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Paralyzed Iraq War Veteran's Writes Last Words To Bush & Cheney
Submitted by Mike Krieger via Liberty Blitzkrieg blog,
Last March, I came across a letter written to George W. Bush and Dick Cheney from a paralyzed and dying Iraq war vet named Tomas Young. It touched me to such an extent, that I highlighted it on Liberty Blitzkrieg at the time. He died on Monday, the day before Veterans Day. If you really want to honor our nation’s soldiers, you should read the following and share it.
RIP Tomas Young.
Full letter below, from Counterpunch.
My Last Words to George W. Bush and Dick Cheney
by TOMAS YOUNG
I write this letter on the 10th anniversary of the Iraq War on behalf of my fellow Iraq War veterans. I write this letter on behalf of the 4,488 soldiers and Marines who died in Iraq. I write this letter on behalf of the hundreds of thousands of veterans who have been wounded and on behalf of those whose wounds, physical and psychological, have destroyed their lives. I am one of those gravely wounded. I was paralyzed in an insurgent ambush in 2004 in Sadr City. My life is coming to an end. I am living under hospice care.
I write this letter on behalf of husbands and wives who have lost spouses, on behalf of children who have lost a parent, on behalf of the fathers and mothers who have lost sons and daughters and on behalf of those who care for the many thousands of my fellow veterans who have brain injuries. I write this letter on behalf of those veterans whose trauma and self-revulsion for what they have witnessed, endured and done in Iraq have led to suicide and on behalf of the active-duty soldiers and Marines who commit, on average, a suicide a day. I write this letter on behalf of the some 1 million Iraqi dead and on behalf of the countless Iraqi wounded. I write this letter on behalf of us all—the human detritus your war has left behind, those who will spend their lives in unending pain and grief.
I write this letter, my last letter, to you, Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney. I write not because I think you grasp the terrible human and moral consequences of your lies, manipulation and thirst for wealth and power. I write this letter because, before my own death, I want to make it clear that I, and hundreds of thousands of my fellow veterans, along with millions of my fellow citizens, along with hundreds of millions more in Iraq and the Middle East, know fully who you are and what you have done. You may evade justice but in our eyes you are each guilty of egregious war crimes, of plunder and, finally, of murder, including the murder of thousands of young Americans—my fellow veterans—whose future you stole.
Your positions of authority, your millions of dollars of personal wealth, your public relations consultants, your privilege and your power cannot mask the hollowness of your character. You sent us to fight and die in Iraq after you, Mr. Cheney, dodged the draft in Vietnam, and you, Mr. Bush, went AWOL from your National Guard unit. Your cowardice and selfishness were established decades ago. You were not willing to risk yourselves for our nation but you sent hundreds of thousands of young men and women to be sacrificed in a senseless war with no more thought than it takes to put out the garbage.
I joined the Army two days after the 9/11 attacks. I joined the Army because our country had been attacked. I wanted to strike back at those who had killed some 3,000 of my fellow citizens. I did not join the Army to go to Iraq, a country that had no part in the September 2001 attacks and did not pose a threat to its neighbors, much less to the United States. I did not join the Army to “liberate” Iraqis or to shut down mythical weapons-of-mass-destruction facilities or to implant what you cynically called “democracy” in Baghdad and the Middle East. I did not join the Army to rebuild Iraq, which at the time you told us could be paid for by Iraq’s oil revenues. Instead, this war has cost the United States over $3 trillion. I especially did not join the Army to carry out pre-emptive war. Pre-emptive war is illegal under international law. And as a soldier in Iraq I was, I now know, abetting your idiocy and your crimes. The Iraq War is the largest strategic blunder in U.S. history. It obliterated the balance of power in the Middle East. It installed a corrupt and brutal pro-Iranian government in Baghdad, one cemented in power through the use of torture, death squads and terror. And it has left Iran as the dominant force in the region. On every level—moral, strategic, military and economic—Iraq was a failure. And it was you, Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney, who started this war. It is you who should pay the consequences.
I would not be writing this letter if I had been wounded fighting in Afghanistan against those forces that carried out the attacks of 9/11. Had I been wounded there I would still be miserable because of my physical deterioration and imminent death, but I would at least have the comfort of knowing that my injuries were a consequence of my own decision to defend the country I love. I would not have to lie in my bed, my body filled with painkillers, my life ebbing away, and deal with the fact that hundreds of thousands of human beings, including children, including myself, were sacrificed by you for little more than the greed of oil companies, for your alliance with the oil sheiks in Saudi Arabia, and your insane visions of empire.
I have, like many other disabled veterans, suffered from the inadequate and often inept care provided by the Veterans Administration. I have, like many other disabled veterans, come to realize that our mental and physical wounds are of no interest to you, perhaps of no interest to any politician. We were used. We were betrayed. And we have been abandoned. You, Mr. Bush, make much pretense of being a Christian. But isn’t lying a sin? Isn’t murder a sin? Aren’t theft and selfish ambition sins? I am not a Christian. But I believe in the Christian ideal. I believe that what you do to the least of your brothers you finally do to yourself, to your own soul.
My day of reckoning is upon me. Yours will come. I hope you will be put on trial. But mostly I hope, for your sakes, that you find the moral courage to face what you have done to me and to many, many others who deserved to live. I hope that before your time on earth ends, as mine is now ending, you will find the strength of character to stand before the American public and the world, and in particular the Iraqi people, and beg for forgiveness.
-Tomas Young
What’s so impressive about this letter, beyond the incredible emotion and pain behind it, is the fact that Mr. Young was so prescient about so many issues. He highlighted the debacle that became the Veterans Administration scandal before it broke, and he also pointed to the dangerous power vacuum created in Baghdad before the emergence of ISIS. We lost a special soul on Monday.
Another related post I would strongly suggest reading is: “Stop Thanking Me for My Service” – Former U.S. Army Ranger Blasts American Foreign Policy and The Corporate State.
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rest in peace, Tomas
The reality is that the majority of Americans are more concerned about the latest iPhone or Kim Kardashian nude pictures...let's see if the VA has the decency to extend some pension benefits to Tomas Young's survivors.
those psychopaths and the scum that support them will burn in hell......
For their sakes, I pray that they repent, ask for forgiveness, and make peace with our Maker...
For their soul's sakes.
I would prefer if they made their peace at The Hague.
He should have instead written the letter to his parents perhaps: to thank his mother for bringing him into this world and to lament his father's failure to counsel him away from an obviously corrupt military culture of an empire in decline. Georgie and Dick will never even read this letter, much less even know about it. George is too busy painting therapeutic self-portraits and Dick is busy trying to catch one more breath of life.
Forgive me.
I am Chumbawamba.
I just watched a movie about Tomas today. His dad is a big Bush fan and totally bought the horseshit he was sold by those two war criminals. Hopelessly stupid.
As if this story could not get any more depressing, the father apparently believes sacrificing his son was "worth it". Wow.
"I would not be writing this letter if I had been wounded fighting in Afghanistan against those forces that carried out the attacks of 9/11. Had I been wounded there I would still be miserable because of my physical deterioration and imminent death, but I would at least have the comfort of knowing that my injuries were a consequence of my own decision to defend the country I love."
His intentions are sincere, but he misspelled one key word. Here's what he should have written...
"I would not be writing this letter if I had been wounded fighting in Israel against those forces that carried out the attacks of 9/11. Had I been wounded there I would still be miserable because of my physical deterioration and imminent death, but I would at least have the comfort of knowing that my injuries were a consequence of my own decision to defend the country I love."
Thanks to the help of 'Pull it" Larry Silverstein
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jPzAakHPpk
But, but, 911!
His mobility wasn't the only thing he lost in the war...
Tomas is only half right. Iraq was a fraud. But he didn't realize that so was 9/11 and therefore afghanistan.
To address the letter to only Bush and Cheney seems odd. Lots of others to blame too. You know, people on the other "side" of the aisle like Feinstein, Lieberman, Kerry, Clinton, and Biden, who all voted for war in Iraq.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_Resolution
Yeah, and then they and their media/entertainment complex (MEC) allies prevented any effective prosecution of the occupation of Iraq with a relentless domestic air war campaign, while our military got dangled for target practice year after year. These were the politicians who considered Afghanistan to be the real war, and giddily tripled down in that meat grinder while assuring rules of engagement and mission profiles that guaranteed thousands more stories like the above. And of course the full pullout will occur on schedule, leaving behind something far worse and far more dangerous. The evil the left does never ends.
