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"Stop Thanking Me For My Service" – Former US Army Ranger Blasts American Foreign Policy

Tyler Durden's picture




 

Submitted by Mike Krieger via Liberty Blitzkrieg blog,

Starbucks Chairman Howard Schultz has said of the upcoming Concert for Valor:

 

“The post-9/11 years have brought us the longest period of sustained warfare in our nation’s history. The less than one percent of Americans who volunteered to serve during this time have afforded the rest of us remarkable freedoms — but that freedom comes with a responsibility to understand their sacrifice, to honor them, and to appreciate the skills and experience they offer when they return home.”

 

It was crafty of Schultz to redirect that famed 1% label from the ultra rich, represented by CEOs like him, onto our “heroes.” At the concert, I hope Schultz has a chance to get more specific about those “remarkable freedoms.” Will he mention that the U.S. has the highest per capita prison population on the planet?  Does he include among those remarkable freedoms the guarantee that dogs, Tasers, tear gas, and riot police will be sent after you if you stay out past dark protesting the killing of an unarmed Black teenager by a representative of this country’s increasingly militarized police? Will the freedom to be too big to fail and so to have the right to melt down the economy and walk away without going to prison — as Jamie Dimon, the CEO of Chase, did – be mentioned? Do these remarkable freedoms include having every American phone call and email recorded and stored away by the NSA?

 

– From the incredible letter by Former U.S. Army Ranger Rory Fanning: Stop Thanking Me for My Service

I have to admit, whenever I find myself in the midst of a large public gathering (which fortunately isn’t that often), and the token veteran or two is called out in front of the masses to “honor” I immediately begin to cringe as a result of a massive internal conflict. On the one hand, I recognize that the veteran(s) being honored is most likely a decent human being. Either poor or extraordinarily brainwashed, the man or woman paraded in front of the crowd is nothing more than a pawn. Even if their spouse hasn’t left them; even if whatever conflict they were involved in didn’t result in a permanent disability or post traumatic stress disorder, this person has been used and abused, and thirty seconds of cheering in between ravenous bites out of a footlong hotdog from a drunk and apathetic crowd isn’t going to change that. I don’t harbor negative sentiments toward the veteran.

On the other hand, the entire spectacle makes me sick. I refuse to participate in the superficial charade for many reasons, but the primary one is that I don’t want to play any part in the crowd’s insatiable imbecility. It’s the stupidity and ignorance of the masses that the corporate-state preys upon, and that’s precisely what’s on full display at these tired and phony imperialist celebrations.

As Aldous Huxley noted poignantly in Brave New World Revisited (for more see my post, Brave New World Revisited…Key Excerpts and My Summary).

Assembled in a crowd, people lose their powers of reasoning and their capacity for moral choice. Their suggestibility is increased to the point where they cease to have any judgement or will of their own. They become very excitable, they lose all sense of individual or collective responsibility, they are subject to sudden accesses of rage, enthusiasm and panic. In a word, man in a crowd behaves as though he had swallowed a large dose of what I have called “herd-poisoning.”

 

Reading is a private, not a collective activity. The writer speaks only to individuals, sitting by themselves in a state of normal sobriety. The orator speaks to masses of individuals, already well primed with herd poison. They are at his mercy and, if he knows his business, he can do what he likes with them.

While I have felt many of the sentiments expressed in the paragraphs above for a while, I never publicly wrote them down since I didn’t feel like it was my place to do so. Such sentiments carry far more weight when expressed by a veteran, and thanks to an incredible letter by ex-U.S. Army Ranger Rory Fanning, we now have such a voice.

What follows is an amazingly brave and powerful piece of prose originally posted at Tom’s Dispatch. Read it and heed his words carefully.

Stop Thanking Me for My Service

 

Last week, in a quiet indie bookstore on the north side of Chicago, I saw the latest issue of Rolling Stone resting on a chrome-colored plastic table a few feet from a barista brewing a vanilla latte.  A cold October rain fell outside. A friend of mine grabbed the issue and began flipping through it. Knowing that I was a veteran, he said, “Hey, did you see this?” pointing to a news story that seemed more like an ad.  It read in part:

 

“This Veterans Day, Bruce Springsteen, Eminem, Rihanna, Dave Grohl, and Metallica will be among numerous artists who will head to the National Mall in Washington D.C. on November 11th for ‘The Concert For Valor,’ an all-star event that will pay tribute to armed services.”

 

“Concert For Valor? That sounds like something the North Korean government would organize,” I said as I typed Concertforvalor.com into my MacBook Pro looking for more information.

 

The sucking sound from the espresso maker was drowning out a 10-year-old Shins song. As I read, my heart sank, my shoulders slumped.

 

Special guests at the Concert for Valor were to include: Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, and Steven Spielberg.  The mission of the concert, according to a press release, was to “raise awareness” of veterans issues and “provide a national stage for ensuring that veterans and their families know that their fellow Americans’ gratitude is genuine.”

Former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Admiral Michael Mullen were to serve in an advisory capacity, and Starbucks, HBO, and JPMorgan Chase were to pay for it all. “We are honored to play a small role to help raise awareness and support for our service men and women,” said HBO chairman Richard Plepler.

 

Though I couldn’t quite say why, that Concert for Valor ad felt tired and sad, despite the images of Rihanna singing full-throated into a gold microphone and James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett of Metallica wailing away on their guitars. I had gotten my own share of “thanks” from civilians when I was still a U.S. Army Ranger.  Who hadn’t?  It had been the endless theme of the post-9/11 era, how thankful other Americans were that we would do… well, what exactly, for them?  And here it was again. I couldn’t help wondering: Would veterans somewhere actually feel the gratitude that Starbucks and HBO hoped to convey?

