician, destroy your competitors, exploit your customers, lie to your media, and above all, exhaust and destroy resources.
Excellent post.
Drugs are indeed a great way to make money. I used to import nearly pure heroin shipped from Rawalpindi Pakistan in makeup packages. Keep in mind street heroin is about 5-10% purity tops. Of course I was way in over my head but I can tell you firsthand that there is no better way to control a populace than to illegalize the drug trade, making it an extremely lucrative business and paving the road to a police state to "combat" it. I did my time and came to realize how the game is played from the very top.
havent u read all the conspiracies and Brezinskies book.....everything is controlled...may be some bloody Afgans are really fighting for their country .....but the opposition, the druglords. the ministers, and everone else is being funded by the same source....u r not there to win the war...u r there to stay as long as u can.......i heard some taliban fighters are dropped off from some helicopters.....( who do u think these copter people are)......Obama today said that troops will be pulled out from Iraq by the end of next year.....would u care whether there are troops in Afganisthan if u don have ood....no HEck....collapse is coming and everyone will forget about everything if they are fighting so hard for basic food.........after that even if troops stay in afgan , who cares....no one wil remember .....they r playing with our mind....we fear , we r greedy , and we FORGET
they arent pullin troops out. they will just fake it like they always do. glad to see that someone knows whats going on though among all the...."wikileaks should stop hurting our war" people who have no clue. meanwhile the tribal leaders have been targeted for assassination for weeks but gates gives command and suddenly newsweek and others can blame it on wikileaks tho it has nothing to do with them. the sheeple all go along with it. "bad wikileaks" they cry in the pasture through their wooly nostrils.
Because while our enemies are fighting a take no prisoners war to the death, we are fighting the war our leftist influenced society finds marginally acceptable given the fact they want no death, no suffering, no substantive cost and no real victory for our side. Workers of the world unite and all that.
We have not fought a real war since 1945. Very few Americans even understand the concept. See the comments about Antietam above.
its a war sold on lies. and yes this leftist thinks its evil.
Funny how leftists never see evil except in our own society. How do you propose to change that if not by force? At least that seems to have been the patern for leftists, progressives, liberals since Karl wrote his wonderful little book.
This leftist thinks it would be better to mind one's own business prior to mess up in someone else's neighbourhood.
Maybe the Taliban are a bloodthirsty regime, maybe Afghanistan is no perfect democracy, but i didn't hear people screaming please please come here liberate us give us democracy freedom and coca cola, am I deaf? Same goes for Iraq.
May I suggest you go liberate Texas and Arizona first?
Have a nice evening
u will find that even the first n second world war were staged..........and the spanish american war.............and many more history shifting events....
http://pakalert.wordpress.com/2008/12/15/10-false-flags-operations-that-...
"all they can do is kill innocents"
Because the good old USA NEVER does that, right?
How many IED's would you plant if the Chinese Army was occupying US Soil?
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/22/25113555_b30682e396.jpg
Rusty_Shackleford
I've seen Red Dawn, and it was the Russians.
Fallout 3 had the Chinese in Alaska.
"They say the rebels in Iraq still fight for Saddam
Immoratl Tech Feat. Mos Def and Eminem-Tell The Truth (Bin Laden)But that's bullshit, I'll show you why it's totally wrong
Cuz if another country invaded the hood tonight
It'd be warfare through Harlem, and Washington Heights
I wouldn't be fightin' for Bush or White America's dream
I'd be fightin' for my people's survival and self-esteem
I wouldn't fight for racist churches from the south, my nigga
I'd be fightin' to keep the occupation out, my nigga
You ever clock someone who talk shit, or look at you wrong?
Imagine if they shot at you, and was rapin' your moms"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vow7sD1LcbY&feature=related
We're all niggas now, you know. If you're not one of them, you're one of us with a paler complexion. Get used to it.
Things, speak for yourself!
Cracker bearing here!
Dont tell, you have insulted the man.
If China was occupying harlem, I imagine they'd make it as safe as the streets of Hong Kong. They do not tolerate criminals in China. Perhaps we can sell them it in exchange for some debt forgiveness.
H. John Poole - "Tactics of the Crescent Moon", "Militant Tricks - Battlefield Ruses of the Islamic Insurgant"
I'll second those recommendations. "The Tiger's Way" is also another must read.