I forgive him. He was misled from the outset.
He's human, you know (as are we all).
Kansas: "Hopelessly Human":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cy8z557aK1Y
@ J S Bach
I do so regret that I have but one upvote to give.
"I joined the Army because our country had been attacked. I wanted to strike back at those who had killed some 3,000 of my fellow citizens."
Too bad he didn't come to realize who really did this, the very men addressed in the letter.
That is the genius of their plan.
It worked out better than they imagined too.
They did the deed(s) on 9/11, used patriotic appeal to take everyone who was willing to pick up a weapon and "go after" the bad men who did the deed, sucked them into the military and shipped them off to get fucked up to the point of not being a threat anymore...
At the same time they created the new "centurian guard" to make sure anybody who pipes up gets what's coming...
The majority of people are too fucking stupid to see any of this.
Maybe another fucking Canadian can help us fix it?
That's a good point, but not all of them signed up. And even the ones who did, there are plenty who retain the training and are still able bodied.
Gosh... not sure I see anything less than a coward here... A coward for not taking responsibility for his own actions... A coward for not thinking that what happened to him could actually happen.... Didn't he volunteer? A coward from top to bottom and blaming the consequences of his actions on others....
It would be completely different if he was forced to fight through conscription.
Before you get a billion reds...
On one level you are 100% correct.
The cowardace took place right before he "overcame" that cowardace by joining the Military.
He failed to critically think about what had just happened and acted out of emotional response.
It takes some life experience to know how to stand back and see things for what they really are.
Sadly.. Going through bad shit is how one usually gets life experience.
Take away:
He's not a coward, though he was cowed.
He fought back, got schooled and wised up (at least part way).
Finally he slapped out at the mean old men and wrote a letter.
All this of course may or may not be based in reality.
Meh.
[EDIT]
Now that I think about this, it seem like another Myth Building excercise in misdirection and also another (getting pretty fucking blatent ova here man) public slap in the face of OIF/OEF Vets.
Seems like someone, somewhere wants Vets to get all riled up and start causing problems.
Shit, I saw a book review yesterday about some Vet who gets creative with the Banksters ala next level fight club...
I guess they want it to happen...
For those wondering:
I DO NOT suspect a fucking Canadian is behind this specific effort.
I got all that you wrote and dismissed due to brevity.... Take the war out of the situation...
A person can blame anything bad that happens to them on anyone else... It is called the victimization of everything and everyone.
Drunk driver
abusive parents/dad/mother/uncle etc
System that holds down the poor and props up the rich
Gosh..I can go on and on and on.... happiness always comes from within and from within happiness is gotten. <-- YEAH YEAH buddhist right? I am buddhist and I am a 23 year veteran of multiple wars and I have been shot and and and and and..... I have been in a robbery while working at an armored car company with a shotgun put to my face and I have been in an car accident as a passenger where the driver of my car hit someone head on in a foreign country at over 100 mph.... I have had bombs blow up close enough... and shot at more times than care to discuss both as a civilian and a serviceman.... all of this is cause and effect and a person who does not blame moves on and does what he has to do when he hits a snag EVEN IF IT IS PARALYSIS.... has ANYONE reading this not done something stupid taht could have caused paralysis? Driving drunk/buzzed or riding a motorcycle too fast or drinking WAY too much with friends where you could have just fallen and hurt your little head? COME ON MAN/BROTHERS!!!!!!!! STOP THE VETERAN BASHING.... 99.9% of ALL VETs are not like this coward...
I knoWCOUNTLESS vets that are missing legs/arms or other MUCH worse and they are not blaming things on skanks like bush /cheney.... In fact...didn't a congresswoman just get elected who IS MISSING LEGS!!!!????? Look up Duckworth... why didn't she lye in bed and wish her life away? Not saying life is easy but you have no fucking idea how many times I have had this stupid fucking conversation with my son WHO DID NOT DO SOMETHING TO GET A DISEASE HE IS OWNED BY.... it is all the same.... people either do or do not...there is nothing in between...
STOP THE VET BASHING !!!
If the soldiers did not pick up the guns of their masters, then there would be no wars.
It is difficult to be sympathetic to the murderers of civilian men, women and children; irrespective of their own sad demise. Whether or not they were aware of the truth at the time does not absolve them from culpability, they are personally guilty of heinous wrong-doings. They must have known in their hearts that they were (are) doing wrong.
And ignorance is not an acceptable excuse.
Gotta Love Snopes.... but this is a typical Vet!
First Snopes and then the truth!
http://www.snopes.com/military/amputee.asp
Now the truth!
https://ultracycling.com/sections/awards/hof/jim_penseyres/
http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=24627
These are typical Veterans and they will always have your back gentlemen.....
Hey Mikey, what were your sentiments two days after 9/11 - the day he enlisted? Were you angry or were you able to see clearly that it was a false flag? I doubt that anyone was thinking clearly in the weeks following that event. In his eyes, at that moment, his country had been attacked by terrorists hiding out in the hills of Afghanistan. Bush and company took full advantage of that anger and surge of patriotism. Once he was enlisted, he had no control over where he was deployed. If he had deserted at that point, you would still consider him a coward.
No, I don't see a coward. I see an idealistic young man, blinded by patriotism after being duped like the rest of us. Perfect cannon fodder for the creeps in charge of this clusterfuck we call a world.
RIP soldier.
I had gotten out of the military in 95 and after 9/11 I went back in for the same reasons I still believe. The real fight is about the religious extremism that is not going go away anytime soon. I just don't agree with how it has been fought or how it is being fought.
Turned sour in my head and heart BUT that has nothing to do with the case of life has consequences and decisions and actions have consequences that are not always good....
"The real fight is about the religious extremism that is not going go away anytime soon."
assuming that is true why would you fight?
the crusaders did that 700 years ago multiple times - promoted by someone equivalent to bush and cheney in terms of propaganda.... The Pope - and got no where and walked away
now you as a soldier want a different result - why?
wouldnt it make sense to fight DC and get more bang for your energy?
I'm going to have to scream BS on this one.
Is this "really" a authentic letter from a dieing ex-soldier or some tripe thrown together by the same assholes that have been twisting your minds and the truth for SO long now.
It's no doubt that Bush, Cheney, O-bummer, The Bitch Clinton, and ALL the rest of those sellout POS traitors are the absolute scum of the earth. (When the truth comes out..... shitting on their graves should be your patriotic duty.)
So this guy joins up two days after 911..... fine, but did he really even hint at WHO was behind it? Are we led to "believe" that OBL was still the culprit?
Hell yes we destroyed Iraq and murdered over a MILLION innocent people, but what's this crap about pro-Iranian powers that are now in charge???? Where did THAT come from?????? Wow, doesn't "that" fit in so well with the current narrative of our next "threat"???????
Man, I just love how the U.S. soldier is "hero-ized" to somehow justify murder and destruction.
This letter could be true and written by a "somewhat" enlightened victim, but it just as well could of been written by Victoria Nuland.
Take EVERYTHING you see and hear cautiously. My BS shield is always getting pummeled. It's all the lies thrown at it that make it stronger.
Maybe some good info on Thomas Young and this letter is here...
"CORRECTLY ATTRIBUTED"
http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/tomasyoung.asp
and..... you believe Snopes????
Hey, liberal couples know everything because they are smarter than you. We read it on snopes.
Snopes = Mickleson's [who are jews, had zero credentials, and still produce nothing of value in society]
So OF COURSE you should believe them, otherwise you're probably an anti-ceramic nut job who kills puppies wearing a Hitler costume.
I confirm what I hear elsewhere on Zero Hedge, specifically by reading the comment section.
Let's be fair: Snopes might be correct on occasion, but if a registered user on Zero Hedge points out a Jewish/liberal/immigrant/black/gay connection, I just laugh at Snopes and count myself educated.
Thanks, ZH!
