Lies, Lies
We are being fed a steady stream of lies from the military to keep us fat, dumb and happy. We are told there are only 125,000 U.S. soldiers in Iraq. But how many Americans are functioning as privately contracted mercenaries, doing jobs that usually belonged to the theatre corps and army?
Needless to say, these mercenaries are paid considerably more than soldiers and their deaths are not counted as KIA; therefore, their actual costs are more easily hidden. Why the subterfuge? How many Americans are carrying rifles in Iraq? The public has the right to know.
The next lie is that the denial of POW status to and the indefinite incarceration of Islamic individuals accused of terrorism is helping the U.S. win the war on terror.
For a moment, let's forget if all the folks held in all the secret CIA prisons, Abu Ghraib and Camp X-Ray are terrorists, insurgents, criminals or soldiers. Forget the Geneva Convention. But DON'T forget the basic principles of the U.S. Constitution, namely, that even murderers are afforded the right to due process, to face their accusers and, if need be, the right to a fair and timely trial.
Prison sentences without any limitations are barbaric and are an aid to recruitment for anti-U.S. forces. What better recruitment poster than the ubiquitous pictures of bound, sandbagged and/or kneeling prisoners, often featured with gleaming U.S. female military personnel posing as dominatrices above their subjugated prey? Is this demonstrating U.S. respect for human dignity?
There is an increasing reliance on half-truths and falsehoods that characterizes our military efforts in Iraq, and my criticism of the military is that they peddle these fabrications-cum-reality.
It is painfully obvious that the U.S. is engaged in partisan warfare in Iraq, yet everything is done to deny this fact. Call it what you will--unconventional, guerilla or partisan, there is a reality that it goes beyond mere terrorism. It is ongoing, sustained, and factionalized. The U.S. military, the Iraq army and the Iraq police force are fighting a war against an unknown percentage of the Iraqi citizenry. In such situations, body counts and death counts are irrelevant.
Needless to say, these mercenaries are paid considerably more than soldiers and their deaths are not counted as KIA; therefore, their actual costs are more easily hidden. Why the subterfuge? How many Americans are carrying rifles in Iraq? The public has the right to know.
The next lie is that the denial of POW status to and the indefinite incarceration of Islamic individuals accused of terrorism is helping the U.S. win the war on terror.
For a moment, let's forget if all the folks held in all the secret CIA prisons, Abu Ghraib and Camp X-Ray are terrorists, insurgents, criminals or soldiers. Forget the Geneva Convention. But DON'T forget the basic principles of the U.S. Constitution, namely, that even murderers are afforded the right to due process, to face their accusers and, if need be, the right to a fair and timely trial.
Prison sentences without any limitations are barbaric and are an aid to recruitment for anti-U.S. forces. What better recruitment poster than the ubiquitous pictures of bound, sandbagged and/or kneeling prisoners, often featured with gleaming U.S. female military personnel posing as dominatrices above their subjugated prey? Is this demonstrating U.S. respect for human dignity?
There is an increasing reliance on half-truths and falsehoods that characterizes our military efforts in Iraq, and my criticism of the military is that they peddle these fabrications-cum-reality.
It is painfully obvious that the U.S. is engaged in partisan warfare in Iraq, yet everything is done to deny this fact. Call it what you will--unconventional, guerilla or partisan, there is a reality that it goes beyond mere terrorism. It is ongoing, sustained, and factionalized. The U.S. military, the Iraq army and the Iraq police force are fighting a war against an unknown percentage of the Iraqi citizenry. In such situations, body counts and death counts are irrelevant.
posted by rangeragainstwar at 5:37 PM
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