I went home and cooked dinner for my wife and little girl in a semi-depressed state, thinking about that word “valor” which was to be at the heart of the event and wondering about the Hall of Fame line-up of twenty-first century liberalism that was promoting it or planning to turn out to hail it: Rolling Stone, the magazine of Hunter S. Thompson and all things rock and roll; Bruce Springsteen, the billion-dollar working-class hero; Eminem, the white rapper who has sold more records than Elvis; Metallica, the crew who sued Napster and the metal band of choice for so many longhaired, disenfranchised youth of the 1980s and 1990s.  They were all going to say “thank you” — again.

 

Raising (Whose?) Awareness

 

Later that night, I sat down and Googled “vets honored.” Dozens and dozens of stories promptly queued up on my screen.  (Try it yourself.)  One of the first items I clicked on was the 50th anniversary celebration in Bangor, Maine, of the Gulf of Tonkin incident, the alleged Pearl Harbor of the Vietnam War.  Governor Paul LePage had spoken ringingly of the veterans of that war: “These men were just asked to go to a foreign land and protect our freedoms. And they weren’t treated with respect when they returned home. Now it’s time to acknowledge it.”

 

Vietnam, he insisted, was all about protecting freedom — such a simple and innocent explanation for such a long and horrific war. Lest you forget, the governor and those gathered in Bangor that day were celebrating a still-murky “incident” that touched off a massive American escalation of the war.  It was claimed that North Vietnamese patrol boats had twice attacked an American destroyer, though President Lyndon Johnson later suggested that the incident might even have involved shooting at “flying fish” or “whales.” As for protecting freedom in Vietnam, tell the dead Vietnamese in America’s “free fire zones” about that.

 

No one, however, cared about such details.  The point was that eternal “thank you.”  If only, I thought, some inquisitive and valorous local reporter had asked the governor, “Treated with disrespect by whom?” And pointed out the mythology behind the idea that American civilians had mistreated GIs returning from Vietnam.  (Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for the Veterans Administration, which denied returning soldiers proper healthcare, or the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion, organizations that weren’t eager to claim the country’s defeated veterans of a disastrous war as their own.)

 

When it came to thanks and “awareness raising,” no American war with a still living veteran seemed too distant to be ignored. Google told me, for example, that Upper Gwynedd, Pennsylvania, had recently celebrated its 12th annual “Multi-Cultural Day” by thanking its “forgotten Korean War Veterans.” According to a local newspaper report, included in the festivities were martial arts demonstrations and traditional Korean folk dancing.

 

The Korean War was the precursor to Vietnam, with similar results. As with the Gulf of Tonkin incident, the precipitating event of the war that North Korea ignited on June 25, 1950, remains open to question. Evidence suggests that, with U.S. approval, South Korea initiated a bombardment of North Korean villages in the days leading up to the invasion. As in Vietnam, there, too, the U.S. supported a corrupt autocrat and used napalm on a mass scale. Millions died, including staggering numbers of civilians, and North Korea was left in rubble by war’s end.  Folk dancing was surely in short supply. As for protecting our freedoms in Korea, enough said.

 

These two ceremonies seemed to catch a particular mood (reflected in so many similar, if more up-to-date versions of the same). They might have benefited from a little “awareness raising” when it came to what the American military has actually been doing these last years, not to say decades, beyond our borders. They certainly summed up much of the frustration I was feeling with the Concert for Valor. Plenty of thank yous, for sure, but no history when it came to what the thanks were being offered for in, say, Iraq or Afghanistan, no statistics on taxpayer dollars spent or where they went, or on innocent lives lost and why.

 

Will the “Concert for Valor” mention the trillions of dollars rung up terrorizing Muslim countries for oil, the ratcheting up of the police and surveillance state in this country since 9/11, the hundreds of thousands of lives lost thanks to the wars of George W. Bush and Barack Obama? Is anyone going to dedicate a song to Chelsea Manning, or John Kiriakou, or Edward Snowden – two of them languishing in prison and one in exile — for their service to the American people? Will the Concert for Valor raise anyone’s awareness when it comes to the fact that, to this day, veterans lack proper medical attention, particularly for mental health issues, or that there is a veteran suicide every 80 minutes in this country? Let’s hope they find time in between drum solos, but myself, I’m not counting on it.

 

Thank Yous

 

While Googling around, I noticed an allied story about President Obama christening a poetic sounding “American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial” on October 5th.  There, he wisely noted that “the U.S. should never rush into war.” As he spoke, however, the Air Force, the Navy, and Special Forces personnel (who wear boots that do touch the ground, even in Iraq), as well as the headquarters of “the Big Red One,” the Army’s 1st Infantry Division, were already involved in the latest war he had personally ordered in Iraq and Syria, while, of course, bypassing Congress.

 

Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you! Damn, I voted for Obama because he said he’d end our overseas wars. At least it’s not Bush sending the planes, drones, missiles, and troops back there, because if it were, I’d be mad.

 

Then there were the numerous stories about “Honor Flights” sponsored by Southwest Airlines that offered all World War II veterans and the terminally ill veterans of more recent wars a free trip to Washington to “reflect at their memorials” before they died. Honor flights turn out to be a particularly popular way to honor veterans. Local papers in Richfield, UtahDes Moines, IowaElgin, IllinoisAustin, TexasMiami, Florida, and so on place by place across significant swaths of the country have run stories about dying hometown “heroes” who have participated in these flights, a kind of nothing-but-the-best-in-corporate-sponsorship for the last of the “Greatest Generation.”

 

“Welcome home” ceremonies, with flags, marching bands, heartfelt embraces, much weeping, and the usual babies and small children missed during tours of duty in our war zones are also easy to find. In the first couple of screens Google offered in response to the phrase “welcome home ceremony,” I found the usual thank-you celebrations for veterans returning from Afghanistan in Sioux Falls, South DakotaFt. Sill, Oklahoma, and Saint Albans, Vermont, among other places. “We don’t do enough for our veterans, for what they do for us, we hear the news, but to be up there in a field, and be shot at, and sometimes coming home disabled, we don’t realize how lucky we are sometimes to have the people who have served their country,” one of the Saint Albans attendees was typically quoted as saying.

 

“Do enough…?” In America, isn’t thank you plenty?