"if a registered user on Zero Hedge points out a Jewish/liberal/immigrant/black/gay connection"
It would occur to me that the PROCESS of coming up with an educated conclusion would include:
- Exploring ALL angles
- Making a mental note of situations which defy mathematical probability
- Mathematical IMPROBABILITY examples might include the following:
1. Jews are 2% of the population: However
2. The POWER centers of the USA [New York ~ banking, media; Washington DC ~ lobbying, political activism, legislation; Los Angeles ~ social media], weirdly, boast double digit jew populations
3. Of 27 Fed Chairs, onl2 2 were NOT jewish
4. AIPAC is the largest political lobby
5. Google, Facebook, etc. are majority owned/run by jews
6. Hollywood ~ lol. Don't even get me started
7. ALL the major TV networks have jews at the top of management
8. Most of the MIC suppliers & policy makers are jews
9. 50% of billionaires are jews
10. CIRCUSES ~ Both the NBA & MLB have jew commisioners [plus a disproportionate number of jew team owners]. The NFL would like nothing more than to replace Roger Goodell. But they're secure in the idea that the entire FANTASY FOOTBALL world is led by jews [Matthew Berry, Andy Behrens], as well as TV show anchors Rich Eisen, &/or commentators like Al Michaels, Brent Musberger, etc.
I've calculated [by estimation & by running basic mathematical models which would predict ALL of the above happening based on representation. It is somewhat equavilent to getting struck by lightning AND winning the lottery 10 or more times [each] in one's lifetime.
Those are just the numbers. They are what they are.
And Jews tend to have high IQs, due to selection pressures they've been subject to, and tend to prepare the minds of their children well, due to the selection pressures Jews expect will continue, and they also do band together and cooperate for survival and advantage, due to the selection pressures Jews observe and or expect. Stop giving them reason to behave this way, how about? These people are swimming upstream genetically and culturally, amidst the raging current of Idiocracy most all of us are being swept away by.
Hear hear.
The hate that I see and hear everyday on ZeroHedge and on the street for the Jew are from Gentiles too stupid and/or lazy to replicate their success.
Really my fellow Gentiles. You let less than 2% of ANY population supposedly rule over you. Then.....who's fault is it really ? It's not like you've had over 6000 years to do something about it. But of course, the Assyrians tried and failed, the Babylonians tried and failed, the Egyptians tried and failed, the Persians tried and failed, the Greeks tried and failed, the Romans tried and failed, the Roman Catholic Church tried and failed, the Protestant Church tried and failed, Hitler tried and failed, Islam tried and failed.
Once again......if you are REALLY that concerned about it.....and REALLY reflective enough to ask the right question.....then ask yourselves as supposedly, rational Gentiles. WHOSE....FAULT....IS.....IT ????
Then ask the next logical question. Why after all this time have any Gentiles been able to "fix" permanently the "Jewish Problem"? Maybe....just maybe.....there is no "Jewish Problem". May the problem resides solely in you....the Gentiles.
Jumbotron says, ”from Gentiles too stupid and/or lazy to replicate their success”. I agree with you.
Been reading this blog for several years and am finally logging in to comment on the never-ending Jew envy. Look, I have no problem with pointing out that Jews absolutely have a disproportinate amount of power in the world relative to their population. It's just relevant to know who REALLY has control. But, yeah, most of the comments are of the cry-baby variety. People, good grief....get a clue!
Backdrop: I am a non-religious Gentile who grew up in middle America, lived my young adult life in 2 Northeastern cities working in the financial industry and have spent the last 20 in the Bible Belt. My studied experience? I've learned more from Jews than anyone about business, people, how to consider and problem-solve, how to listen, how to learn. It was mentioned above that they stick with and support their own. Well, that is true but, here's what many don't understand: once YOU learn to really think for yourself, listen, comprehend and communicate accurately -- you'll be frustrated trying to interact with plenty of Gentiles (and other groups). So, no wonder they want to work with other Jews. Come on down to the Bible Belt for an extreme version of what I’m referring to and try to have intelligent discourse with these people. After a couple of decades here, I finally came upon a single word to describe this born & bred Christian crowd: drugged.
Yes, really. You CANNOT penetrate them. Things like facts, reason, the fucking obvious? Forget it...if it doesn't fit what they WANT to believe then they will ignore all, even to their own peril! It's insane. Give me Jews any day. I can reason with them, they're smart, they're rational and they get that life/the world is a continuum so are always open to new ways of looking at things. The world didn't become finalized when the Bible was written!
If Gentiles valued educating (within the home also; very important) their kids and teaching them to question anything and to think for themselves….well, HELLO --- they would succeed just as well. It’s not rocket science.
Some of the darker side of the Jewish crowd? Yes, I’ve witnessed plenty of cheating, cutting corners, manipulation, greed, ETC. It’s not pretty and I don’t support it. But, they haven’t cornered the market on those traits and I’d still rather work with them, have them as a Doctor or Accountant than a Baptist! Because at least the Jews have intelligence and reason.
Jumbotron is right, quit crying and go make your own breaks.
"quit crying and go make your own breaks."
Oh I get it. So basically everyone should take Janet Yellen's advice & go out and buy stawks! &/or go out & figure a way to financialize & lever everything once I'd achieved control of a nations [or an entire fucking planet's] money supply, which would also force me to invent a time machine & travel back 101 years [which would also mean that the nation state of Israel would not exist].
I'll go ahead start building my time machine & quit my complaining.
Ugh comment !
Over the years I've found Snopes usually provides further information that can then be used to validate/verify stuff from other sources. Which I did in this case while sipping coffee this morning. It also led me to some of the protests and letters during and after World War I. Interesting reading but really very depressing.
It blows me away, my dad lived with life long injuries he received at Anzio in WWII, and here I am with a 21 year old son, and if my son were to be drafted, I would seriously consider advising him to avoid it at all costs. I carefully mentioned this to my dad before he passed and was shocked when he said he agreed! All he would say is "It's different now, we no longer address threats, we pursue agendas".
Sorry for the longish reply.. I'm on my third cup of coffee. (buzzzz)
It's different now, we no longer address threats, we pursue agendas.
Now that is a very profound (and true) statement. +1000.
My sons...... that are the same age as yours, WILL NOT be partaking in any banker wars. I wish everyone else would figure that out. I can't come out and call someone a dumb-ass for wanting or allowing their kid to join the military, but I REALLY want to. (And before I get slammed here...... I did serve. Am I a dumb-ass?????? Probably, but an edumacated dumb-ass at the very least:)
It's easy to get washed away with their patriotic BS when you are young. Take it easy on yourself.
I know what you mean about your sons. My son is 9 but I do everything I can to teach him that war is BS. They sell it to you with a flag, but it's about those in power gaining more power and wealth. I live around a ton of military folks, most of whom are totally bought in. However, I do run into those who have caught on to the scam. Still, even those who have a clue suffer from the “It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it” (Upton Sinclair) mentality.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hfEBupAeo4
Sums it up pretty well. This vid needs to be seen by anyone/everyone.
How nice that you got to share that moment with your dad before he passed. Those are important moments in life.
Also, it's nice to know that your dad woke up. It appears more and more people are doing so these days.
I believe Snopes more than an anal sphincter.
When you’re a designated rumor site all you need is a keyboard and enough time to make up a story, type it out and put it on. Kind of absolves you of any responsibility, doesn't it?
That is exactly what I thought also but here is a cut and paste from the Snopes article... Looks to me like joining was volunteer and he went through his own choice... Actions have consequences and younger people generally do not think things through well enough...
He volunteered - He Volunteered - HE VOLUNTEERED....
I just finished 23 years and I had gotten out originally in 1995 while thinking it through and went back in after 9/11 KNOWING the risks and facing them... these actions were MIGHT choice just as his actions were HIS choice... he is a coward in my eyes no matter what he throught about the "illegal" war in Iraq!
---------------------------------
Mr. Young's travails began three days after the events of Sept. 11, 2001. The 22-year-old from Kansas City, Mo., was watching a speech on TV by President Bush who was atop the rubble at the World Trade Center. The president issued a rallying cry, saying, "I can hear you. The rest of the world hears you. And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear from all of us soon."Motivated to help his country, Mr. Young enlisted in the Army and was sent to Iraq.
Read more at http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/tomasyoung.asp#8Do3sdilqRDtFFY8.9...