"By 1999, eighteen provinces in Taliban-led Afghanistan were producing an estimated 75% of the world's illicit opium until an unexpected and brutally enforced ban in 2000 led to a 98% drop in poppy production. After the Taliban were driven out of power in 2001, opium made an astonishing comeback in the impoverished Afghan countryside. By 2006, twenty-one of Afghanistan's thirty-four provinces were producing 94 percent of the world's supply" --
funny how we didn't have a problem with the Taliban until after 2000. who's innocent in this?
I don't think armies march shoulder to shoulder with muskets anymore. Let alone shoot when you see the whites of their eyes, at least without a scope.
Perfectly timed to the beat of Iron Maiden. Love it!
Who would flag your post as junk? I'm sick of emotional people on ZH, this is a site for rational thought and debate.............. I thought.
Have they released those last 15,000 documents?
https://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/26/world/26wiki.html
WikiLeaks withheld some 15,000 documents from release until its technicians could redact names of individuals in the reports whose safety could be jeopardized.
http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/us-scrambles-to-assess-wikileaks-da...
It was not clear whether Wikileaks decision to withhold 15,000 of its files was related.
( After perusing the internet I have seen the psyops attempting to nudge opinion away from the positive regarding Wikileaks and Assange. Everything from him being an agent of the US to him jeopardizing "innocent" Afghani's mentioned in the leaks.
Both of those points makes me question the intent of previously trusted sites and bloviators.)
They need to make sure the "right" people are outed this time.
Not just everybody.
Holy shit.
So, basically, the US government spends trillions of dollars to have teenagers drive around in circles getting exploded in a forsaken hellscape.
They love it; it is like video games.
In World War I both sides dug trenches and tunnels, gassed and shelled each other, and rotted to death in the stench water. The soldiers realized it was a farce and declared truce for Sundays and Holidays, particularly aggravating Heil Hitler. Too bad wars with foreign cultures don't share holidays.
uh, you mean Corporal Hitler, not Heil Hitler.
It's really weird but shortly after the discovery of pluto which in astrology is associated with digging into subteranean forces. repeating patterns (addictions somewhat)etc. We started massive run ups of assembly line production and warefare went totally tunneled and trenched. Everybody went into crazy repeating pattern mode. Japan started a war empire that conquered stuff to provide materials for a war empire. It was the oddest pattern of behavior. After the discovery of pluto every major war took on a huge subteranean component. Probably 1/4 of vietnam war was fought in tunnels.
And if you question it, you are not patriotic. /sarcasm
When you're in the business of making war, what else would you expect?
Perpetual war is GOOD.
This isn't a "war" the defense industry is interested in winning.
Incubus
Secretary of State: We were thinking, what could be a bigger threat than aliens invading from space?
General Panzer: Ooh boy! Scare the shit out of everyone. Even me, sir!
U.S. President: Jesus, is this the best you could come up with? What about, ya know, international terrorism?
General Panzer: Well, sir, we're not going to re-open missile factories just to fight some creeps running around in exploding rental cars, are we, sir?
Made me think of that convo between Nixon and Kissinger. I want you to think big, Henry, for Crissake.
AnAnonymous
What caught my eye, the quote was from Canadian Bacon, was how international terrorists evolved from "blowing up rental cars" to the false flag (sorry)...enacting 911.
The Hacker Hellstorm.
That'll solve our problems!
Plus, we get to go to war with Canada.
That was almost funny!
Thanks Soylent.
ORI
http://aadivaahan.wordpress.com
Aliens from space!! More dupes for the bankers to loan to is how they see it.
I really do not mean to start a riot, but I need to make a point, since we are at war in Afghanistan because of 9/11.
9/11 was an inside job.
WTC Building Seven controlled demolition footage.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LD06SAf0p9A
Mr Lennon Hendrix
http://archive.democrats.com/view.cfm?id=5166
In the book ''Bin Laden, la verité interdite'' (''Bin Laden, the forbidden truth''), that appeared in Paris on Wednesday, the authors, Jean-Charles Brisard and Guillaume Dasquie, reveal that the Federal Bureau of Investigation's deputy director John O'Neill resigned in July in protest over the obstruction.
Brisard claim O'Neill told them that ''the main obstacles to investigate Islamic terrorism were U.S. oil corporate interests and the role played by Saudi Arabia in it''.