 

Oddly, it’s harder to find thank-you ceremonies for living vets involved in America’s numerous smaller interventions in places like the Dominican Republic, Lebanon, Grenada, Kosovo, Somalia, Libya, and various CIA-organized coups and proxy wars around the world, but I won’t be surprised if they, too, exist.  I was wondering, though: What about all those foreign soldiers we’ve trained to fight our wars for us in places like South Vietnam,Iraq, and Afghanistan? Shouldn’t they be thanked as well? And how about members of the Afghan Mujahedeen that we armed and funded in the 1980s while they gave the Soviet Union its own “Vietnam” (and who are now fighting for al-Qaeda, the Taliban, or other extreme Islamist outfits)? Or what about the Indonesian troops we armed under the presidency of Gerald Ford, who committed possibly genocidal acts in East Timor in 1975?  Or has our capacity for thanks been used up in the service of American vets?

 

Since 9/11, those thank yous have been aimed at veterans with the regularity of the machine gun fire that may still haunt their dreams. Veterans have also been offered special consideration when it comes to applications for mostly menial jobs so that they can “utilize the skills” they learned in the military. While they continue to march in those welcome home parades and have concerts organized in their honor, the thank yous are in no short supply. The only question that never seems to come up is: What exactly are they being thanked for?

 

Heroes Who Afford Us Freedom

 

Starbucks Chairman Howard Schultz has said of the upcoming Concert for Valor:

 

“The post-9/11 years have brought us the longest period of sustained warfare in our nation’s history. The less than one percent of Americans who volunteered to serve during this time have afforded the rest of us remarkable freedoms — but that freedom comes with a responsibility to understand their sacrifice, to honor them, and to appreciate the skills and experience they offer when they return home.”

 

It was crafty of Schultz to redirect that famed 1% label from the ultra rich, represented by CEOs like him, onto our “heroes.” At the concert, I hope Schultz has a chance to get more specific about those “remarkable freedoms.” Will he mention that the U.S. has the highest per capita prison population on the planet?  Does he include among those remarkable freedoms the guarantee that dogs, Tasers, tear gas, and riot police will be sent after you if you stay out past dark protesting the killing of an unarmed Black teenager by a representative of this country’s increasingly militarized police? Will the freedom to be too big to fail and so to have the right to melt down the economy and walk away without going to prison — as Jamie Dimon, the CEO of Chase, did – be mentioned? Do these remarkable freedoms include having every American phone call and email recorded and stored away by the NSA?

 

And what about that term “hero”? Many veterans reject it, and not just out of Gary Cooperesque modesty either. Most veterans who have seen combat, watched babies get torn apart, or their comrades die in their arms, or the most powerful army on Earth spend trillions of dollars fighting some of the poorest people in the world for 13 years feel anything but heroic.  But that certainly doesn’t stop the use of the term.  So why do we use it?  As journalist Cara Hoffman points out at Salon:

 

“‘[H]ero’ refers to a character, a protagonist, something in fiction, not to a person, and using this word can hurt the very people it’s meant to laud. While meant to create a sense of honor, it can also buy silence, prevent discourse, and benefit those in power more than those navigating the new terrain of home after combat. If you are a hero, part of your character is stoic sacrifice, silence. This makes it difficult for others to see you as flawed, human, vulnerable, or exploited.”

 

We use the term hero in part because it makes us feel good and in part because it shuts soldiers up (which, believe me, makes the rest of us feel better). Labeled as a hero, it’s also hard to think twice about putting your weapons down. Thank yous to heroes discourage dissent, which is one reason military bureaucrats feed off the term.

 

There are American soldiers stationed around the globe who think about filing conscientious objector status (as I once did), and I sometimes hear from some of them.  They often grasp the way in which the militarized acts of imperial America are helping to create the very enemies they are then being told to kill. They understand that the trillions of dollars being wasted on war will never be spent on education, health care, or the development of clean energy here at home.  They know that they are fighting for American control over the flow of fossil fuels on this planet, the burning of which is warming our world and threatening human existence.

 

Then you have Bruce Springsteen and Metallica telling them “thank you” for wearing that uniform, that they are heroes, that whatever it is they’re doing in distant lands while we go about our lives here isn’t an issue.  There is even the possibility that, one day, you, the veteran, might be ushered onto that stage during a concert or onto the field during a ballgame for a very public thank you. The conflicted soldier thinks twice.

 

Valor

 

I’m back at that indie bookstore sitting at the same chrome-colored table trying to hash all this out, including my own experiences in the Army Rangers, and end on a positive note. The latest issue of Rolling Stone appears to have sold out. Out the window, the sun is peeking through a thick web of clouds.  They sell wine here, too. The sooner I finish this, the sooner I can start drinking.

 

There is no question that we should honor people who fight for justice and liberty. Many veterans enlisted in the military thinking that they were indeed serving a noble cause, and it’s no lie to say that they fought with valor for their brothers and sisters to their left and right. Unfortunately, good intentions at this stage are no substitute for good politics. The war on terror is going into its 14th year.  If you really want to talk about “awareness raising,” it’s years past the time when anyone here should be able to pretend that our 18-year-olds are going off to kill and die for good reason. How about a couple of concerts to make that point?

 

Until then, I’m going to drink wine and try to enjoy the music over the sound of the espresso machine.

Rory Fanning walked across the United States for the Pat Tillman Foundation in 2008-2009, following two deployments to Afghanistan with the 2nd Army Ranger Battalion. Fanning became a conscientious objector after his second tour. He is the author of the new book Worth Fighting For: An Army Ranger’s Journey Out of the Military and Across America (Haymarket, 2014).

While I know you are sick of empty “Thank Yous,” Mr. Fanning, here’s a genuine one. Thank You. Not for your service as an Army Ranger, but for the incredible service you have done to your country by writing this letter.