-------------------------------
@ ImASphincter
Until I read your post, I was getting an aneurysm from all the pent up frustration and anger over this late brother's experiences that he related so lucidly. But I absolutely understand where you stand. There is a distinct pattern of using victims in schmaltzy ways to serve a particular cause from the Vicky Nuland camp of zionazis, and this certainly fits with the Iran crap thrown in there like a turd in a pristine pool.
It just may be a confused honest narrative of course, but you are not wrong to advise caution on everything we see and hear.
I'm sorry for this soldiers passing just as I would be for anyone that dies before their time. I'm curious why he joined the military. Has anyone since 1917 thought the motives of our government were true and good? My father was drafted to go to Viet nam. This generation and mine freely choose to lace up their boots and go to Somalia, Iraq and Afghanistan. Serving their country? Certainly. But let's be honest and say that everyone knows by now what the truth is when you sign on. To say otherwise is disingenuous at best or a falsehood at its very worst.
My story is as follows.
Both my mother and father were career Air Force NCO's. The draft had just ended, and in 1978, I believed that I had a a personal duty to protect and defend the Constitution as my parents and many other family members had.
As a kid in the sixties I had a pretty strict, though generally happy, upbringing. I was even then pretty conservative in outlook. I had a loathing, from age seven, of hippies after personally watching them gleefully egg wounded airmen that were unloaded too close to the base perimeter. (I forget where I was, we moved so many times...it was either Norton AFB or Buckley Field AFB. Most likely Norton, the flightline went right along the road.)
From the age of 8 I wanted to go to the Air Force Academy and become a fighter pilot. Each year I wrote to my congressman/woman expressing my desire until I reached age 17 and was about to graduate High School. My Congress lady, Shirley Pettis, had about seven years of my letters attached to my nomination notice. I had the grades, and should have done well. I was sent to get a physical for the academy.
It was a much more thorough physical than I had usually received as an AF Brat. The lady doctor who had her fingers mashing my nuts made a gasp and called in another doctor. He began to mash my right nut fervently. He told the lady doctor that he concurred, and they called my mom in as I lowered the half assed GI gown they had me in.
The doctors instructed my mom that I had lumps in my right testicle and that they were most likely cancerous and that I needed immediate castration to save my life. My mom, GOD BLESS HER, the first family nurse practitioner in the United States, and a AF Reserve Senior Staff Sergeant, kind of took a step backward.
"Kevin, did you tell them about breaking the horse that stepped on your nuts?"
"No, they didn't ask me anything."
"He's fine, there will be no surgery."
No academy for me. So I went looking to enlist in the Air Force, but I could never find the AF recruiter and, back then, there was no such thing as voicemail. On one of my calls I got an answer. It was the Marine recruiter.
I told him I wanted to enlist in the Air Force, he asked if I'd consider the Marines and would I bring my academics to him. I was pretty familiar with Marines. Twenty Nine Palms wasn't too far away, and my cousin would bring between two to twenty buddies to my parents house to relax in the desert far from any concerns. (We've always, still are, me, mom and dad, firm supporters of our military and will gladly host them, a few at a time, for a weekend.) I've given drunken haircuts to equally drunk Marines by campfire light because they had promotions the next day. (really fucked up haircuts because I wasn't a fuckin' barber!) Anyway, per my personal sense of responsibility, I enlisted in the United States Marines chiefly because the draft had recently ended and there had to be, in my mind, a continuation of the force by volunteers.
I took the oath to defend the Constitution against all enemies, Foreign and Domestic...and have never been relieved of that oath.
Because of my ASVAB and academics, I enlisted as a Private First Class instead of a simple Private, and had a PFC pay classification through Boot Camp. During Boot Camp I was bright enough to be recognized for Officer Candidate School. When I enlisted, Boot was sixteen weeks. We were among the first all volunteer military, but remnants of the draft persisted. So there was the odd knee in the nuts, punch in the gut and other shit that we all knew was not allowed, but was never reported. (Knee in the nuts...you go down. DI gets a worried look and gets down to where you're gasping. 'I'm very sorry, don't let them see you get pussied. Get on your feet and look me straight in the eye and then ignore me like I don't exist. Catch your breath, then get on your feet.')
In the middle of my sixteen weeks boot camp, we had a new policy that kicked in that reduced boot camp to eight weeks for new recruits, the about a week later new recruits had a twelve week boot camp. I have no idea how long it is today.
Around week thirteen we were sent on a run along the sand of the Camp Pendleton beach...don't know exactly how far but from the time we spent it was ten to fifteen miles. We were qualifying for marksmanship at the time. When we got back to our squad bay we were instructed to clean our weapons and then dry practice.
I sat cross-legged cleaning my rifle. When finished I put it back together and stood up.
My knees locked halfway up, swelled to the point that they actually split my cammies at the seams. It was, and remains (after carpel tunnel, hernia, nerve impingement in neck and other calamities) the most intense pain I've ever suffered in my life so far.
The DI's sent me to sickbay. The doctor told me to see him the next day for follow up. The next day was weapons qualification day, which was a Friday. I went back, laid down and moaned for a few hours. The next morning I went to qualification and shot expert.
The rest of the platoon didn't do so well, so we all had a bit of getting our noses rubbed in it. I couldn't endure, the swelling and pain made 'Mountain Climbers' impossible. I got singled out by all the DI's. (Not a good thing.) One of them grabbed one of my knees and I decked him.
Yeah, decked him, out cold, caught him with a right on his left chin like I knew what I was doing. His name was Sgt. Trujillo, and I'm still really sorry, man.
There was a brief whaling before the Senior DI quickly stepped in and put a stop to it. He got into my face and asked didn't you have a problem with your knees?
"Yes, Sir."
"Didn't you go to Sickbay?"
"Yes, Sir."
"What did the doctor tell you?"
"To see him today."
"You disobeyed the direct orders of an officer?! What were you thinking?"
"That I had to qualify, Sir."
We moved to Advanced Infantry Training the next day and moved to another location on the base (I forget the name, but Mount Motherfucker was prominent in it.) The Senior DI put me on extreme light duty...meaning I sat on my ass all day doing absolutely nothing. The platoon drilled in marching and shit. I think I spent a week that way.
Around the following Friday or Saturday they had us all fall out, including me. We were marched down to an area where we had to crawl over booby-traps while 50-cal was shot over our heads. We had set up a camp with tents and our platoon had done so well that no only were we already in precise military alignment with the tents...one of our team-mates had already stolen all the pennants of the other platoons before there was any mention of capture the flag. (Which we expected but didn't happen.)
In the morning we were lined up. Sgt. Trujillo called me up front. Handed me a mortar base plate and two mortar rounds, another rifle and two ammo belts filled with what I assumed was ammo. As I recall the total weight was a little over 100 pounds...plus our normal Alice pack and other carry. I think I was hauling about 200 pounds on my back, with wobbly and painful knees.
Of we go to Mount MotherFucker.
It's a pretty steep grade on a road filled with stones and rocks. I think it goes from about sea-level to about a thousand feet or so. I've already climbed a shitload of mountains by then as a wild-assed desert kid. But I'd never had my knees go out before. All I remember is I just kept walking. Seeing DI's sitting out with privates along the way...until I got to the top, among the last group up. After a brief rest there was some class on something and we had to walk down a different route....which was worse. About thirty yards from the bottom my knees gave out and I simply could not stand and, with all the weight on my back, I could barely even move. I buckled with my feet under my ass, my back lying on my pack, and no leverage to even roll over.
Senior DI showed up in my vision. "What's wrong?"
"Knees gave out, Sir. Can't move, Sir."
"Why didn't you unbuckle your pack?"
"No one told me I could, Sir."
He knelt down. "Unbuckle your pack. You're done."
"Yes, Sir. Aye aye, Sir."
He called up four of my platoon. Two to help me walk the rest of the way, the other two to gather my shit.
Once we got back into formation we made a slow march down the easy grade until we got to our bivouac. There he informed the entire platoon that I was a model Marine and that I was to be sent to medical rehab so I could complete the training. Some officer came down the road in a jeep and the Senior DI flagged them down and asked that I be sent back to MCRDSD for medical rehab. The officer had me get in and we went to the barracks where they waited patiently for me to pack my gear into my seabag. I hobbled back to the jeep carrying my seabag and they took me to a bus.
