Clipmarks | papananook's 'soldiers' clips

Afghanistan Looming as Huge Mire of wasted lives, resources

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 15:34:57 GMT

clipped by: papananook
clipper's remarks: When will we ever learn? Trying to bomb these people (at great cost in innocent lives) into submission in a guerrilla war is incredibly stupid. The Russians couldn't do it and apparently we didn't learn our lessons well in Vietnam, Jungle/desert comparison aside. Their will to defend their own turf is rooted in the ages while ours is in greed and misguided ideology and there's the rub. Fools. What a waste of lives and resources and perception of good will worldwide. It's NOT a "good" war, if there are any. And changing strategy to more troops is folly of the worst kind but great for the war profiteers.

Clip Source: washingtonbureau.typepad.com

Earlier today, about 30 miles outside of Kabul, Taliban forces launched an extraordinary attack on a French patrol, killing 10 soldiers and injuring another 21. It lasted for hours and as many as 200 Taliban forces were involved. Clearly, it was well-coordinated.

It was the latest in a string of bad news coming out of Afghanistan these days. This summer has been the deadliest for NATO and U.S. troops since 2001. Indeed, more soldiers are dying in Afghanistan than Iraq.

Monday’s attack was the deadliest single attack in Afghanistan since 2001. Until Monday, the deadliest attack had been on July 13 when the same amount of Taliban soldiers attacked a U.S. patrol. Nine U.S. troops were killed in that attack.

Either reason is troubling. And as the U.S. military debates sending more troops in Afghanistan, it begs the question: Can more troops stop these kind of well-coordinated attacks?

The US Has 761 Military Bases Across the Planet

Sat, 13 Sep 2008 23:51:58 GMT

clipped by: papananook
clipper's remarks: and We Simply Never Talk About It.
Where the Sun Never Sets

Let's face it, we're on an imperial bender and it's been a long, long night. Even now, in the wee hours, the Pentagon continues its massive expansion of recent years; we spend militarily as if there were no tomorrow; we're still building bases as if the world were our oyster; and we're still in denial. Someone should phone the imperial equivalent of Alcoholics Anonymous.

Clip Source: www.alternet.org

America garrison the globe in ways that really are unprecedented, and yet, if you live in the United States, you basically wouldn't know it.

Here it is, as simply as I can put it: In the course of any year, there must be relatively few countries on this planet on which U.S. soldiers do not set foot, whether with guns blazing, humanitarian aid in hand, or just for a friendly visit. In startling numbers of countries, our soldiers not only arrive, but stay interminably, if not indefinitely. Sometimes they live on military bases built to the tune of billions of dollars that amount to sizeable American towns (with accompanying amenities), sometimes on stripped down forward operating bases that may not even have showers. When those troops don't stay, often American equipment does -- carefully stored for further use at tiny "cooperative security locations," known informally as "lily pads" (from which U.S. troops, like so many frogs, could assumedly leap quickly into a region in crisis).

VFP Calls for U.S. Withdrawal From Afghanistan and the Prosecution of Dick Cheney and George Bush fo

Thu, 11 Sep 2008 22:19:05 GMT

clipped by: papananook
clipper's remarks: This same resolution calls for the U.S. government to provide humanitarian aid to the people of Afghanistan, in non-coercive forms, to help them rebuild their own nation and their lives in cooperation with other nations in the region; and to allow the people of Afghanistan to freely determine their own government without interference by the U.S.
"These three statements from our membership represent many of the core values of our organization. We believe that service members have the right to re-evaluate their decision to kill and change their mind. We know that after all the killing is done the individual soldiers must live with themselves and make sense of what they have done. We believe that our political leaders must be held accountable for their actions. This is a critical to a healthy and functional democracy. We realize that to survive the challenges we face today, like global warming, we must find ways to work together and war is not viable."

To read full text of the resolu

Clip Source: www.commondreams.org

Nationwide - September 11 - Veterans For Peace held its Annual National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota days before the start of the Republican Convention. Over 400 veterans, military family members and friends ranging from World War II to the current conflict in Iraq gathered for workshops, discussions, inspirational speakers and entertainment. Topics covered included Agent Orange, Depleted Uranium, outreach to military personnel, PTSD and healing from war, military sexual assault and others.