 

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Sun, 11/02/2014 - 01:18 | 5403228 Moe Howard
Moe Howard's picture

You would just be the victim of somebody else's heroes. Don't you get it? You either have your own gang of people willing to commit violence on the other guy's gang or you are having violence commited on your peace loving ass. That is reality. We can all wish for something else.

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 01:13 | 5388775 gwar5
gwar5's picture

Guy has a point, but maybe they're being thanked by people secretly grateful they were not forced to serve by a military draft. 

 

We have an all voluntary military, not compulsory. If enough people had not been signing up over the years we might have had compulsory service come back. I saw many kids coming through the boot camp clinic and they were very young, very green, but all good kids and knew what they were there for.  Very few urban wanna-go-home malingering types.

 

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 01:16 | 5388778 My Days Are Get...
My Days Are Getting Fewer's picture

Before 9/11, no one extended to me a "thank you for your service".  Now, 45 years after I returned from 101st in Vietnam back to the States ("DEROS"), anyone, who learns I was a combat veteran, almost genuflects when thanking me for my service.

What gives.  For what am I being thanked.  Back in August 1969, my parents, my wife-to-be and some close friends were thankful that I returned alive and in one piece.

Look, we were all drafted or about to be drafted.  Our volunteer-ism was coerced.  Am I being thanked because I allowed myself to be coerced into bearing arms in a foreign land.  We fought there to survive for one year - it is hard for non-combatants to understand that you really only fight for your fellow soldiers and nothing else.  It is mostly a matter of collective or group survival.

The Draft ended in 1973.  Everyone in the Military today is a true volunteer.  Soldiering is their job.  They did not have to sign up.  In the end, they are placed in the same group survival environment. 

I remember the training slogan, as it echoed in the halls and on the fields:  "It is not for you to reason why.  It is for you to do or die."  Tough medicine for a draftee.  But just part of the job for a professional soldier.

I wonder if the public should also be thanking their fellow Americans who are or were Blackwater operatives. I used to drive through Moyock, NC with my family en route to the Outer Banks and Ocracoke Island for summer vacations.  It never dawned on me that I should be thanking every military looking guy sitting in one of the restaurants we used to patronize.

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 01:29 | 5388791 kchrisc
kchrisc's picture

" Everyone in the Military today is a true volunteer."

Correction: Everyone in the military today is a true mercenary. An Unconstitutional one as well

Ditto for me and my time "in" in the 80s.

An American, not US subject.

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 01:25 | 5388790 kchrisc
kchrisc's picture

Sort of ironic now that I realize that the oath of induction to the Constitution that I took, was Unconstitutional itself.

An American citizen, not US subject.

 

"An war is a group of young men throw into a life or death citation where they fight to keep themselves and their buddies alive by killing other young men so thrown together, and so the elites can cash a check."

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 02:47 | 5388839 viedoklis_lv
viedoklis_lv's picture

 

I will repeat this post because in my opinion it’s important to open eyes those who have good intention in their heart but have been misled by elite / regimes of different sides. How I see things is I look at what government is doing – looking at its work, methods and results. And from there it’s basically two sides: those who work in good of common people and protect their individual rights & freedoms, and those who manipulate their people take their rights away and work for elite benefits. Now you look from that perspective and you are going around in so called “alternative media” as this (which actually is not alternative at all – but about that little later) than I’m sure you are aware  about US oligarch regime crimes and that they are not working for the people. What you are lacking in information at some sites is about other elites / regimes / oligarchs and how they treat their people. So because of this lack of information you can be easily manipulated to think that there is only one evil elite that rules west and others can be looked at as opposition to this evil – so automatically they are the good guys VS evil west. Well it’s not so at all. If you go back to what I started and those criteria how I divide governments – than you will realize that for example Putin oligarch regime, China elite regime – is not working for their people and is not protecting their individual rights and freedoms. They use the same tactics, the same crimes, the same manipulation in order to gain their elite more power more wealth and hides it under different banners. I’ post links about Putin regime in the end – check them out.

This manipulation with your mind is possible using different kind of channels that you think is alternative media – when actually it’s Putin regime asset for brainwashing you. Also US oligarch regime has their alternative media to brainwash you. So it’s really hard to stay focus and not to get lost in this war over your mind. But those criteria I posted can help you.

What Putin regime assets as RT, Zerohedge (because obviously it is Putin regime asset as you will not be able to find any criticism towards from this site towards actions Putin regime do to their people by limiting their freedoms, by internet censorship and of course will stay in line with Putin regime lies that they are not invading Ukraine - when there is evidence about Putin regime tanks in Ukraine that are not in any country army but only in Russian) does is they are mixing truth with lies. You know – you have to add some sugar for bitter poison. They are well aware about US oligarch crimes and they are well aware that MSM is hiding them from people in west and they are well aware that people in west is seeking the truth that exposes these crimes – so what they do is this – they expose US oligarch regime crimes for what you are so interested in and in this way they are taking your attention and confidence to this source so that you trust them and thank them for bringing truth. And what they do then is they add their Putin regime lies that you automatically accept as truth because they were saying truth about US oligarch regime crimes (not always though). So this is the way they mix truth with lies in order to make you think from their perspective. If they add more paid trolls than mostly this scheme will work and people will live under Putin regime brainwashing machine. So now you know. Now it’s a choice for you to think this trough and start looking at information more with critical thinking. Yes, world is not so simple as we think.

