Dr. K, if we had treated 9/11 as a crime—an horrendous crime but a crime nonetheless, rather than an act of war it would not have given the Bush regime the excuse to invoke radical theories of unlimited excutive power.  As Gen. William Odom once noted, “Terrorism is not a target.  It’s a tactic.  It would make about as much sense to declare war on night attacks and expect to win that war.”

While the very concept of a “war on terror” borders upon a meaningless oxymoron, as a propaganda device it has proved and continues to prove a very effective tool for disarming the so-called Democratic opposition, including your pal John Kerry who resorted to a good deal of war on terror rhetoric during the 2004 campaign.  It is a concept that envisions a phantom menace who is everywhere and anywhere at all times—a war whose utility from the standpoint of the military-industrial complex and war profiteers (Halliburton/Blackwater etc.) lies in the fact that it is a war that cannot be won—endless war = unlimited profits.

My friend-Earl-is a VIET VET-he has cancer PLUS a buncha other BU**SH*t from his time there and his injuries[such as schrapnel in his guts]He has been “SWEPT” under the rug and so are a lot of his buddies…..THE P.T.Bs want OUR BRAVE WARRIORS to LAY IT ON THE LINE and when they get BROKEN….GO LAY DOWN AND SHUT UP…...It Just Ain’t Right….....NOW-HOW DO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE BRING ABOUT CHANGE?????

#115923 Earnest Canning said, “Your tax dollars are funding the presence of that occupation force, except that the cost of a Blackwater mercenary far outstrips the cost of an American soldier.” 

I agree with Kerry that fighting terrorists is a police, not a military, job.  Blackwater probably has little to no competition.  If rooting out terrorists were put out to bid, the price might just come down.  In any event, we’re not just talking soldiers here, but a whole MIC.  I bet if we all put our minds to it, we could come up with a cheaper, more efficient way to get al Qaida and save our military for the big one.  What military is al Qaida a part of?  Let’s bring them in as consultants.

I’m sorry #115923 Ernest Canning, I was just being stupid.  Of course you are right, there is absolutely nothing “democratic” about the Blackwater thugs or those who employed them.  I am a little concerned as to why our Congress hasn’t enacted some kind of regulation, preferably outlawing the use of these dangerous groups by our military and any other government agency.  Let them go back to guarding the homes of the sickening rich, they deserve each other…..

Mary & Dr. K.  You seem to be missing the point.  The rise of a privatized Praetorian guard is a threat to the very survival of our constitutional democracy.  In the wake of Katrina the first people in were not rescue workers but Blackwater mercenaries.  Moreover,  a privatized military only serves to free up the neoconservatives as it allows the true cost of imperial conquest to be hidden.  At present, I don’t believe even the GAO knows the total number of mercenaries killed in Iraq, let alone the number of injured.  Estimates of the number of private mercenaries now operating in Iraq range as high as 140,000, which, when added to the approximately 150,000 active duty US military personnel and the remnants of the “coalition forces” brings the total occupation forces up to approximately 300,000.

Your tax dollars are funding the presence of that occupation force, except that the cost of a Blackwater mercenary far outstrips the cost of an American soldier.

#115794, Dr Knowitall, PhD, Phd….Very interesting comment.  I think you may be on to something there.  Blackwater killer thugs instead of our sons and daughters, I like it…..

#115813 by Non Credo on 11/25 at 4:45 pm
(606 comments total)

“When a soldier is fighting in a situation that does not involve the clear and immediate defense of his country, he is merely a dehumanized tool for criminals, and the criminals using such a tool cannot be expected to have any compassion whatsoever for that tool.”

I particularly liked that paragraph; very well said.

4,000 dead, 30,000 wounded, 20,000 brain injured (not counted)and more than (way more) 6,000 suicides = 60,000 casualities and counting…..WOW!

This is but a fraction of the hidden costs of this abominable imperial conquest that we are beginning to see.  As someone who has represented seriously injured employees over the past thirty years I can attest to the fact that brain injuries rank amongst both the most difficult and costly to deal with.  One of the problems is that those who receive brain injuries, especially individuals with frontal lobe damage, almost routinely think they are doing much better than they actually are.  This can lead to a host of problems, including those that are complicated by drugs and alcohol as well as future problems with the law.

What went unmentioned in this article is whether the high percentage of brain injuries are due to the percussive impact of conventional weaponry bouncing off Depleted Uranium (DU) armor, which is impervious to conventional munitions.  During Gulf War I one of the factors that gave American forces such a tremendous advantage was that Iraq’s armor was struck by massive numbers of DU armor piercing rounds while 1/3 of U.S. tanks used in Operation Desert Storm were shielded by DU armor.  But this lopsided result was tempered by the fact that in so doing, the Pentagon exposed our own troops to deadly gamma radiation.  Considering that more than 800 tons of DU, each with a half-life of 4.5 million years, were left strewn across the battlefields in Kuwait, Iraq & Saudi Arabia in Gulf War I alone, it may be decades before we begin to appreciate the full impact and cost of this exercise in imperial insanity.