Veterans For Peace is calling for changes in military law and other appropriate regulations so that military personnel can declare themselves Conscientious Objectors to specific wars based on a religious, moral, or legal basis. Current law calls for the objection to all wars to qualify for CO status.

The group is calling for the government of the United States to immediately withdraw all military and intelligence forces from Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Afghans Fed Up With Government, US

Sun, 07 Sep 2008 17:22:53 GMT

clipped by: papananook
clipper's remarks: A strong sense of frustration echoed through dozens of interviews by The Associated Press with Afghan villagers, police, government officials, tribal elders and Taliban who left and rejoined the religious movement. The interviews ranged from the capital, Kabul, to the rural regions near the border with Pakistan.

The overwhelming result: Ordinary Afghans are deeply bitter about American and NATO forces because of errant bombs, heavy-handed searches and seizures and a sense that the foreigners do not understand their culture. They are equally fed up with what they see as seven years of corruption and incompetence in a U.S.-backed government that has largely failed to deliver on development.

Even with more foreign troops, Afghanistan is now less secure.

Clip Source: www.commondreams.org

GHANI KHIEL, Afghanistan - The bearded, turbaned men gather beneath a large, leafy tree in rural eastern Nangarhar province. When Malik Mohammed speaks on their behalf, his voice is soft but his words are harsh. Mohammed makes it clear that the tribal chiefs have lost all faith in both their own government and the foreign soldiers in their country.

"This is our land. We are afraid to send our sons out the door for fear the American troops will pick them up," says Mohammed, who was chosen by the others to represent them. "Daily we have headaches from the troops. We are fed up. Our government is weak and corrupt and the American soldiers have learned nothing."

Afghans prepare graves for people killed by a US airstrike on Azizabad village in Herat province. The US-led coalition in Afghanistan said that its investigation into a controversial missile strike thought to have killed 90 civilians had found that only seven non-combatants died.

Palin Invokes God to Justify Iraq, Pipelines.

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 13:07:15 GMT

clipped by: papananook
clipper's remarks: What a....Repukelican. ..no I won't say what I really think. There are women here I respect too much...But not Sarah, or Cindy McCain or Laura Bush--any woman who can cleave to men like that doesn't deserve MY respect.

Clip Source: voices.washingtonpost.com

a $30 billion dollar project that's going to create a lot of jobs for people in Alaska, and we're going to have a lot of energy flowing through here -- and pray about that also -- I think God's will has to be done in unifying people and companies to get that gas line built, so pray for that," she told them, "but I can do my job there, in developing our natural resources, and doing things like getting the roads paved, and making sure our troopers have their cop cars and their uniforms, their guns, and making sure our public schools are funded. But really, all that stuff doesn't do any good if the people of Alaska's heart isn't right with God."

Switching to the war in Iraq, Palin told the group of students that they should not only pray for men and women in the military but to make sure the leaders of this country are sending U.S. soldiers "out on a task that is from God. That's what we have to make sure that we're praying for, that there is a plan and that that plan is God's plan."

War Crime now in Pakistan

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 22:04:24 GMT

clipped by: papananook
clipper's remarks: Will they ever learn?

Clip Source: www.commondreams.org

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - The Pakistan government blamed NATO-led troops in Afghanistan for a cross-border attack that killed at least seven women and children as they prepared to eat breakfast before dawn Wednesday, the second day of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

The attack, which a NATO spokesman denied, could add pressure to the Pakistani government, being asked by the U.S. to do more against terrorists in the mostly lawless tribal areas while many Pakistanis want the army to do less.

A Pakistani official who spoke on condition of anonymity said the soldiers who landed in the helicopters stormed into a house and started firing as women cooked breakfast. During Ramadan, many Muslims fast during daylight hours and typically eat a large meal before the sun rises.

UK Denies Money to Wounded Afghans

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 00:40:20 GMT

clipped by: papananook
clipper's remarks: I think there are a lot more deaths from "collateral damage" and so do officials reprting...It's disgusting what our tax dollars are doing....