 

Here are some links to look at and think of if you are cheering for Putin regime:

 http://globalvoicesonline.org/2014/07/05/russia-internet-censorship-laws-crackdown/

 http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/russias-putin-signs-law-extending-kremlins-grip-over-media/2014/10/15/6d9e8b2c-546b-11e4-809b-8cc0a295c773_story.html 

 http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-ad-ban-hurts-television/25449900.html

 http://www.hrw.org/news/2013/04/24/russia-worst-human-rights-climate-post-soviet-era

 http://www.forbes.com/sites/paulroderickgregory/2014/04/12/russian-tv-caught-red-handed-same-guy-same-demonstration-but-three-different-people-spy-bystander-heroic-surgeon/

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkaVIIOE9ys

 http://bigstory.ap.org/article/6a2b93aac55c40c9a1b0b0bcc11a07d9/russia-gives-approval-sanctions-compensation

 http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/russias-rosneft-asks-48-billion-state-wealth-fund-sanctions-bite-1471332 

 

 

 

 

 

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 07:18 | 5389093 basho
basho's picture

this dipstick is on every channel. lol

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 17:52 | 5391498 Escapedgoat
Escapedgoat's picture

Anal-ISIS:

By the viedoklis_lv "Baltic" Troll, Which is not Baltic in my opinion but  they may be two of them at least (Change in Syntax sometimes)

His Reference: Putin regime,   US oligarch,   Putin regime asset for brainwashing you, Putin regime brainwashing machine,     

 

AND WHAT HE DOES NOT REFER TO :

AggloZionists, Obama Regime, NSA, Wall Street Kleprocrats, Crony Capitalists, or Closet Communists (Socialising their Debts and Privatising their Profits  i.e ROBBING US) Israeli Mad Dogs, NATO Thugs ( as in Warsaw Thugs), Switcherland or Norwegian Systems opposite but accountable to THEIR  Citizens.

 Note to the Nato Shills: You need to up the payment to your trolls and Upgrade their quality it is getting boring for us.


 


 

 

 

 

 

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 02:48 | 5388845 Magnum
Magnum's picture

For a look into the soul of today's US miltary personnel, check out the ethics and behavior of our police nationwide (many of whom are vets, and most influence cop culture).

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 03:05 | 5388852 Cardinal Fang
Cardinal Fang's picture

Well, it seems like the author (Fanning) is trying too hard to convince me that he knows how to write. Sorry, but his writing style is tedious malcontent bullshit.

I'll take "Catch -22" over this shit any day. At least Heller 'got it'. This guy (Fanning) thinks somebody gives a shit.

Which, of course, is the lesson you learn first 5 minutes into boot camp.

"Nobody gives a shit about you and your big ideas"...

Including me...

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 04:38 | 5388949 Moe Howard
Moe Howard's picture

You are correct, his writing style is shit and what kind of moron becomes a Ranger and then becomes a CO? What did he think, he was Ranger Smith of Jellystone Park? The Rangers are supposed to be "shock troops" that go in fresh and do some ass kicking and leave. The ass kicking part is called "killing the enemy in massive numbers".

 

People like him make me wonder. Do they live in some romantic fog that they think "oh, I guess I'll join the Army and be a Ranger because they are so bad ass." Never a thought about combat and killing people or what the mission is?

It reminds me of when I was deployed to NTC, I was reading the local post newspaper, and there was a story about some Joe who was sent to help in a disaster somewhere, and they quoted him "That's why I joined the Army, to help people". I started laughing outloud, my Batallion Commander was sitting next to me, he said, "What are you laughing about?" I read him the quote, he didn't get what I found funny. I said I thought you joined the Army to kill people and destroy things, not help people. You join the Salvation Army or the Red Cross or something to help people. We are supposed to be a mean green killing machine.

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 04:31 | 5388942 NuYawkFrankie
NuYawkFrankie's picture

"Thank you for your stupidity" -  Henry Kissinger

Sun, 11/02/2014 - 01:21 | 5403232 Moe Howard
Moe Howard's picture

The weird thing about Kissinger is he was an Intelligence NCO in WWII. A Sergeant. E5 I believe.

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 04:33 | 5388944 huggy_in_london
huggy_in_london's picture

Ah yes, the endless thanks to the miltary.  All the trappings of a fascist state.....

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 04:47 | 5388959 Moe Howard
Moe Howard's picture

I'll say this. I don't need thanks from anybody, except my comrades - and I thank them. They can take "veterans preference" for jobs and shove it up their collective asses, I know I never got a job because of that. The VA is a giant clusterfuck employment program for affermative action, the great majority of the employees aren't veterans so that tellls you something right there. I don't march in parades, I don't wear a hat or any of the other bullshit I see all the time around town, I don't fly a flag in front of my house, etc. I willingly joined the Army, twice, and I knew what I was doing and I didn't have any bullshit stars in my eyes.

I saw the world, in and out of the Army, and I found something out - I'd rather be the guy with the gun then the pissant without one. I'm a trained professional killer able to lead men in combat. That's a skill they can't take away from me, and the way things are looking, it might come in handy sometime soon.

I got a lot of bullshit medals and ribbons but the only one that matters to ME is the CIB. Everything else is bullshit.

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 06:10 | 5389010 Fix It Again Timmy
Fix It Again Timmy's picture

Thank you for being part of an organization that pisses away my hard-earned money doing the same old shit that never works[dreamt up by some Ivy league Kumquats] in some third world country...BTW, I was a combat medic in Vietnam so I've seen the follies up front and personal...

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 06:09 | 5389011 css1971
css1971's picture

Make no mistake. We laud heros because we get something from them, essentially free. They kill (the military ones) and die so that we can have the life and level of comfort that we do.

As resources become tighter, I see the propaganda being ramped up and the applause becoming louder and more bellicose. Not less. The machine needs recruits.

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 06:41 | 5389043 negative rates
negative rates's picture

Those same fighters are the ones responsible for the tighter resources, they need to be rehabed and re-educated so it's fairer for all and not just for the elite and fighters.

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 06:36 | 5389039 1stepcloser
1stepcloser's picture

Go along with the program or be Pat Tillman'd

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 06:38 | 5389042 overmedicatedun...
overmedicatedundersexed's picture

Gen Butler, took a while to see thru the BS, for many like myself we  come from a family where all the men served and some made it a career after WWII it took years after 2 tours in nam for me to understand the cognative dissonance, the root of the lies created by the tools of john wayne type movies & public patriotic displays..I count myself lucky in that I woke up some while in country. like other vets here posted (one from my ol unit 101st )..we fought for each other & we saved who we could, like one day when a fellow us soldier aimed his m60 at me because I ordered him to stop to just stop. we as programed we hate truth in war truth does not care it comes to us and some go crazy , suicidal, or numb to it and less human, the most tho just file it away and never open that door, don't ask them what they did, for the truth is what they fear and the fear they will go crazy if they look at it.