The two claim the U.S. government's main objective in Afghanistan was to consolidate the position of the Taliban regime to obtain access to the oil and gas reserves in Central Asia.
They affirm that until August, the U.S. government saw the Taliban regime ''as a source of stability in Central Asia that would enable the construction of an oil pipeline across Central Asia'', from the rich oilfields in Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan, through Afghanistan and Pakistan, to the Indian Ocean.
Until now, says the book, ''the oil and gas reserves of Central Asia have been controlled by Russia. The Bush government wanted to change all that''.
But, confronted with Taliban's refusal to accept U.S. conditions, ''this rationale of energy security changed into a military one'', the authors claim.
''At one moment during the negotiations, the U.S. representatives told the Taliban, 'either you accept our offer of a carpet of gold, or we bury you under a carpet of bombs','' Brisard said in an interview in Paris.
makes more sense than any of the other bullshit we've been fed
"[T]he Federal Bureau of Investigation's deputy director John O'Neill resigned in July in protest over the obstruction."
Then he became head of security for the WTC on, get this, 9/11. He was in the building when it went. Peace to him and his family.
Here is one of my favorite movies on 9/11. Not only is it artistic, but it has heart. I love heart.
Who Killed Joh O'Neil?:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1981225573970187433#
Anyone with their senses about them knows that 911 was an inside job.
What remains to be seen is whether or not the US digs a deeper hole or whether they atone for the mess they've made and remedy the situation with sentences for mass murder and treason. Failure to do so will amount to their complete collapse morally, economically and finally.
I have barked this analogy before but 911 reminds me of child rape within the family. It is so psychologically devastating, the family rarely admits it in the criminal justice system. Instead they spend loads of money fighting the wrong enemy, even when the evidence is overwhelming. It seems certain that many members of our government are well aware of this reality, but they will never face it. Hell, much of the public will never face it. History will mark it as a milestone in the collapse of our economic, legal, and political systems. The saddest thing is if they had only come out and announced the frightening truth of peak debt and peak oil, we actually could have built something with all that money, and lives, and effort. It's truly disgusting.
Bravo.
I dislike how your post was flagged as junk 5 times, 9/11 has more holes in it than the iraqi navy. I do believe it was an inside job. Buildings don't fall at freefall speed in pancake theory. That's evidence.
Wikileaks ....what leaks....we always knew all the things in the 90000 docs....war crimes happens in all wars , revolutions,.....give us something NEW....
on the other hand Wikileaks goes out to prove that BIN LADEN is alive ...alqaeda exists....and that PAKISTAN ISI funds Taliban......though i am Indian and am enjoying all the trouble in Pakistan......i know and we all know who is funding Taliban, ( CIA, MOSSAD, RAW)...and Assange absolutely refuses to see the 9/11 inside proofs.....who cannot see the WTC 7 collapse in 6.5 seconds....
Hey TI,
Actually he mentions the "Indian Story" as some deeply explosive document set he has on India.
Maybe that is a way to subtly threaten someone?
We got stuff on you. Mate *wink*
ORI
http://aadivaahan.wordpress.com
http://www.counterpunch.org/nader08022010.html
Peace Through War Obama's Afghan FormulaBy RALPH NADER
The war in Afghanistan is nearly nine years old—the longest in American history. After the U.S. quickly toppled the Taliban regime in October 2001, the Taliban, by all accounts, came back stronger and harsher enough to control now at least 30 percent of the country. During this time, U.S. casualties, armaments and expenditures are at record levels.
America’s overseas wars have different outcomes when they have no constitutional authority, no war tax, no draft, no regular on the ground press coverage, no Congressional oversight, no spending accountability and, importantly, no affirmative consent of the governed who are, apart from the military families, hardly noticing.
This is an asymmetrical, multi-matrix war. It is a war defined by complex intrigue, shifting alliances, mutating motivations, chronic bribery, remotely-generated civilian deaths, insuperable barriers of language and ethnic and subtribal conflicts. It is fought by warlords, militias, criminal gangs, and special forces discretionary death squads. Millions of civilians are impoverished, terrified and live with violent disruptions. There is no central government to speak of. The White House uses illusions of strategies and tactics to bid for time. In Afghanistan, the historic graveyard of invaders, hope springs infernal.