Word is long out that maybe the military isn’t an option for young people who are looking for help for their lives.  Enlistments are down.

And Bush doesn’t want a draft, for obvious reasons.  Things are getting more interesting.

I don’t feel as bad about Blackwater as most people seem to.  This so-called war should have been privatized long ago. There are a lot of gun-crazy idiots out there that could probably have given alQaida a better run for their money than the US military and we could have been spared all this crap.

I keep thinking this can’t get any worse, but it does.  The lack of concern by the media, little to no coverage, the lack of concern by our Congress, the lack of concern by the moron administration is jaw-dropping, downright embarressing.  I don’t care much what the rest of the world thinks right now, I’m far more concerned about the lack of outrage by our representatives and our citizens.  History will not be kind to our generation, and we deserve that.  Nancy and Harry, you both disgust me almost as much as the scum running this horror show.  Please get out and vote this election year, and almost as important, don’t shop.  We can change this, we just need to want to bad enough.  And bad enough is going to be really bad…...

#115678 by Non Credo on 11/25 at 4:53 am
(568 comments total)

#115662 by Outraged on 11/24 at 11:53 pm
(321 comments total)

#115650 by Dave23 on 11/24 at 9:35 pm
(18 comments total)

Yeah, one would think, with all of this in the media for everyone to read (for months now), we as a citizenry would be outraged (sorry Outraged, no pun intended), but the status quo just seems to be into their CHRISTmas bargains/shopping (read James Allegro).  I am so happy the figures for “Black Friday” were so good; shop till you drop!  God Almighty (oxymoron), what has become of us?  Where is the courage we have shown throughout our history…specifically WWII.  It’s maybe the last war that was honestly fought, and worth the fight!  But now?  What are American’s afraid of?  Not fear, but, apathy; is it apathy?  Tell me.  Is it?  Then, where’s the moral high ground….certainly we have lost it.
After WWII, …..When have we taken care of the very ones we have asked to give so much?  We need a reality check……NOW!!!

Wow…..the pentagon must have some REALLY BIG RUGS, for all they need to get under them!  I would hate to be their cleaning personnel, but boy do they NEED them.

With all of the stories around about the extreme neglect of the troops, from the Walter Reed Hospital scandal, to the pentagon asking for troops’ signing bonuses back because they didn’t finish their tours due to injury, to this cover up of brain injuries, I will absolutely cry if the armchair warrior neocons and their big media buddies continue to keep the average American convinced that all of the anti-war candidates hate our troops, and a vote against a facist chickenhawk like Rudy is a vote against our troops. The dems are thus far tragically incapable of bringing the truth to the forefront, but this must change for there to be any hope of getting a president in office who will bring the troops home and get them properly taken care of.

A psychopathic personality is characterized by one who can function in everyday life, but is smitten with extreme egotism and a total inability to feel social and moral obligations toward those outside his circle, involving attitudes and actions which carry a total disregard for the livelihood and welfare of others.

What else are we to consider about Bush, with the neglect of the welfare of the military who are fighting his war, of Katrina victims, of the poor,  of mankind in his raping of the environment, of our grandchildren whose future he has mortgaged, of the future of mankind with his manipulating and playing with the global warming issue—Aren’t these enough examples to convince everyone of his infliction?

We are told the increase incidents of brain damage in our returning troops is because of the roadside bombs.

That is a lie!

The increase in brain damage is because of the new helmets these guys wear. They have no protection at the base of the skull and absolutely no protection at the neck. Now, I am sure somebody, or perhaps I should say some “buddy” somewhere is making a great deal of money making Rummy’s new design, but why doesn’t anyone take a look at this? Come to think of it I know the answer to that. Because nobody who should, cares.

Lets take a look at the Pentagon. What percentage of the folks working there are retired military? What percentage career civilian bureaucrats? Worse still, what percent are there because they were favored with the appointment by the most grossly incompetent man who ever ran away from his military service. Correction. He didn’t run away. He walked away, just plain bored. The depth of character is so shallow, to this day he sees nothing wrong with that.

Chalmers Johnson made an interesting observation last night. Something to the effect that after so many years of perfecting the bureaucratic niche, the bureaucrat forgets how to think. But then a lot of people who aren’t bureaucrats have forgotten how to think. They may be learned and degreed, but they do not know how to think. How else can one explain Bushes hold on people? How else can one explain the people who still say he’s doing a splendid job? How else can we explain Congress?