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 06:43 | 5389049 Rikeska
Rikeska's picture

The US Military has not protected us from anything since WW2 if then.

Many young men desire to be warriors, this is nothing new.  It is true that Cooter from Corn Hole Holler may have had delusions and kind motives of serving his country when he joined up.  Good on him for his intentions.

Makes no difference, Cooter is just grist for the MIC mill.

The level of soldier jock sniffing in the US in this day and age is remarkable and smacks of 3rd Reich fervor.  Just wait until all of the General Officers fit the right mold and the beast is unleashed on us.  All the good guys are leaving in droves leaving behind political shit weasels rather than men who would serve their country.

It's going to be a shit hurricane Randy.

 

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 07:10 | 5389081 The Chief
The Chief's picture

Brilliant analysis. I totally agree. I recently met a "forced" retired General officer. He was talking to some colleagues of mine about joining their firm's board as a director and they invited me to dinner with him.

It took a while for him to warm up to me, but he basically said that he has a duty to the country go back and totally fuck up TPTB and the freakshow that he left in charge.

I've joked in the past about lesbians and mentally ill wanna bes being placed in charge. He said that it's far worse than I could even imagine. The general officer boards have a mandate and ANY hint that you might be a constitutionalist secures your demise in the service of this country.

I'll say that again...ANY hint that you might be a constitutionalist secures your demise in the service of this country.

Mentally ill, indeed.

 

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 06:49 | 5389055 jughead
jughead's picture

My standard response to "thank you for your service" used to be a long tirade to thank me by not sending my kids and grandkids off to foreign shit holes for no good reason.  But I don't have the patience for that anymore, so I just reply "Fuck you very much".

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 09:12 | 5389337 Mi Naem
Mi Naem's picture

I appreciate your frustration jughead, and your despair at the pervasive cluelessness. 

However, "Fuck you very much" just trashes your credibility to make you look like an eccentric, grumpy old asshole.  It throws away another desperately needed educational opportunity to help turn around that pervasive cluelessness that keeps angry mobs off of the streets and helps enable the criminals to make wounded or dead international thugs of our young people. 

Thu, 10/30/2014 - 08:07 | 5392884 DukeDog
DukeDog's picture

Service is voluntary.

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 07:11 | 5389082 vegan
vegan's picture

"Our freedoms are not under attack from the remnants of Saddam Hussein's Baathist party, they're under attack by the likes of John Ashcroft, they're trampled by Donald Rumsfeld, they're disdained by Dick Cheney and they're not even understood by George W. Bush." - Lt Col Dr Robert Bowman, Head of DoD during the "Star Wars Defense" system and combat pilot who flew 101 missions in Vietnam July 2005

 

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 07:25 | 5389091 Son of Captain Nemo
Son of Captain Nemo's picture

Not that their isn't anything new in this read that we already didn't know regarding the usual suspects especially the Hollywood elite and executives in Washington that will be raising a glass of Dom this November 11 in our Nation's Capital to memorialize with more platitudes the men and women that fight for their investments -the absolute worst news I could have received was that Bruce "Born in the U.S.A." Springsteen will be in attendance with his hand out!...

The same Bruce Springsteen that at one time commiserated with the plight of the "Jersey Girls" that made a 9/11 investigation possible only to turn his back on them like all the rest of them and kept his mouth shut?...

Did Bono make a few phone calls of encouragement telling him the way it is and that the more you fight it the worse it simply gets for your career?!!!...  Bruce I use to admire you but you're the same plastic fake creep that is walking the long grey line for more of those "green IOUs" the rest of us will die for! 

The only redemption you could ever have at this point is if you crash that party in D.C. on November 11 and drop a few comments that will make them never invite you back again!

But I'll believe that one when I see it!!!

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 07:27 | 5389102 The Chief
The Chief's picture

Cap,

 

He's the token featured tribal "artist" in this creepshow.

Sun, 11/02/2014 - 01:27 | 5403235 Moe Howard
Moe Howard's picture

I love how he used to wear jungle boots back in the Born in the USA days. A fake Nam vet.

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 07:26 | 5389100 IndianaJohn
IndianaJohn's picture

All warfare is an armed robbery.

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 07:43 | 5389126 Hockey Goon
Hockey Goon's picture

"the killing of an unarmed Black teenager by a representative of this country’s increasingly militarized police?"

Does he mean the 6'7", 250 lb teenager who refused to put his hands up, attacked the officer, and broke the militarized cops eye socket?

When spewing truths, it's important to spew the whole truth.

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 09:23 | 5389384 Vendetta
Vendetta's picture

Thank you

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 22:38 | 5392243 luckylogger
luckylogger's picture

This is when I realized this is a fraud !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 07:46 | 5389131 homiegot
homiegot's picture

I never thought our military was fighting for anything honorable in Iraq. Afghanistan maybe at the beginning, but that turned out to be bullshit too. How about, "Sorry for your service. You fucked up." ??

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 08:42 | 5389247 Raoul_Luke
Raoul_Luke's picture

More like "Sorry for your service.  WE fucked up."

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 08:52 | 5389284 kumquatsunite
kumquatsunite's picture

Really the point is to just stop all the "give everyone a constant thank you and trophy culture"; it's gotten ridiculous. But to one of his points about the militarization of America after 9/11...hmmm, can you see the correlation between letting in muslims who would love to annhilate all of us and the iincreasing military state...maybe we should Stop All Immigration. We are full up.