Neatly dressed Generals—who probably would never have gotten into this mess if they, not the civilian neocon, draft dodgers in the Bush regime, had made the call—regularly trudge up to Congress to testify. There they caveat their status reports, keeping expectations alive, while cowardly politicians praise their bravery. General David Petraeus could receive the Academy Award in Hollywood next year, as long as he doesn’t say what he really thinks, obedient soldier that he is. Listen to General Stanley A. McChrystal, not known for his squeamishness. Speaking of civilian deaths and injured at military checkpoints, he said: “We have shot an amazing number of people, but to my knowledge, none have ever proven to be a threat.”
On the ground are 100,000 U.S. soldiers with another 100,000 corporate contractors. The human and economic costs are huge. According to the CIA, James Jones—Obama’s national security adviser—and other officials, there are only 50 to 100 Al Qaeda operatives in Afghanistan and 300 to 400 members of the group in Pakistan. The rest have scattered to other nations or just melded back into the population. Affiliates of Al Qaeda have emerged in the southern Arabian peninsula, Somalia, North Africa, Indonesia and other locales. There is something awry about this asymmetry.
The Taliban number no more the 30,000 irregular fighters of decidedly mixed motivations entirely focused over there, not toward the U.S. mainland. President Obama describes the Taliban as “a blend of hard-core ideologues, tribal leaders, kids that basically sign up because it’s the best job available to them. Not all of them are going to be thinking the same way about the Afghan government, about the future of Afghanistan. And so we’re going to have to sort through how these talks take place.”
Helping Obama “sort through” are drones blowing up civilian gatherings—by mistake of course—to destroy suspected militants often casually chosen by other natives because grudges or the transfer of money. Helicopter gunships and fighter planes spread havoc and terror through the populace. “Special forces” go deeper into Pakistan with their secret missions of mayhem. Local resentment and anger continues to boomerang against the U.S. occupiers.
U.S. Army truckloads of hundred dollar bills are paying off various personages of uncertain reliability. At the same time, Obama’s representatives regularly accuse President Karzai of rampant corruption. In between, civilian Americans and USAID try to dig wells and construct clinics and schools that might not be there very long in the anarchic, violent, nightfall world of the Afghan tribal areas.
More military force is expected to clear the way for the assumption of governmental duties and security in 2014 by a central government that is neither central, nor governmental. The locals loath the government’s attempt to collect taxes, and continue to survive by growing poppies (opium).
In early 2001, George W. Bush awarded the Taliban $40 million for stamping out the poppy trade; now Afghanistan is the number one narco grower in the world. U.S. soldiers walk right past the poppy fields so as not to turn the locals against them.
U.S. dollars pay warlords and the Taliban in order for them not to blow up U.S. conveys going through mountain passes, some carrying fuel that costs taxpayers $400 per delivered gallon. The Taliban receive half the electricity from a U.S. built power plant and collect the monthly electric bills in their controlled areas. The more electricity, the more money for the Taliban to fight the American and British soldiers.
Last year, over three billion dollars in cash moved out of Kabul’s airport unaccounted for, while billions of US dollars flow into Kabul for undocumented purposes.
Despite fighting against “insurgents” possessing rifles, propelled grenades and suicide vests, the Obama administration—with an arsenal of massive super-modern weaponry at hand—keeps saying there is no military solution and that only a political settlement will end the conflict.
Tell that to the Afghan people, who suffer from brutal sectarian struggles fueled by American and coalition occupiers and invaders. To them, there’s a disconnect between what Obama does and what he says he wants.
Meanwhile, the war spills ever more into Pakistan and its turbulent politics generates more hatred against Americans. These people had nothing to do with 9/11 so why, they ask, are the Americans blowing up their neighborhood?
President Obama says the soldiers should start coming home in July 2011, depending on conditions on the ground. He wants the Taliban commanders, whom he is destroying one by one, to agree to negotiations with Kabul that requires their subservience. His formula is peace through more war. But the Taliban are not known to surrender. They know the terrain where they live and they believe they can wear Obama down, notwithstanding U.S. special forces and drones expected to stay there for years.
Congress—an inkblot so far—needs to assert its constitutional authority over budgets and policy toward the war. Members are regular rubber-stamps of White House recklessness under Bush and Obama.