The bus took me back the MCRDSD and dumped me at the recruit input station. I had about another mile or so to walk across the parade field to get to the hospital. I did so, pissing off a lot of DI's and Gunney's, as I limped/hobbled across the field.
The hospital immediately sent me to Casual company...The reject bin of the marines where the fags, pervs and detritus of humanity go to when they were too vile to kill for their country. I had the privilege to stay there for two weeks before I was called back to the hospital.
I was put into a room with about a dozen other privates....three officers at the head of the table. You are being discharged from the Marines, we don't need you at this time, sign at the 'X' on the sheet in front of you.
'Fuck this,' I thought, so I signed.
At least it was an Honorable Discharge...many of the others didn't get that.
From then, to now...in my heart, I'm a fuckin' Marine.
I'm not owed anything, I didn't earn anything. I don't want anything. I have not/never will apply for any benefit because I have not earned anything. There are a shitload of my elders, peers and youngsters that have earned EVERY benefit promised, and they are still getting fucked. I will never attempt to put myself between what they have truely earned and I have not.
So, Vets, you want someone on your side...you come to my fuckin family. We still hold traditions of honor....right down to my sons...one of which has been in Afghanistan for the last thirteen years in VERY direct support of you that I cannot talk about. Most of you think of him as an obnoxious, arrogant civilian. Which he is...but he has been there from the beginning totally to support you. He just has 'people skill problems'.
Just remembered, this was like 40 years ago...along with the crawl through the booby traps and 50 cal over our heads...before we did this, we had gas training. You go into a tiny building with CS Tear Gas blowing in i. You are to get a good whiff of it, then put your mask on, breath a bit, then take the mask off and endure the gas while properly stowing your mask away and doing some other exercise like singing the Marine Corps Hymn or some other shit. Personally, I didn't find the gas that objectionable other than I had a four foot snot wad coming out my nose, and a peppery burning sensation on my eyes....and that I felt that every breath was like inhaling a big gasp of reefer.
(Yes, I've tried, I've inhaled, and have actually rolled thousands and thousands of RMJ's (Ready Made Joints) for an Uncle's plantation, and have tried the shit that literally left the world on a 90 degree axis shift. It's not for me. Tastes like I'm smoking alfalfa and I get a more controllable high from Tequilla than that shit. But to each his own.)
Gunney, with mash on, turned to me and said, stay the fuck there. I was aware that fresh air was about three feet away, but had no idea what he was on about to single me out. At that point, my snotwad was about six feet long and I was swinging it about in fascination.
"You didn't stow your shit properly!"...Big snotwad is in mid-fling...I look down to see that I had missed the second clasp of the bag holding my gasmask.
I look up just in time to see errant snotwad wind five times around the Gunney and terminate on his lip. Damned near double gagged, he jsut wiped it off and dismissed me.
You are a walking contradiction. You want and need something, that's why you posted the diatribe. You want acceptance by a group (military), you want respect from everyone else (thus your long post) and you need validation that what you're doing in life makes a difference.
Life isn't a movie and we've all suffered. Your few weeks is no better or worse than anyone else's times of trial. The point to the article is... coming from one of our now dead brothers who suffered more than your bad knee experience, this game is nonsense and those who perpetrated it should be held accountable.
So ur sayin he's a loner, and a loner got to be left alone.
@CSA - Well said.... :)
After 9/11 you can take your traditions and burn them.
Sometimes you got to switch sides buddy.
I was fan number one but now..
I would not take a green card with a free million dollar house bonus and live in the USA.
How many can say the same?
I like what you say. Where can I fly to experience this Utopia?
Take an airliner anywhere and ur happy, especially in the southern hemisphere.
I thought he was pretty clear...maybe you missed it:
"I took the oath to defend the Constitution against all enemies, Foreign and Domestic...and have never been relieved of that oath."
The intent of the oath is clear and it has nothing to do with defending the enemies of the Constitution and the BoR's, foreign or domestic.
Your story reminded my of a moment I had in Camp Pendleton, the day before our 15 mile hike. We were getting our shots and as I went in there was a doctor and female orderly who had never given shots before. They had me bend over and pull my cammies down to present my ass cheek. I heard her ask the doctor, "Is this were it goes?" and not even a second later she sunk the needle to the hilt in my ass cheek. The doctor says, "Yes, but give him a bit of warning next time".
Needless to say the hike was somewhat uncomfortable.
Uncle Sam's been sticking it to me ever since...
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
You thought that was a NEEDLE????
BWAAHAHAHAHAHAA
"But let's be honest and say that everyone knows by now what the truth is when you sign on."
I hear what you're saying, but doubt very much that 18-22 year olds really "know" in a meaningful sense what they're getting into when they sign on. Examine your own history. When did you finally wake up to the hypocrisy and lies? And even one who is familiar with history and may even understand in an abstract sense what governments do when they go to war, still does not (yet) have the first hand experience of combat to confirm such abstractions.
A dear friend of mine who is no longer alive, a man who had unquestionable faith in Jesus once pointed out to me that hell is not hot, its cold, colder than any place on earth. George and Dicky boy......may you freeze for eternity. Your wickedness is beyond comprehension, the pain and suffering you have caused is pure evil. Your day of judgement will be swift, beyond all reasonable doubt, you will not be spared. You will never be welcome anywhere. May you be condemned to isolation where you find no solace.
Ah, the irony of your post. The oligarchs created the religion and faith you call christianity to render you fearful of the great invisible grey bearded skyman while they know damn well there is nothing beyond death. So they rape and pillage while all the good little serfs keep telling the stories the oilgarchs scripted for them in the first place. Part of the con is keeping christians content that although the oligarchs may get away with it in this life, god will fix things in the afterlife.
You have been conned, will continue to be conned while the oligarchs laugh all the way to the grave. And remember good liitle serf, "THOU SHALL NOT KILL", especially any oligarchs who destroy the world in which we live. And remember good little serf, "LOVE YOUR ENEMY", especially the oligarchs who craft the laws that benefit them.
Keep taking the blue pill buddy, keep following your phantom god according to the script layed out by the ghosts of the current oligarchs. What's more, keep defending the script layed out by the ghosts of the current oligarchs. Defend with allk your might the institutions set up to control you.
If it wasn't so sickening it'd be funny.
I guess you are ready to meet your maker.
You are scared mate, just like the oligarchs and ruling elite have wanted since the beginning of fucking time.
It will require a terrible psychological upheaval but you are capable of breaking out of your decades of subvervience to the systems put in place to control you.
Do you have the guts to face it though?
Perhaps it is YOU who have been conned. You claim the oligarchs "know damn well there is nothing beyond death". Where is the evidence for this? This ungodly NWO plan we see unfolding has been centuries in the making, so their elders live on through their progeny. This is far from nothing. Did not junk you, but if you respond be prepared for a smackdown as you had to go and use dismissive, smarter-than-thou language so typical of atheists.
smarter-than-thou language so typical of atheists.
As a generally well behaved atheist with lots of christian friends I object to that characterization. I haven't equated your beliefs with those of the Westboro Baptist Church, for example, and I'd appreciate similar courtesy in return.
"Perhaps it is YOU who have been conned".
You have to be kidding me. I'm not the one who thinks there's a great invisible grey beared skyMAN listening to my thoughts and talking to me inside my head. I'm not the one who believes that the bible somehow represents a dialogue that REALLY took place even though it was begun to be written some three generations after your jesus was crucified. The bible is stories, absolutely fabricated as a book of fiction because there was NO WAY TO RECORD THE EVENTS OF THE BIBLE AS THEY HAPPENED. DO YOU UNDERSTAND THIS ????????? There were no dictaphones, no one following the characters around with a pen and pad. How could the complex dialogue and interactions be remebered some 70 years after the event in any form that remotely represented reality. This is precisiely why there are so many stupid and infantile stories like noah's ark. Animals lined up by two's but what about the fucking plants and trees and bushes and shrubs and flowers. For fuck's sake a child could see the ridiculous holes in that story.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gELzYupzXs (Watch it, even second of it).
"smarter-than-thou language so typical of atheists"
Christians have been condemning non believers to an eternal life of torture for centuries and you have the gumption to be offended by someone stating, in the normal course of civilised debate, that there is no after-life.