To paraphrase Lyndon LaRouche, ‘President Bush should be held up as an example to the youth of America as to the brain damage that can occur after years of drug and alcohol abuse.’

But what is everybody else’s excuse? Are we all brain damaged?
***

“Wounded Iraq veterans driven out of public pool when told they might scare children”

http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/november2007/241107Wounded.htm

“Soldiers who suffered appalling injuries in Iraq and Afghanistan were verbally abused as they swam in a public swimming pool. During a weekly rehabilitation class at a council leisure centre, 15 servicemen – including several who have lost limbs or suffered severe burns – were heckled and jeered by members of the public.”

“One woman was so incensed that the troops were using the pool ... she told them they did not deserve to be there.”

“The abuse was witnessed by 79-year-old Korean War veteran Charles Murrin, who said yesterday: “I could not believe what she was saying. “The lane was roped off, which they do every week. It wasn’t as if the pool was completely closed. Her group had the rest of the pool to swim in. “She said the men do not deserve to be in there and that she pays money to come in the pool and they don’t.”

“The soldiers, who use the pool as part of a water therapy course, were quickly ordered out by their instructor to avoid further embarrassment.”

***

This happened in Surrey England, not here. But is that only because the wounded are carefully kept out of our sight here?

Too many people still, really have no clue! Why are our dead still being flown home under cover of darkness? Why does the press refuse to challenge Barbara’s heartless order they not be recognized, or photographed when those tin coffins come off the plane?

Perhaps when the crash comes, people will realize how incredibly stupid it is to follow the leader when the leader is a liar. A brain damaged liar to boot. But not likely. More than likely they will turn on the vets the way they did following Vietnam. Like any of this mess is their fault!

If Bush was one tenth the man he thinks he is, he would be outraged! Heads would be rolling over the abuse our returning vets are receiving! Fighting for back pay! Fighting for proper medical care! Fighting the Pentagon who wants the wounded vets bonuses back because they couldn’t keep on fighting!

Where is the outrage?
Nancy, Harry, where is the outrage?

115392 by cyrena on 11/23 at 9:27 pm: “DESPITE 5 plus years of attempting to hide them under an already filthy rug, and denying them not only care, but even a proper diagnosis….....

Does anybody at all out there have even the slightest clue of what brain injuries do to the victims who sustain them, and the families that are not equipped to help them on their own…”

There is a difference between not KNOWING and not CARING but there is a big difference between that and KNOWING and not CARING, cyrena. They have been set the task of “Well, you prove it” , uhh. That is the legal dodge used by so many governments (and insurance companies) to deny compensation whether for road accidents, workplace accidents, or military casualties!!!!

But depression and other psychic/mental conditions/diseases are also damaging in themselves as they are caused by fundamental hormonal changes for the worse and possibly permanently, as Non Credo pointed out. These are the wounds of wars - and they are always conveniently ignored or denied. They are expected to be addressed successfully with regular doses of alcohol…....

This number will surely be higher if Bush/Cheney are still on their throne. Is it time to impeach them or to throw them out ?

War is always hell & uncivilized, hence all the atrocities committed during combat & occupation. It should only be used as an absolute last resort for the survival of the nation. Blood for Oil doesn’t meet the standard.

THIS IS VERY SAD FOR SURE.  THE BIGGEST BRAIN INJURY IS THE IDIOT THAT SENT THESE BRAVE MEN AND WOMEN THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE.

#115422 by Non Credo on 11/24 at 4:56 am
(547 comments total)

The nightmare of the Bush regime just keeps deepening.

You got it!  But, big but, this is just the tip of the proverbial iceburg.  Long after the shrub is gone the damage he and his have done will just compound.  We will see a generation of the doomed; ignored, forgotten, hidden, and buggered.  This I fear, is only the beginning!

No surprises here at all. We’ve known about them a long time, DESPITE 5 plus years of attempting to hide them under an already filthy rug, and denying them not only care, but even a proper diagnosis.

Does anybody at all out there have even the slightest clue of what brain injuries do to the victims who sustain them, and the families that are not equipped to help them on their own?

I ask because there is a difference between not KNOWING, and not CARING. We already fully comprehend that the thugs who sent them into harms way were fully aware of these probable outcomes, and that they DIDN’T care then, nor to they care now.

But, for those who have followed the early instructions to ‘just go shopping’...I don’t want to make the accusations that they don’t care either. So, I would ask only if anybody KNOWS what these injuries do to the future lives of all who are connected, directly or indirectly to the victims of the Cabal’s war on the world.