Furthermore, nothing will happen without a few million Americans back home stomping, marching and bellowing to end the boomeranging, costly invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan and concentrate on America’s needs at home.
Ralph Nader is the author of Only the Super-Rich Can Save Us!, a novel.
I am not reading this article.....or watching this video
Such a waste. We will in the end, leave with our tail between our legs like the Russians. No fault of the brave men and women fighting on the ground but it will become politically untenable.
NOTE: We are leaving Iraq by the end of next year and they don't even have a functioning government in place.
Gimp
"NOTE: We are leaving Iraq by the end of next year and they don't even have a functioning government in place."
Right. You better do more research, because wherever you found that lied.
do you think we intend to give up all those multimillion dollar bases? Or lay off those Mercenaries?
you knew what we were up to the minute we built the biggest embassy the world has ever known. That said, it will end up in same pathetic state as one of Saddam's palaces, destroyed and occupied by the next foolish, desperate group
It would not surprise me in the least to see in a few years, completely mercenary armies with American commanders.
Perhaps the Germans feel they could use the combat experience.
grunion
Green Card soldiers. Notice the first article makes it seem as if it is only a proposal, the next two state the reality.
http://www.armedforcesjournal.com/2007/03/2552879
Now is the time to consider a new chapter in the annals of American immigration. By inviting foreigners to join the U.S. armed forces in exchange for a promise of citizenship after a four-year tour of duty, we could continue to attract some of the world’s most enterprising, selfless and talented individuals. We could provide a new path toward assimilation for undocumented immigrants who are already here but lack the prerequisite for enlistment: a green card. And we could solve the No. 1 problem facing the Army and Marine Corps: the fact that these services need to grow to meet current commitments yet cannot easily do so (absent a draft) given the current recruiting environment.
Not only would immigrants provide a valuable influx of highly motivated soldiers, they would also address one of America’s key deficiencies in the battle against Islamist extremists: our lack of knowledge of the languages and mores in the lands where terrorists reside. Newly arrived Americans can help us avoid trampling on local sensitivities and thereby creating more enemies than we eliminate.
Skeptics might point out that in the just-concluded fiscal year, the military met most of its recruiting and retention goals. But this was done only by relaxing age and aptitude restrictions, allowing in more individuals with criminal records, and greatly increasing the number of recruiters and advertising dollars. Although we generally support what has been done to date, the logic of these measures cannot be pushed much further.
http://article.nationalreview.com/268629/green-card-soldiers/mark-krikorian
As most people didn't know until a month ago, the military welcomes enlistment of non-citizens; more than 37,000 lawful permanent residents (green-card holders) serve in the military, where they account for about three percent of active-duty personnel.
There are certain restrictions. You have to be a citizen to become an officer or join certain units, like the Navy SEALs. And, depending on the branch of the service, non-citizens may only be able to serve for one term (Air Force) or for a maximum of eight years (Army).
Such limitations implicitly acknowledge the fact that a member of a republic's armed forces ought to be a citizen of that republic. The naturalization law reinforces this notion by abbreviating the residency requirement from five years to three for non-citizens on active duty. And the president last year exercised his statutory authority by issuing an executive order waiving the residency requirement altogether for people on active duty in time of war.
These efforts to accelerate the citizenship process for "green-card soldiers" are commendable. Having delivered the keynote address at several swearing-in ceremonies for new citizens, I salute these servicemen and women who are joining the American people.
But the necessity of such measures comes from the fact that we allow non-citizens to enlist in the first place. No one appears to have asked whether this is a good idea. Shouldn't we require naturalization before enlistment? Don't we want an army of citizens rather than aliens?
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article4584.htm
Nearly 40,000 of America's frontline soldiers are not US citizens.
By James Gooder
09/01/03: (Aljazeera) Many of the troops on duty in Iraq do not count English as their first language and would prefer to take orders in their native tongue ... usually Spanish.
The revelation has prompted British MP George Galloway, one of the fiercest critics of the invasion of Iraq, to accuse the US of using its "green card" troops as cannon fodder.
Galloway went on to attack the US policy of putting its poor minorities and non-citizens in the frontline of its foreign wars.
In an exclusive interview he told Aljazeera.net that it was part of a long US tradition of using its underclass as cannon fodder.
The statistics, buried by White House spin doctors, reveal that a significant minority of troops fighting under the US banner are not in fact US citizens but residents hoping to speed up their citizenship.
