"We did not do anything to them,” said Walid Abdul-Hameed, who lost her parents, her grandparents, a brother and two uncles in the shootings. Only she, one brother and a sister survived. “Because they hurt us,” she said, “we want the Americans to be executed.”
14 civilians slaughtered by American Marines in Haditha. The oldest was 70, the youngest was 2. Marines who've killed non combatants pay fines it seems. 2,500 bucks for each dead relative. nice. I wonder how many Americans would accept 2,500 bucks if a cop shot their mother or brother in the street.
I would be a terrorist if I was this 9 year-old girl. She's lost everything, in an instant. It's fucking awful. There is no justice here. There won't be.
I blame Americans, the fucking idiots, for voting this raging asshole into power. And then for closing their eyes as tight as they can while this lying tyrant runs amok, taking lives. And then voting him in again.
They're not all bad: Our major media and the administration just won’t report or acknowledge it. Last weekend, more than 100 people were killed in Iraq’s civil war. Our boys and girls are in the middle, and there’s no saving this mess. Torture in Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib, secret prisons in Eastern Europe, now this. Our nation has never limped so low before the eyes of the world in our entire history. These are outrages. We are only multiplying hate that will haunt us for decades. Enough death and dishonor. Get our troops out of Iraq; that’s how to support our troops—alive.
Why are we following the American example and occupying Afganistan? Who is the bigger fool? The fool who leads or the fool that follows?
Today's Song of the Day is "Lamentatio" Performed by Convivium Musicum, Ensemble Villanella and Sven Berger off the compliation "Tugend Und Untugend: German Secular Music From The Time Of Luther." Composed in 1517 by Ludwig Senfl
Crazy Fact: Ludwig Senfl lost a toe in a hunting accident in 1518.
njoy
3 comments:
iraq and afghanistan are two separate quagmires. after talking with professors who specialise in the middle east, and with afghani businessmen, i feel reasonably comfortable with someone trying to rid afghanistan of the taliban. it might be better PR if that someone were middle eastern, too, but my point is that the taliban are harmful, oppressive, fanatical loonies -- and if everyone backs out of afghanistan now, the taliban will return and the country will become a living hell for 90% of its citizens.
let me be clear: i'm a pro-choice, homo-lovin' commie-pinko pacifist. i'm horrified by the industrial military machine, feel uncomfortable with my kid playing with water pistols, and think it's weird when canadian buddists march around with guns in the woods. and killing people is awful, but what's happening in afghanistan isn't simply an atrocity. good is being done on so many levels apart from the battles being waged. infrastructure is being rebuilt, women walk the streets, amazing initiatives are working to provide opium farmers with free fruit and nut trees instead of poppies, water and juice plants are opening and, slowly, tangled property rights issues are being unraveled. it's all happening and it's good.
the biggest problem seems to be that afghanistan shouldn't really exist. like pakistan was artificially created by britain, afghanistan was set up more or less arbitrarily as a buffer between lucrative colonialist interests to the south, and russia. afghanistan contains about five very distinct ethno/cultural groups living in separate regions, and the challenge of finding a man who can inspire trust in such a diversely rooted place has so far proven impossible. eventually a leader will emerge, though, and this will do a great deal towards stabilising the country. in the meantime, the taliban mustn't be allowed to return. they simply mustn't -- as a human rights issue completely independent of this nonsensical so-called war on terror.
i felt compelled to write this because canadians have such a delicate sense of honour when it comes to peacekeeping, and i hate to hear afghanistan tossed into the same pot with the horrific disaster that is the situation in iraq. especially now that the CBC has, by association, created a tenuous connection in the minds of its listeners between the 17, uh, Gardening Enthusiasts recently arrested in toronto, and canada's involvement in afghanistan. we don't need to be there ourselves, but somebody should be in our place.
I'm with the A-Girl. It's ignorant to lump those two countries together. As far as I know, in a world where one has to question every word one hears, Canada is doing some good stuff in Afghanistan.
The news one gets on this side of the ocean is very entertaining, concerning the fertiliser enthusiasts in Ontario.
Canadians seem to be like: "Woo, that was close! I never/always though they'd try something like that here! Thank goodness for the RCMP and CSIS! Good work!"
While the Americans are like: "AAUUUCGGGHHH!!!! THERE ARE TERRORISTS IN CANADA OH MY GOD LET'S BUILD A WALL AND SEND THE ARMY TO THE BORDER RIGHT AWAY!!!"
Anyway, what a fucking catastrophe this Iraq thing is. I'm so glad I'm just a liberal smart-ass and not some unlucky 19-year-old on speed with a machine gun who believes he has to avenge his mate on innocent people he can only perceive as evil monkeys. How do you fix a brain like that?
Can we get excited about the world cup now?
"To make war upon rebellion is messy and slow, like eating soup with a knife."
That's from Lawrence of Arabia. Good article. Nice to know somebody somewhere is trying to learn from history.
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