‘We have huge concerns, especially over the number of casualties from air strikes,’ said Marc Garlasco, a former air strike commander for the Pentagon who left after becoming disillusioned with the number of innocent victims in Afghanistan and who is the author of this week’s HRW report. He said the casualty figures must be viewed as extremely conservative with the total representing the ‘bare minimum’.

Clip Source: www.commondreams.org

Defence officials are refusing to compensate the families of hundreds of Afghans killed, wounded or left homeless in fighting involving British troops.

Despite pledges to reduce collateral damage in Afghanistan, the number of legal claims lodged by Afghan civilians against the British government has grown more than five-fold during the past 12 months to almost 1,300, suggesting a dramatic increase in the number of innocent victims.

Yet of the 1,289 claims filed, just 397 have been settled, new government figures reveal. In addition, less than £150,000 in compensation has been paid to civilians injured or killed during fighting involving British soldiers in Helmand province. The UK government is currently spending almost £400,000 a day on military operations in the country.

Last night, human rights groups condemned the stance of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) on compensating innocent victims as ’scandalous’, claiming the majority of alleged victims are being denied payments.

US Weighs Stepped-Up Military Forays Into Pakistan

Sat, 09 Aug 2008 11:05:13 GMT

clipped by: papananook
clipper's remarks: Why don't we just hand over all the decisions to the Generals and Admirals and get it over with? We might as well save money on elections an other such futile circuses. Just call it The Disunuted States of the Pentagon. just cut out "the people" As middlemen and go directly to the profiteering Korporations and ask them what they need to bring in more obscene $$$$$$. Why fuck around voting?

Clip Source: www.commondreams.org

WASHINGTON - Top Bush administration officials are pressing the president to direct U.S. troops in Afghanistan to be more aggressive in pursuing militants into Pakistan on foot as part of a proposed radical shift in regional counterterrorism strategy, The Associated Press has learned.

Senior intelligence and military aides want President Bush to give American soldiers greater flexibility to operate against al-Qaida and Taliban fighters who cross the border from Pakistan’s lawless tribal border area to conduct attacks inside Afghanistan, officials say.

The plan could include sending U.S. special forces teams, temporarily assigned to the CIA, into the tribal areas to hit high-value targets, according to an intelligence official with direct knowledge of the plan.

From the perspective of those fiercely independent tribals dwelling in the volatile border regions of Pakistan (Waziristan, FATA) it seems the CIA are to be given power to declare war.

The US is clueless and is meddling again.

10 of The Most Racist Toys Ever Made

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 13:12:34 GMT

clipped by: papananook
clipper's remarks: Obama sock toy---Yikes!

Clip Source: www.thetoyzone.com

No before you ask I don’t agree with what any of these toys say - I have just compiled the list for the interest of you my readers.

1. Golly Wog

Recently the Supermodel Naiomi Cambell assaulted airline staff after reportedly being called a ‘Golliwog supermodel’

2. Chop Suey Specs

3. Jogo Dos Grooms

A Portuguese game that involved shooting black soldiers with anything you could lay your hands on.

4. Darkey in a watermelon

The advert describes the toy: “Upon opening the watermelon which is made of papier mache, is found a little pickaninany, southern darky with cloth diaper fasted with miniature safety pin and small nursing bottle. His white eyes flash the whole face indicated perfect happiness.”

6. Always did spise a mule

The bank portrays an African American man riding a mule that, when pushed, throws the rider over it’s head as the coin goes into the bank. Displayed a violence against blacks that was acceptable at the time, and was also thought of as “fun”.

8. Barack Obama Sock Puppet

released

Media Narrative: This Is A Dead Heat, And Damn The Facts

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 13:53:55 GMT

clipped by: papananook
clipper's remarks: Cue Circus music---Gawd, when will this friggin' campaign END?
And I'll bet the 2012 campaign will start in '09

Clip Source: www.dailykos.com

For all the seismic shifts that have taken place over the last two weeks, we need to recognize that McCain has now abandoned virtually everything he's been campaigning on for the last year. There's really no more eloquent confirmation of that reality than the fact that McCain now appears determined to base his campaign on charges that Obama is unpatriotic and despises American soldiers.