Galloway said that this was typical of a government used to having the marginalised fight its battles.
"Nothing has changed since that last failed attempt to invade and determine the future of another country, Vietnam," he told Aljazeera.net from his holiday villa in Portugal.
"The proportion of blacks in the army was 40%, while in the US population the number of blacks was a quarter of that," he said
"Of course the underclass has now become increasingly more Hispanic than black."
Disproportionate casualties
This explains why a disproportionate number of the so-called US casualties in the invasion and occupation of Iraq have borne Latino names.
Galloway says that on a weekly Atlanta radio show in which he participates, the callers have repeatedly claimed that Blacks and Hispanics are the fodder army recruiters are after.
The Pentagon says that there are 37,401 non-US citizens on active duty, and that joining up has a special incentive for them - an American passport.
"The military services have processes and programmes in place to help service members expedite their citizenship," says a US Department of Defence spokesperson.
"The estimated time for the application is about six months."
Citizenship has been especially hard to come by due to the draconian immigration rules imposed by the US Department of Homeland Security since the 11 September 2001 attacks.
It can take several years to gain citizenship, for those lucky enough to get it. Signing up to the army can speed this up, provided the GI comes home alive.
Promises
Other incentives under the Montgomery GI Bill include the promises of a college fund of up to $50,000, post service employment and training.
But activist Carlos Mendes of the Latinos Against the War in Iraq coalition says that many soldiers have told him that these promises often fail to materialise.
The US military relies on volunteers, the Pentagon argues, and there is no official draft, therefore no pressure on anyone to sign up.
Yet in a country where further education is prohibitively expensive, and medical care privatised, these incentives deliberately target America's poor minorities, as well as those desperate for citizenship, freeing the sons and daughters of those with money and influence from service.
"The people who made the decisions never sent their sons to get hot, bloody and dirty on the battlefield," he said.
Even when there was a draft, the decision-makers stayed out of trouble. "The white sons of the rulers of America, including a certain George W Bush, have always found ways around the draft, in his case through his bogus service in the air auxiliary, while Dick Cheney took one course after another at university," he said.
Interesting. I found some articles that showed the plight of those who did serve in order to gain citizenship, only to be deported later.
My concerns are that we may end up training folks who will then become intimate with all procedures, eventually returning to their native lands to work for drug cartels. Heck, even citizen have supplied guns/supplies to their gang buddies on the outside. Or to stay and spy for 8 years worth of military exposure.
OK, let's say they're completely honest folk. So they can't stay in the military permanently, and they'll become part of the millions of unemployed. Gads, this just won't end well. Welcome to Fall of the Roman Empire 2.0.
Wikileaks, and its founder Julian Assange, are being discredited by the blogosphere:
"In January 2007, John Young, who runs cryptome.org, left Wikileaks, claiming the operation was a CIA front.
Asian intelligence sources reportedly state that: 'Wikileaks is running a disinformation campaign, crying persecution by U.S. intelligence- when it is U.S. intelligence itself.'" (soros & co back wikileaks / kosher mob & oval office)
http://aangirfan.blogspot.com/2010/07/wikileaks-works-for-cia-and-mossad...
lsbumblebee
Read my previous post.
You may not have seen this
http://cryptome.org/0001/wikileaks-zero.htm
Subject: WikiLeaks support, etc.
Date: Sun, 11 Jul 2010 17:07:13 -0500
*** BEGIN PGP DECRYPTED/VERIFIED MESSAGE ***
Dear Cryptome:
We at Zero Hedge have watched with interest (and some horror) the Wikievents of the last several weeks. Of particular notice to us recently has been the complete inability (or unwillingness) of Wikileaks to release any new material not related to the self-promotion of its ubiquitous figurehead "Julian Assange." Despite a massive budget, it would seem more than an order of magnitude larger than ours, the Wikileaks enterprise seems totally unable to do more than tweet pleas for patience while sending Mr. Assange to, e.g., Brussels to debate freedom of expression. Where are the millions of documents leakers risked to liberate? This is quite sad for us to see, as we were some of the earliest and most enthusiastic supporters of Wikileaks, as individuals as well as under the umbrella of "Zero Hedge."