You people have been hen pecked into submission, scared, absolutely terrified to utter anything that denegrates something for which there is not a shred of evidence. You are too far gone to realise how corrosive this mindset is to a free thinking conscious entity.
TOO FAR GONE.
+100 smarter-than-thou language so typical of atheists.
I know 2 of them. Both on antidepressants, both in crisis.
sumpin ain't workin.
Matisyahu - Indestructible: http://youtu.be/I0gO2kdtHd4
Go Fuck Yourself.
Sincerely
Someone has to break it to you that you've been had. No one in your immediate vicinity will because they've most likely all been had as well. It's expected one would receive violent verbal retorts as you have to adjust to the horrible reality that you've been fucked over and fallen for it. It's never too late to break free of the institutions set up to control you. Control how you marry, control how you have sex, control what you think, control what you do in your free time.
CONTROL.
Break free of it and you'll experience a wonder and sense of awe that you have misplaced in the non-existent.
Keep Bringing it On, Asteroid. This place fancies itself so enlightened and open-minded, but not so much.
What never ceases to amaze is that religious 'believers' so often lash out at other points of view; it not being obvious to them that they clearly aren't very secure in their 'beliefs' to be so easily threatened.
Oh and, yes, it is defintely about control...and power....and obedience. And in those aspects most organized religions seems to succeed quite well.
Matisyahu - Youth: http://youtu.be/k9Kf4esMvdE
No they will not burn in hell. That's the illusion of the perfect slave.
The only chance that they will burn, is if they are burnt on earth...
And thanks to "democracy", where the most dumb ones have the same voice as the few capable people to be leaders, they will never be held responsible. Democracy is their shield.
So what? They got what they wanted didn't they? They got away with it didn't they? Someone else is paying for their lies aren't they?
So their bullshit stories fell apart. So what? They weren't meant to last. They weren't even that convincing to begin with. They didn't have to be. They worked, didn't they?
Wait till next week, you will see new bullshit stories that are just as flimsy being used to sell some new scam.
" Ain't we got all the fools in town on our side? And ain't that a big enough majority in any town?"
-Mark Twain
John Stuart Mill in 1867 said, "Let not any one pacify his conscience by the delusion that he can do no harm if he takes no part, and forms no opinion. Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing."
Speaking only for myself, after reading that letter, I am ashamed to admit that I was one who did nothing as events were unfolding leading up to the Iraq war. Even then, the lies of our leaders were obvious, and yet I sat idly by as good people were sent to fight an unnecessary war. I believe that there is a place in hell, not for what some people did during their lives, but what they failed to do. I can only hope, moving forward, there is a chance for redemption.
I protested which of course did no good at all. Petitioning the government for redress of wrongs is like petitioning a coyote to keep away from the henhouse.
According to your post below, you protested by hanging a "honk if you like peace" sign from your frat house during your 9th or 10th year of college (your words, not mine). I wonder why that didn't work?
My house mate Betsy and I started a group called American Dreamers. We organized two trips to protests in DC and various campus activities. I made some speeches and was quoted several times in the college paper. What did you do?
While you and your housemate were making banners, I was working for a living. I went to college and then graduate school. College in 4, graduate school in 3. Less time than you spent in college. And I'm around the same age as you. I'm 47. How old are you?
What started our pissing match below was you changing the subject from this article, suggesting that the answer is no government at all (based upon your premise as explained in one of the posts below that the Rotschild family would magically disappear if we had no government in the U.S.), and making an Ayn Rand reference: "In the meantime those of us who refuse initiate violence against others will simply keep on going Galt."
How's that Ayn Rand thing working out for you?
I'm 51. I am not perfect and neither was Ayn Rand.
I'll give you this. You're the first guy I've ever run into who first read and embraced Rand in his 40's (per your post below). Most Rand believers start in their teens or early twenties and then figure out the horeshit by their 30's. Then again, it took you 10 years to finish college (per your other post below), so it kind of makes sense.
10 years to finish college
Well I did take a few years off for cohabitation and a dead end job. When I went back to school I was much more focused. It's nice that you take such an interest in me personally. Now, why don't you tell us something about yourself?, he asked politely.
What do you want, my social security number? See my post above and my posts here for the last 3.5 years.
You said below that you went to college on the 10 year plan. Now you're backtracking. But what does it matter. I'm arguing with an ideologue whose ideas are set in stone. The fact that you believe the Rothschilds would magically go away if we ended government in the U.S. says it all. Good luck and good night.
You said you went to college on the 10 year plan. Now you're backtracking.
I started in 1981, continued on and off until finishing in 1991. If you think that's backtracking you need remedial math lessons. Some of us had to work for tution, you see, and then there's that youthful desire to stop reading about life and actually live it. I made a lot of mistakes but in the end I think that I became a better person. And, by the way, you're off topic again.
"I remember the start of Gulf War I. A Bush came on TV that night too. Bernard Shaw(?) was reporting live from Baghdad by holding a phone out of the hotel window so that the audience could hear the explosions. I was in my last year of college (on the ten year plan). My housemates and I posted a sign out front with a peace sign and the word "Honk." Folks were honking every few minutes until the next day when the cops came and took the sign down while we were at class."
-Billy the Poet, below.
When I subtract 1981 from 1991 I get ten. What do you get?
Imperfect people making decisions for imperfect people and everyone thinks their ideas are perfect if only they did "this" or only if they would do "that". A country run by Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, etc. will fail. Democracy, Republics, and Dictatorships will all fail. Such is the cycle. Embrace the suck and enjoy the ride for it soon ends and eternity begins.
7 years of college down the drain!
Nice to see your last 3 years were devoted to study about how the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor.
Ayn Rand is working great, actually. We can see America going Galt as we speak. In due time, Atlas will shrug here too... but you won't "get it".
Funny thing is, this cluster fuck oligarch controlled wasteland where a few hundred people control more wealth than 50% of the country, is pretty much what Rand had in mind, so I'm tempted to agree with you.
When you finally decide to read Atlas Shrugged you'll discover that the villains were crony capitalists.
Just once I want one of you guys to actually defend her views rather than telling me I didn't read it. I read it. It's fucking fiction and Alan Greenspan proves it.
In the three and a half years you've been a member many people have tried to explain her views to you. But you continue to misrepresent her real opinions at every turn.
The villains in Atlas Shrugged are crony capitalists. Since you disagree with her please explain why you support crony capitalism.
Seems a good point to discuss. Even mandatory Issue for investigation.
Don't bother. He still refuses to accept that the bailouts were for Wall Street and not the working people
So now we're left with just making shit up? When I speak repeatedly about bankers and oligarchs ruling this country, you think I'm advocating for the bailouts? I guess when you know you're wrong, the best argument is just to make shit up.
What the idiots fail to realize is the corrupt government enabled the few hundred people to to control the wealth and they think a bigger and more powerful government will be the solution becsuse the bigger and more powerful the governments are less corrupt
So why is it that a few people have ruled everyone else for all of human history? Were the pyramids built by the middle class?
LetThemEatRand So why is it that a few people have ruled everyone else for all of human history?
---
Because the wealthy were the ruling class and government and still are. That has never changed throughout history and probably never will. It doesn't matter what political or economic system you choose. The wealthiest have the most options and influence over various aspects of society such as media (news) or politics (government). It isn't that hard to figure out. That is why it is always rinse, repeat.
Government only makes the problem worse by being co-conspirators and enablers of such problems. Plus government has the legal use of force to enslave it population through taxation.
If the rich individuals who have the most influence in a society gained their wealth through free enterprise (they provided others with things they need and want) then those individuals will almost certainly be more stable both mentally and morally than the sociopathic individuals who are drawn to governmental power which is based entirely on violence and elitism.
In other words, you meet a better class of power broker in a free market.
Someone close to me believes most of what he reads especially in the NYT.
This is risky as we know.
- How do you know that Ian Rand is not a fiction author, who over developed Conservative Ideas, or Libertarian Ideas?
- US Conservatives, Farmers, Pilgrims, Quakers, Shakers, Amish, Mennonites, were here before Rand
- Conservative Accounting, Standardize Accounting, Standardized Financial Instruments, Simple Finance without State or Federal Government involvement
- Today things are much more complicated... If Ian Rands Ideas are right... we still need experts to guide us to downsize or reduce financial links, financial relationships, financial dominance, and financial encroachment by federal government
But Germany is much better than the USA, Right?