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 08:59 | 5389301 esum
esum's picture

corporate amerika cashing in on "patriotism"

every motherfucker in congress who votes for a war ("national interst" or not)  should be required to go into combat for 6 months ... and i mean out with the grunts, out on the point... not safely home like some nfl pom pom girl...

i cheered when i saw the retaliation in afghnistan and the banishing of the taliban.... i gasped when we went after saddam... wtf?  i puked when the afghan troops took OBL's bribe and they let him pass out of tora bora.. 

all military actions since wwII have followed a pattern of NO CLEAR OBJECTIVE, LOSS OF LIFE, DEPARTURE... adn then having the fucking gall to blame the military and call it a defeat... the only defeat lies with the scumbag politicians and the traitorous press who think war is a tv show fought by john wayne and audie murphy... 

so just appreciate the freedom that the military has been fighting to protect and the asshole commie bitch in the white house is sabotaging on a daily basis ... open borders, importing illegals and bringing ebola... plus the ultimate shit in the face of the military... sending troops to africa and leaving the marine in a mexiacn jail... fuck you obama, with all due respect.  

the last time someone thanked me for my service ... i said thanks... and then asked "but for what.... i considered it MY PATRIOTIC DUTY AND WAS PROUD TO SERVE and never had any regrets..."

 

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 11:06 | 5389746 Emergency Ward
Emergency Ward's picture

Excuse me, I'm off to pick up some nachos and beer during the National Anthem, save my seat.

The enlistees joined up to obey the orders of the Commander-in-Chief.  No complaining allowed!

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 09:05 | 5389318 Grinder74
Grinder74's picture

"Fanning became a conscientious objector after his second tour."

How do you become a conscientious objector when you've already completed your tour(s) of duty, not to mention that there's NO DRAFT to object to??

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 09:21 | 5389371 The Chief
The Chief's picture

Its a realization that you come to after seeing what you saw in your first tour. Im guessing.

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 09:22 | 5389379 Dark Space
Dark Space's picture

Fuck this guy. I may disagree with the politicians who are dragging us in to perpetual states of war under false pretenses, but don't take it out on the messengers. Men aren't signing up to debate the finer points of politics, and like this guy are free to change their minds over whether the war was just or not (I, like most people, knew they were making things up about Iraq from day 1); they're signing up to honor their country and to protect our freedoms. You can protest the politicians and corporate war machines all day long, but not thanking a vet for their service is like cussing out the cashier at McDonald's because the food sucks and is full of fillers and articificial flavors and scents. Sure you can pick out a dozen or so vets that acted dishonorably, but by and large these guys and girls put their lives on the line to support their country.

What an asshole thing to write.

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 10:12 | 5389529 Bemused Observer
Bemused Observer's picture

Maybe he's making a point about the hollowness of the 'Thank you's"...If it's just words, with no backing, then it's meaningless. Like asking "How are you?" when you meet someone...you don't really want them to start TELLING you...

Maybe veterans don't want that.

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 09:29 | 5389381 deadelephant
deadelephant's picture

As a vet, I can say this article represents everything I hate most about this site.  America is a totally screwed up place right now, but I also still believe it is worth fighting for.  If you only fight the righteous wars, you will never fight at all.  Probably a good thing, but there are not so good people in the world who don't hesitate to take advantage of a people unwilling to fight.  Demonstration of a willingness to fight is the surest way to avoid major wars.  Just because the government is corrupt and not above misleading the populace, does not mean it is responsible for every negative event that happens.  If you believe 9/11, ebola, and ISIS are all creations of TPTB; you really need to log out for a while and get a grip on the real world.

The biggest problem I have with those that thank me for my service, is that all too often they are the ones who...

1.)Think it's horrible that US soldiers die in combat, but think it's even worse when US soldiers kill innocent Muslims.

2.)Think it's horrible to single out people for profiling at airports and on traffic stops.

3.)Don't think we have the right to enforce our borders and keep the rest of the world's outcasts from coming here.

If you think America is worth fighting for and are willing to let the military do what is necessary to defend her, then absolutely thank me for being there.  If you aren't okay with fighting for America, then why would you want to thank me for doing it?

Edit:  Lastly, if you are appreciative of the contribution of veterans in helping to bring some semblance of Democracy to the middle east, then why the hell would you support a President pulling everyone out and handing the country back over to terrorists that are even worse than the dictator we removed in the first place.  "Thank you for your service.  Now lets put into place a policy that renders it pointless and throws billions of dollars and gallons of blood down the drain."  "you're welcome!"

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 09:45 | 5389433 22winmag
22winmag's picture

The same people gratuitously thanking vets are the same people who wouldn't want to invite most vets to their dinner table.

 

That being said, the TPTB never pass up a chance to let the enemy escape and fight another day (and make them more money).

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 10:20 | 5389495 The Chief
The Chief's picture

You begin with a diatribe about it being ok that soldiers fight wars that aren't always just. Who decides what is just? I say posterity and a decent respect for civilization should instill upon any sentient man that which is right or wrong. The America that exists today is not worth fighting for, to be really fucking clear.

It is not even remotely the America that some of us knew. It's a "New American Century", don't ya know.

Your post is shocking on it's face. Good God, man. There must be many parallel realities because the one that you apparently view yourself as in is one that has been entirely impressed upon your brain by propoganda. I don't think ill of you for being more susceptible than most to this programming, but you should at least know that what you are spewing is the result of a campaign and acknowledge that you are too weak of mind to combat it. Almost everything you posted was utter BS.

"bring some semblance of Democracy to the middle east" OMG, man, just OMG.

And you go on to point out that if we are to appreciate that contribuition...again, OMG, ...then we must refute this President for pulling us out of there. Look, first, he's not "pulling us out". He is duplicitous at best. His handlers are ramping up support of this conjured demon we know as ISIS with the full support of our "innocent" sons and daughters. Wake the fuck up. However, if this President were to pull us out of there, it would be the only thing he "did" that is worthwhile in over 6 years. Again, his masters would remove his ability to do anything if he were to inject the slightest hint of a self-derived thought.

Edit: This country is worth fighting for in the context that it needs to be repaired. A painful, horrifying process to be sure. However, there is nothing that you see or hear that is genuine when coming from the mouth of the modern politician, or ancient ones for that matter. Now that we know this a little better due largely to the proliferation of the Web, we are better informed. TPTB hate this and thus the billions upon billions to create the hedges against the truth.