We currently run and maintain our own servers for Zero Hedge and see in excess of 500,000 hits per day on normal days, with spikes to nearly a million if something interesting is going on. We've recently upgraded our infrastructure (multi-homed in some of the same jurisdictions Wikileaks uses, as it happens) to deal with our own growth. Consequently, we have quite a bit of spare capacity and bandwidth right now, as well as sufficient financial means to secure same for the foreseeable future. We are long time Cryptome readers, and fairly crypto and INFOSEC savvy (we even have an early member or two from the original cypherpunks list among our senior staff, though none connected with Wikileaks). We manage sensitive sources on a nearly daily basis.
We fight any number of frivolous takedown and legal challenges from well resourced institutions (investment banks, hedge funds, etc.) monthly. As individuals and an organization, we seek to avoid, rather than ravenously pursue, press of any kind. (We get enough headaches from the media without even trying, thank you very much). Moreover, while we are focused on finance, we are philosophically aligned with the ORIGINAL premise and mission of Wikileaks: The liberation of raw data. Our "manifesto" might give you an idea of the sorts of goals that drive us:
http://www.zerohedge.com/about
We have no doubt that directly contacting Mr. Assange would serve no real purpose, as it would seem control of even an inactive Wikileaks is something Assange would never willingly relinquish. Nor, given the allegations about the personal use of donor funds, would we be willing to associate ourselves with Mr. Assange until a full accounting were made. We seriously doubt this will ever come to pass. The figures currently claimed by the organization as needed funds are FAR in excess of what is even plausibly required for such a firm- given our experience running what is now a "Top 100" Technorati site (and consistently Top 1 or Top 2 in the Business category) for the last 18 months.
Unfortunately, it seems impossible to contact Wikileaks directly without passing an Assange filter first, so we have not bothered to offer our help directly to Wikileaks. We would, however, be quite interested in hearing from other members of the organization how we could help return Wikileaks to its roots. At the moment we aren't sure what form that might take. Clearing house for data? Secure submission node? Research and analysis? Managing sources and source material? Whatever the case, it is a huge pity to watch the continued squandering of Wikileaks, both as a concept and an execution. Perhaps, given your apparent status as an interim contact point for the Wikileaks rank-and-file, this note might be helpful.
Please feel free to post this material as you see fit under the header "An Open Letter to Wikileaks Insiders."
"Marla Singer"
co-founder
Zero Hedge
http://www.zerohedge.com
marla[at]zerohedge.com
I did not see that. Thank you.
lsbumblebee
You understand that the Cryptome and ZH posts were issued before those documents had been released. That they were designed to discredit Assange and Wikileaks.
I'm suspiscious of all the new bad press both Assange and Wikileaks are receiving.
It ain't all from freedom loving people trying to expose a paid operative, but paid operative does appear in the explanation regrading those denigrating Assange.
Maybe I misunderstand, but I'm not sure I agree with you. I certainly wouldn't refer to the blogosphere as "the press", and this article is from March 2010:
http://arthurzbygniew.blogspot.com/2010/03/soros-co-back-wikileaks-koshe...
lsbumblebee
That would have been released about the time of the videos correct?
If it had been written say a year before I might be tempted, but right now I would list it in the "nudge" the public category.
Allow me to quote Wayne Madsen himself, and I'll leave it at that.
"Wikileaks has been praised by Time magazine, which should make everyone suspicious."lsbumblebee
Wayne Madsen needs true believers. Which should make anyone suspiscious.
Show one of these fucks on either side that runs a non profit site, no donations, no t shirts, no books, no tapes, so on.
Like I said I'm not trusting anyone. I'll pick out what I find credible, and toss the rest. I'm too old to accept someones elses word as gospel. Especially someone I don't know, never met and never will meet.
I don’t trust Julian Assange and Wikileaks.
The mainstream media has given them an excessive amount of coverage, while long ignoring similar efforts.
Assange has made statements that indicate that he believes the government story regarding 9/11, which I find hard to swallow coming from somebody with his supposed credentials and purpose.
Most of the leaks so far have been of low impact (yes, we already know that innocent civilians sometimes get blown up), or work in the favor of the intelligence community.
These newest releases seem to boil down to two things so far:
1) Bin Laden sighted in 2006 (Reads like Israeli propaganda to me)
2) All signs point to the need to expand the war into Pakistan
Hmm, doesn’t sound like that really hit TPTB anywhere significant.
