Iraqi Civilian Casualties
As the realities of war in Iraq continue to slowly penetrate even the most vacuous of minds, I find that, as usual, the public and the press are 10 goose-steps behind the truth.
Current talking points seem to be centered around the recent killing of civilians in Iraq - never mind that evidence of this behavior has been present since day one of the Iraq Invasion / Endless War on Terror. Never mind the usual "left-wing" objections to a pre-emptive invasion of a country with no connection with 9/11, no weapons of mass destruction, and a history of being unofficially supported by past administrations. Ignoring the Abu Ghraib affair, secret torture prisons, fraudulent and no-bid contracts, poorly prepared and implemented military, and a country brought into so much turmoil that those who can have fled their own country. Even overlooking the construction of the huge US Embassy campus being built on Iraqi soil, which, incidentally, is about the only reconstruction effort that seems to be proceeding with any amount of ernest.
Which leaves us with one enduring truth. Iraqi civilians have been paying the price of our hubris from the moment of first contact. And who do we now blame? A few 20-something marines who have been drinking from the Bush kool-aid fountain for 4 long, excruciatingly painful years. Pumped up by national hysteria and faux patriotism, marched into battle against an enemy they cannot communicate with nor have cultural understanding of, and re-deployed until fatigue has etched their very souls.
They went to war as our fists-of-rage against an unspeakable horror, proud to fight for a country they believed was honorable, tattooed and filled with the brave innocence of youth. Feeling secure in the affirmations of a collection of slack-jawed, draft-dodging yokels who placed them in harms way with no real plans for success.
This failure, as with all others thus far, lies not in the tool, but its handler.
Current talking points seem to be centered around the recent killing of civilians in Iraq - never mind that evidence of this behavior has been present since day one of the Iraq Invasion / Endless War on Terror. Never mind the usual "left-wing" objections to a pre-emptive invasion of a country with no connection with 9/11, no weapons of mass destruction, and a history of being unofficially supported by past administrations. Ignoring the Abu Ghraib affair, secret torture prisons, fraudulent and no-bid contracts, poorly prepared and implemented military, and a country brought into so much turmoil that those who can have fled their own country. Even overlooking the construction of the huge US Embassy campus being built on Iraqi soil, which, incidentally, is about the only reconstruction effort that seems to be proceeding with any amount of ernest.
Which leaves us with one enduring truth. Iraqi civilians have been paying the price of our hubris from the moment of first contact. And who do we now blame? A few 20-something marines who have been drinking from the Bush kool-aid fountain for 4 long, excruciatingly painful years. Pumped up by national hysteria and faux patriotism, marched into battle against an enemy they cannot communicate with nor have cultural understanding of, and re-deployed until fatigue has etched their very souls.
They went to war as our fists-of-rage against an unspeakable horror, proud to fight for a country they believed was honorable, tattooed and filled with the brave innocence of youth. Feeling secure in the affirmations of a collection of slack-jawed, draft-dodging yokels who placed them in harms way with no real plans for success.
This failure, as with all others thus far, lies not in the tool, but its handler.
posted by Dr. Know at 2:54 PM
2 Comments:
It is the handler. Indeed.
I want to be a proud American. I do. But.
I am scared of our government.
As a living (barely) witness to the double standards and personal immunities to which this current crop of Republicans believe they are entitled, I am very wary indeed. They have degenerated into a nationally orchestrated collection of sockpuppets apparently bent on perverting and exploiting everything good that was this country. And their misdeeds, for the most part, are amply rewarded by those above them - until public scrutiny and outrage forces otherwise.
And if you have seen the GA 8th and 11th Congressional district representatives on TV lately, you begin to understand how vacuous these minds are - they have no ideas, and stand for nothing that isn't spelled out in a party flyer.
Now multiply that times 200...
Where on earth do they come up with these people?
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