The bottom line, show me a just war or police action. If you take the position that "its always been this way" or "we must accept the bad with the good", then my opinion, equally as valid, is that you are a cold-blooded murderer.  I do not agree with loose immigration or any of the other items you mentioned nor does virtually any ZHer (as far as I can tell).

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 18:35 | 5391625 Blood Spattered...
Blood Spattered Banner's picture

Did you really just suggest that we brought a "semblance of democracy" to the Middle East?

*sigh*

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 09:36 | 5389417 22winmag
22winmag's picture

He sounds like a domestic terrorist... just like the millions of other pissed-off veterans and heavily-armed patriots that can and will bring the government and the country to a standstill when the last straw breaks the camels back.

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 09:44 | 5389436 Treason Season
Treason Season's picture

Sonny to Michael after being told he had just enlisted.

"Hey, don't you remeber what papa said, Önly suckers fight for someone else."

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 10:03 | 5389456 lakecity55
lakecity55's picture

The US Armed Forces are figuring out they were Used.

C'mon, Niggerbama.

"I'm Niggerbama I'm a Communist Man'

I'm gonna make America  a communist Land."

I'm gonna get rid of red white and blue,

There will be a Commie Flag just for you!"

I'm Niggerbama I'm a Homo man

I'm gonna make America a Homo  Land!

Girls  and boys will not do!

You gonna have to find a guy to suck your dick for you!

Nigger, NiggerBama,

Nig Nig Nig, Niggeobama!!

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 11:28 | 5389852 altheatoldme
altheatoldme's picture

not racist enough sir.  keep on going...

this board is disgusting

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 09:59 | 5389479 That's all Folks
That's all Folks's picture

They understand that the trillions of dollars being wasted on war will never be spent on education, health care, or the development of clean energy here at home.  

-That's all Folks-

 

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 10:54 | 5389686 Emergency Ward
Emergency Ward's picture

How about the trillions that could have been left in the taxpayers' pockets.  (If only people weren't so convinced that the government can spend their money better than they can.)

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 13:24 | 5390432 Anusocracy
Anusocracy's picture

Man's brain evolved to believe in government, it did NOT evolve to believe in the free market.

Man has not been 'away' from nature long enough for most people to consider freedom and free markets the norm.

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 10:04 | 5389492 yellowsub
yellowsub's picture

The same thanking public didn't give a shit when the returning veterans weren't getting their medical treatment.  

That should tell you how geniune they are when the support doesn't go beyond words for the most part.

It's a campaign etched into Americans to do because it's a patriotic thing to do because every public figure does it...

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 10:40 | 5389625 slightlyskeptical
slightlyskeptical's picture

I thank the vets because I know they "thought" they were going into battle for "me". Even though they ended up fighting for causes less than worthy, it doesn't change the fact that they originally went to fight for "me". if fighting for "me" wasn't their original intent then we owe them nothing but disdain.

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 12:05 | 5389697 Graph
Graph's picture

Inadvertent Quote from horse face married into ketch-up family, quickly hushed, of course, something along this line:

"Without school (read: any skill that does not require you to wear gray-olive underwear) you are more likely to end up in Afghanistan."

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 11:01 | 5389732 Uranus Hertz
Uranus Hertz's picture

Use your training, vets. You know what to do & who to do it too.

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 11:09 | 5389763 wtf1369
wtf1369's picture
Wed, 10/29/2014 - 11:36 | 5389896 JohnFrodo
JohnFrodo's picture

The path of least resictance leads to bad things!

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 14:16 | 5390748 markpower49
markpower49's picture

Rory Fanning is a leftist turd defending the thug Michael Brown. Rory Fanning should have come back in a body bag to better this country. What a loser.

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 14:29 | 5390832 SocialismIsCancer
SocialismIsCancer's picture

Every American soldier swears the oath "to defend the CONSTITUTION, against all enemies, foreign and DOMESTIC".

What does this oath mean ???

1. The oath is to defend the Constitution – NOT the politicians (includes judges & FED)

2. Think about what “domestic enemy” means – it is NOT the criminals that the police & FBI are chartered to eliminate – it means those people outside the government, but especially in positions INSIDE the government, who are undermining, subverting, violating the constitution – got any ideas on who those people may be right now ??????

Until the military takes action to fulfill their oath, I have zero pity or sympathy for any of them getting their bodies crippled, disfigured or killed by stupidly & blindly following orders to fight people in faaaaar away 3rd-world shit-holes who are NO threat to the USA Constitution.

 

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 14:36 | 5390861 goneYonder
goneYonder's picture

1. War is a Racket:http://www.ratical.org/ratville/CAH/warisaracket.html

2. My reading of the Constitution seems to authorize funds for an army for two years max.

3. You cannot ever give up your moral duty to make decisions. Following orders spawns evil.

4. Dressing up in funny costumes does not permit murder.

 

If this shit is so dire, let the hordes of enemies come. When foreign soldiers are in the streets, we'll see what happens to them. I'm not scared of terrorists, beheaders, Commies or any other boogyman. 

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 18:29 | 5391609 dadichris
dadichris's picture

"Thank You" to the debt slaves who have mortgaged future generations to make all these wars possible.  Your children's children's children are the real Heroes.

Thu, 10/30/2014 - 08:15 | 5392900 DukeDog
DukeDog's picture

"Is anyone going to dedicate a song to Chelsea Manning, or John Kiriakou, or Edward Snowden – two of them languishing in prison and one in exile — for their service to the American people."

Says all anyone needs to know. Appears to be suffering PTSD or some other form of mental illness. Prolonged severe reaction to cognitive dissonance at the very least since he completes two tours AND THEN decides to have a change of heart.

Sun, 11/02/2014 - 01:33 | 5403243 Moe Howard
Moe Howard's picture

The going got tough and then he got going. Most likely he gets a lot of leftist pussy.

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