Wake me up when Wikileaks proves Israeli involvement in 9/11, oh wait, they probably reject or report leakers that send them such information. Oh well!
http://www.veteranstoday.com/2010/07/28/wikileaks-uss-afghan-war-diary-2004-2009/#respond
The leaked report is in disjointed form in bits and pieces and lacks coherence, continuity and objectivity.
The US leadership has understood the repercussions this report will have on war on terror in Afghanistan at this critical stage and has therefore played it down but made Pakistan into a shield to face the stings and arrows. Notwithstanding their effort to hide their crimes by making Pakistan ’s ISI an scapegoat, the leakage has for the first time exposed war crimes of US military in Afghanistan . It has also exposed US military leadership’s gory role in wreaking havoc in Afghanistan, and CIA’s role in connivance with other intelligence agencies in inflicting mayhem in Pakistan through covert means, and how cleverly US civil-military leaders kept Americans and the world in the dark about their wrongdoings.
DavidPierre
You just parroted the same shit I read last week at What Really Happened.
After the revelation that Hall Turner was an FBI operative used to motivate those with ideation like yours one must wonder about those water muddiers.
I'm not going to fall for it from either side.
I've been reading the same pro-Zionist crap about Alex Jones. From the same sources you have.
Right now I don't trust any sites nor any poster. I may agree with some points but I'm damn sure not checking into the Ashram.
listen to us. You know you're democracy is gone when you spend your time debating which piece of press and blogsphere is a government front
Seems to me that it's a covert operation to capture the blobosphere and shut down free thought over the internet.
Remember: to slay a Methesulah, you need to look into a mirror!
Um, I think you mean Medusa. For Methusela, dunno..maybe take away his Depends and Enfamil?
I stand corrected. Methusela was my ex.
The place was a sh*thole before the bombs now it's a hellhole. Nothing new ever under the sun.
GF - True and yes.
Do not concern yourself with all the dazzling lights, the wailing and gnashing of teeth. Walk away from the system. Make things or provide a service that is wholesome and useful. Starve the beast.
Haha. I hope people waste thousands of gallons of gas and dozens of bombs killing me.
Just a few more war crimes of the American Empire. Nothing to see here. Move on.
I have to disagree. It's only a war crime if you lose the war. Can kill all the innocents you want, just be sure not to lose. After all winners don't go to trial, they get parades.
Isn't it funny how we continue to fool ourselves that we are the exception to history and empires. Oh wait, every empire thought like this. And every empire ended. The only difference now is their lifespan is a lot shorter.
The end justifies the means, right?
The end justifies the means, right?
We can agree or disagree about whether we should be in Afghanistan, Iraq, or wherever. If you believe that America's military power should be limited to its own borders, so be it. If you believe that America's military power should be extended to protect America's interests at home and abroad, so be it.
What I do not agree with is assumption that America must fight a "civilized" war. Bullshit. When we're attacked either by a country or an ideology, our response should be very swift and extremely severe. Over the long term this saves more lives, and ends conflicts more quickly. Moreover, such a posture is a deterent, as basic as human nature.
If you have ever served in the armed forces, particularly in wartime, the reality of this will resonate with you. The two great motivators are fear and desire. Fear is more primal, and when your opponent is truly fearful of you, they will reconsider conflict.
Today's warfare landscape, while it may appear heinous and appalling, is no more so than we have seen through history. So there is no room for elegance, unless you wish to die.
If you're going to fight a war, be effective and get it over with. Don't languish, and don't politicize it (I know....I'm dreaming).
There is no such thing as a "civilized war". All wars are a shit.
But committing war crimes against civilians appears to be an American specialty.
Agreed, all wars are shit. But when do you think they will end? Why do you think they ever begin? When will that motivation end?
There is no such thing as a "war crime". It's a nonsensical term created in an effort to define a "civilized" war.
When you get into the mud, you're going to get really dirty. So do your business, and get the hell out.
+++
Well said.
Americas recent "wars" are not wars at all, theyre pure crime.
Damn! you tell 'em Dog!
So why are the US military's contactors paying millions per month to the Taliban not to attack it's convoys? Seems to me if we were all powerful as you think we could protect the long suppy lines we have. The same thing is happening in Iraq. The emperor has no clothes.