Comparative economics is the subject.
Germany has Triparte system, government, unions, and commerce.
Dude, remember the first rule about digging holes.
What the idiots. Well I think it goes back 7,000 years.
Shekels, Contracts, Slavery, Kilns, Alcohol, Bitumen, Naphta, Lacquer. The cost to damages for loss of a virgin, a slave, a goat, an eye, a murder, or fraud.
It is as old as we know. Written in stone.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_of_Ur-Nammu
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_of_Hammurabi
I was right behind you giving weed to the college students, then they protested because it was illegally, illegal.
Billy the Poet. Anonymity on ZH is not to protect you. It's to protect those you care about.
"Betsy Jeffreys, co-founder of American Dreamers -- a new student group opposed to the war -- said the gulf war has brought people together with varied interests. But they realize they have unified goals.
"(It's) not just about the war, but other issues. And we hope the groups continue to work together," she said.
The area's anti-war groups have made tentative plans to hold a demonstration the day the ground war begins, American Dreamers co-founder Darren McPhilimy said.
He also said the 15 members of American Dreamers may travel to a military base in Dover, Del., where they will participate in a candlelight vigil for deceased military personnel. Bodies of American servicemen and women killed overseas are sent to the Dover base before being turned over to families and relatives.
U.S. military officials announced that cameras will not be allowed on the military base and, contrary to previous conflicts, ceremonies will not be held there for the war dead.
"Don't call it a protest," McPhilimy said. "It's going to be a candlelight vigil . . . a very somber-type affair. The point of that is to recognize people are dying and the government is censoring us."
Yep, that's me. Looks like I've earned footnote in history status! Here's another article with a better quote:
Ground war draws mixed viewsAt 2 a.m. yesterday, just hours after President Bush announced that the ground war was underway, Cynde Smith's telephone rang.
The caller was Smith's husband, Air Force Tech. Sgt. Jeff Smith, stationed in Saudi Arabia. The ground war had begun and Smith was preparing to, as he calls it, "go to work." He is a medical technician who assists in the evacuation of wounded and ill soldiers from Saudi Arabia to hospitals in Germany and Great Britain.
Cynde Smith, coordinator of the Boalsburg Family Support Group, also went to work. Early Sunday she contacted each of the eight families in her group.
"In one sense, (hearing about the ground war) was a relief because we all see it as being one step closer to home for them," she said.
She said some of the families have relatives stationed in the front lines who probably entered Kuwait in the early stages of the ground war.
While troops continued to advance toward Kuwait City yesterday and members of area support groups made frantic calls to one another, University students expressed a variety of reactions to the latest phase of the allied offensive.
Charles Heo (freshman-communications) said the Iraqis had several chances to avoid a destructive ground war.
"We gave them their chance, and they didn't take it," he said.
Robert Tifft, president of the Middle East Culture Club, said he felt the ground war was inevitable since the allied bombing began Jan. 17.
"It's not something we want to have happen," he said. "Unfortunately, there are lives at stake, but . . . it's the price you have to pay."
Peace advocates viewed the beginning of the ground war as another decision in a long line of political mistakes.
Elton Atwater, a member of State College's Alternates to War Committee, said, "This is a war that did not have to happen. A further dependence on economic sanctions would have accomplished our objective."
Jennifer Barrett (junior-psychology) said she has a friend -- a Marine -- stationed on a ship in the Persian Gulf.
"I'm for the soldiers, but I'm against the war," she said. "I expected (a ground war), but I was still scared."
Darren McPhilimy, co-founder of American Dreamer -- a recently formed anti-war group -- said the United States' predetermination of a date to begin the ground war sealed the fate of the Soviet Union's attempts to negotiate.
"I think this shows the peace proposal by the Soviets never had a chance," he said, adding that he believes the Bush administration and allied nations were "rushing toward war before peace broke out."
But many students supported the United States' action, saying it was justified.
James Gardner (graduate-art history) said he believes United States must act as a world watchdog, policing disputes such as the one that erupted in the Middle East.
"I'm supportive of any measures the U.S. government takes," he said, adding he is "sorry there will be losses of lives on both sides."
Local anti-war groups plan to hold an "emergency demonstration" at noon today on the steps of Pattee. The protesters say they object to Bush's decision to send ground troops into combat.
McPhilimy said it is time for peace activists to go on the "offensive." At a recent anti-war rally he urged University students to adopt a daily routine to demonstrate their peacefulness.
"I ask you to go to class everyday and be prepared for each day's assignments. But let your classmates know that you support peace," he said. "Wear a peace button, be seen posting flyers on the classroom wall. When roll is called or when you answer a question, raise the peace sign."
Concern for men and women in the gulf prompted many State College residents to phone the military's hotlines. However, Cynde Smith suggested that members of her group not call the 800-numbers.
"They're basically unuseful," she said. "You certainly don't want to learn by 800-number that your husband is wounded."
Cynde Smith said her husband expected casualties to begin arriving at his post within a few hours after he called her. Jeff Smith helped deliver combat casualties after the recent skirmish in Khafji, Saudi Arabia. Although her husband is not permitted to discuss his mission, he has expressed his sentiments in letters home, she said.
"He's sick of sand. He never wants to see it again," she said. "I told him we were going to the beach when he gets home; he didn't like that."
http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archives/article_4aeb0896-7f70-567d-ba47-f4...
The full original quote was "It's time for the peace movement to go on the offensive," which I considered to be quite witty and provocative.
Billy the Poet. Anonymity on ZH is not to protect you. It's to protect those you care about.
Protection from what? None of us is anonymous as we walk around real life which is far more dangerous than an Internet forum despite the latter's bugaboo status. And if you're concerned with the protection of those I care about, why did you out me?
@Rand
I respect your intelligence, but why do you litter up the forums with your bantering with other posters? Can we try to be a bit more constructive? I like reading your thoughts, but so much your arguments. I think I speak for others too.
I'll tell you, underman. Because this guy's letter means something, and it should be important. It should be something we can all rally behind. But it's not. And it makes me angry that it's not. Especially here. But your point is taken, and it's why I'm signing off.
Some of us are of the opinion that government itself is responsible for war in general and Tom Young's death in particular. You are not asking us to stay on topic, you are demanding that we stay silent about what we see as the cause of this man's death. You try to excuse your attempts to stifle opinions which you disagree with personally by claiming a superior degree of respect for a dead man. You couldn't be more cynical or hypocritical.
Valid Tact. Here there is too much reading. People that talk all the time are covering up crime. I don't know LTER well enough to know if he is Mafia.
What did you mean "not"
Serious question: If you got a mulligan for 2002/2003, what would you do differently?
Leave.
Serious answer. The expression of civil disobedience has various modalities, some active and others passive. Each method throughout history has experienced successes and failures. Planning for such an eventuality is, without question, codified as a felony somewhere in federal statutes. Therefore discussion of such issues in an open, highly monitored forum like ZH is not advisable.
Thank you for the response.
@ Trucker Glock
Buy moar gold. If I learned anything in the last 12 years it is that we can't change the direction of the Hindenburg. People don't care.
I was the three monkeys...hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil...for most of my life. I actually believed, and trusted, our government...kept my head down and tried to ignore them as much as I possibly could. I really didn't want to have evil associated with me.
In 2001, I felt that I had an evil twin somehow, he just fucking appeared out of no where. I didn't even realize he existed...not even a stirring of the force back then. I just suddenly had a brother.
In 2008 my little brother suddenly became the fuckin' HULK...SMASH was the order of the day. I just got the fuck out of his way.
In 2009 my monstrously big brother morphed into Dr X, controlling thoughts, opinions, and feedback to the fascist system he was given birth by...
In 2009 I realized that the entire free world was led by a charlatin and that it made no difference to the rest of the world.
In late 2009 I realized that the best I could personally do was to wake others up to the danger directly in front of them.
In early 2010 I realized that the majority of the United States were de facto zombies...incapable of waking up to dangers immediately in front of them.
In early 2010 I focused on trying to reach those that were just waking up from zombiehood...and asking questions.
In early 2012, I gave the fuck up and decided to just enjoy the show from a well provisioned outlook.
In late 2014, I continue to enjoy the show with a well provisioned, extremely well armed, extremely well supported neighborhood, all with a really shitty attitude to pretty much every level of government, beyond local, to the point of gleeful expectations of killing.
In early 2016...half of town junta supports that cunt Hillery for 2016.
Don't even bother trying to get the word out to the Golden Horde. Zombie Nation will reject your ideas as those of a delusional nutcase that probably doesn't even have a Facebook account!
Although you're late to the game with your discoveries, so am I (I did not figure this shit out until 2005), so far be it from me or many others to do anything else other than to welcome you to the pain and suffering of reality. In fact, had I taken the red pill in 1980, I would still offer you a welcoming. You're part of probably less than 5% that has to endure the Burden of Knowing.
The Golden Horde/Zombies/Walking Dead/Cattle/Sheep/Consumers, or by whatever perjorative you chose to refer to them as (I prefer "consumer") are simply not going to listen, nor are most of them until the cold, hard reality of humanity's hidden, vile history kicks them solidly in the crotch, and by then it will be too late.
In the bible, Jesus went non-linear only once in his recorded history and opened up a Box O' Thump on who?
Yes, the Money Changers. There's the hidden ugliness of human history. The agents of the Snake in the Garden who deceive the multitudes. And now you have figured that out. Pyrrhic victory at best. Knowing that most of your reality has been a carefully crafted fabrication is one hell of a psychological kick in the balls. As such, one is tempted to warn one's neighbors of the folly.
Don't. The Walkers will hate you for it. That is, if you can even get them to put down their iDevices for a minute, which are so badly needed by those pathetic, hollowed out, empty souls to feed and nourish their delusional sense of "connectedness".
Ohh the irony.
The best that I can offer you, in regards to advice post-awakening, is to take care of yourself and those close to you, because the herd is dearly overpopulated, dangerously so, and Mother Nature always comes around to cull the herd once too many of its members are too weak to survive in their habitat.
Spot on.
Tick-Tock.
I hear there won't be a signal when it all gets started in earnest.
Not so, germain. Not so. That's only what the media tell everyone. Besides, let's face it. Kim has a FATass which only an elephant could copulate with. Or a donkey.
kim kardashian is a fat slob
Unfortunately, the fact of the matter is that the American Sheeple are too stupid and lack the skills to look beyond the MSM's touting of "look at these heros" under the banner of patriotism.
It's anything but, as we know. .
George W. has been conspicuously quiet and demure of late. it looks like he's holding some real emotional baggage.
The only reason why the American populace may not support anymore interaction "boots on the ground" or whatever, is because O's inability to commit either way makes him conspicuously inept in the eyes of most today.
So I'm sure a false flag is in the works, and it will rally more Middle Americans to the meat grinder - under forced pretenses. At this point, if anyone is stupid enough to believe "they" are protecting our freedom, than perhaps they will prove Darwin's edicts still hold true.
Oh the heart strings.
He was not asking for sympathy. He was asking for justice. You and your ilk are why he did not get it.
Um, aren't you a government lover?
Then you are to blame along with your ilk.
Really? The choices are no government or this one? I guess when you have a small brained ideology, you advance such ideas. How is the no government movement working out for you? Are we close yet?
"Are we close yet?"
No, because people like you are holding up the parade. You seem like an intelligent fellow yet you refuse to realize that any system organized by violence can never be moral, ethical or civilized. In the meantime those of us who refuse initiate violence against others will simply keep on going Galt.
"I HEARTILY ACCEPT the motto, — "That government is best which governs least"; and I should like to see it acted up to more rapidly and systematically. Carried out, it finally amounts to this, which also I believe, — "That government is best which governs not at all"; and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of government which they will have." -- Thoreau
Fuck you and everyone here who takes this story and turns it into a platform for advancing your childish ideology. Zero Drudge comment section.
The violence inherent in your philosophy is evident in your post. Tom Young died of such violent tendencies multiplied a million fold through the ungodly medium of government.
Yes, let's all ignore the letter and focus on our own individual ideology and argue about that instead. Really makes me question whether you guys really even believe your own bullshit.
Who you gonna vote for to stop war?
I could ask you the same inane question. Who you gonna vote for to stop government? Yes, it's a stupid question just like yours. I know my vote isn't going to change anything, but I don't advocate for the oligarchs to take over like you. But putting that aside, what exactly is it that you're doing to advance your ideology? You got some cruise missiles in your garage? Starting a revolution? Or just reading Rand and spouting bullshit? This guy actually did something. He wrote a powerful letter that got some press attention.
The sorry fact is that dupes like you are the root cause of the evil done by government.
By supporting the US gov you have the blood of millions on your hands. Look in a mirror and you will see someone who is at peace with killing others, but opposes those who are not.
You are like your government: an animal that can't change its stripes.
So let me ask you the same question I asked above. What are you doing to advance your no government agenda, and why do you feel that is more important or meaningful than this guy who could influence millions such that you need to change the subject to your private agenda?
Seeing as though you support a government which steals trillions and buys hundreds of billions worth of weapons to use against anyone who resists, not fucking much.
But if there weren't 300 million useless idiots like you feeding the beast, decent, freedom-loving people would be able to take the government out behind the barn and shoot it dead.
But you're here, you're an animal, you can't think outside the box, and you vote.
So instead of embracing the author of this letter -- a letter that could actually make a difference -- your ego requires you to spout your personal bullshit ideology that you admit is a complete waste of time and not worth pursuing because of the 300 million idiots (who possibly could be affected by this letter, but probably not by your ZH posts). Got it.
Why in hell should I embrace a hired killer?
The guy believed liars and signed up to go off and kill innocents. The two of you are examples of what's wrong with US the population.
Did you ever consider that psychopathy is a bell curve distribution? That 4% are hardcore psychopaths and 4% are not psychopaths and that the other 92% can be influenced to behave like a psychopath?
Lying works to bring the latent seeds of psychopathic behavior alive in them and that's what governments do.
"Why in hell should I embrace a hired killer?"
Seriously? He's a guy who signed up because he believed the propaganda that he was fighting an enemy that threatened his family. He figured out he was duped. So he wrote a letter to all of those who may think about making the same mistake, and telling them not to do it. That's why.
But let's just say fuck him because he made a terrible mistake that cost him his health and his life at an early age. I'm sure the general population will be more swayed by your comments here.
Sanctimonious prick.
A very young man who joins the army because he believes that his country has been attacked (however wrong he may be in this case) is not a hired killer. But some joker who condemns his as such, without knowing any of the particulars about what the boy was thinking, what pressures were on him at the time, particularly when the same young man has deep regrets when he came home, is not just a sanctimonious prick, he is a heartless asshole.
Wow, all that emotional output for some stupid dupe who wanted to kill innocents. Yes, he wanted to - he enlisted.
He was a useless piece of shit subhuman, an animal, that would kill because he was told to.
If everyone like the two of you disappeared tomorrow, the world would be a far better place.
Another heartless asshole.
I wasn't stupid enough to believe liars.
I wasn't stupid enough to enlist.
I wasn't evil enough to go off and kill innocents.
And I'm the heartless asshole?
That dupe and his ilk should kill themselves before they can kill others. The world would be a thousand times better.
-
"What are you doing to advance your no government agenda"
You did not answer his question.
LTER hasn't answered any of my questions. Where's the rebuke?
I think LTER is too fucking angry to talk rationally (particularly to you down thread, you told us a lot about who you were, made yourself vulnerable, and he just attacked) and he will regret it when he reads his comments later.
There is my rebuke of him.
The question remains unanswered and there is a clear reason for it.
I am angry. I'm angry that an article about this guy's letter -- a letter that everyone here should embrace as both a mea culpa from a young guy who joined up to fight non-existent terrorists, and a meaningful, powerful calling out of the people who lied to him -- turned into a juvenile discussion about the end of government from people who haven't even begun to think through how that would work in practice. I'm angry that many ZH'rs are so entranced by their own ideology that they can't even begin to feel for this guy or understand the power of his message. I'm angry that these same people would rather use this article as a platform to make tired arguments in favor of something that will never happen. The whole thing is very disheartening.