It's complete and utter nonsense, and even conservative Republican Chuck Hagel agrees, but do we see media outrage? Of course not. That's reserved for obscure topics that only DC pundits care about.

No, the media has a different narrative. As I wrote last month, the media wants a close race, and is willing to flog a dated set of Quinnipiac polls every night to 'prove' that the race is closer than the Gallup (Obama +9) and Rasmussen (+5) tracking polls say. Those, of course, don't get reported,

Obama Fails To Gain Unanimous Support from Unscientific Selection Of Undecided Republicans, But Leads Anyway

Having the ‘Best Military’ Is Not Always a Good Thing

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 03:34:31 GMT

clipped by: papananook
clipper's remarks: So consider this a modest proposal from a retired citizen-airman: A small but meaningful act against the creeping militarism of the Bush years would be to collectively repudiate our “world’s best warfighter” rhetoric and re-embrace instead a tradition of reluctant but resolute citizen-soldiers.

Becoming Warfighters

I first noticed the term “warfighter” in 2002. Like many a field-grade staff officer, I spent a lot of time crafting PowerPoint briefings, trying to sell senior officers and the Pentagon on my particular unit’s importance to the President’s new Global War on Terrorism. The more briefings I saw, the more often I came across references to “serving the warfighter.” It was, I suppose, an obvious selling point, once we were at war in Afghanistan and gearing up for “regime-change” in Iraq. And I was probably typical in that I, too, grabbed the term for my briefings. After all, who wants to be left behind when it comes to supporting the troops “at the pointy end of the spear”

Clip Source: www.commondreams.org

When did American troops become “warfighters” — members of “Generation Kill” — instead of citizen-soldiers? And when did we become so proud of declaring our military to be “the world’s best”? These are neither frivolous nor rhetorical questions. Open up any national defense publication today and you can’t miss the ads from defense contractors, all eagerly touting the ways they “serve” America’s “warfighters.” Listen to the politicians, and you’ll hear the obligatory incantation about our military being “the world’s best.”

All this is, by now, so often repeated — so eagerly accepted — that few of us seem to recall how against the American grain it really is. If anything — and I saw this in studying German military history — it’s far more in keeping with the bellicose traditions and bumptious rhetoric of Imperial Germany under Kaiser Wilhelm II than of an American republic that began its march to independence with patriotic Minutemen in revolt against King George.

"Generation Kill" brings the Iraq war to the TV viewer

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 14:45:31 GMT

clipped by: papananook
clipper's remarks: From the producers of "The Wire"
With its $550 billion budget and 1.5 million troops, the military might seem a mechanized colossus of precision-guided violence, give or take a few bad apples and errant artillery shells. But if you have served in the military or written about it from the inside, you know that on the unit level it is filled with men and women of vastly different motivations and skills. The Marines in Generation Kill are intelligent and dimwitted, panicked, sensitive, racist, comic, homicidal, brave. It is a wonder when things go according to plan. "You know what happens when you get out of the Marine Corps?" says one of the characters. "You get your brains back."

Clip Source: www.slate.com

culturebox: Arts, entertainment, and more.

Situation NormalWhat Generation Kill gets right about the invasion of Iraq.

By Peter Maass
Posted Friday, July 18, 2008, at 3:44 PM ET

I hate Skittles. I perfected this dislike while covering the invasion of Iraq, because the gummy pills of sugar and fruit were included in the MREs fed to soldiers, Marines, and journalists who were racing to Baghdad in 2003. On the continuum of foods I can't stand, they are surpassed only by lima beans. But the cameo of a red pack of Skittles in the opening scene of David Simon's new HBO miniseries, Generation Kill, was a welcome sight, because it signaled that the program was going to be faithful to the smallest detail of the invasion I had witnessed

Yet the highest achievement of the miniseries is the way it unveils the disordered workings of the American military and the inevitable destruction of all objects in its path, including civilians whose only offense is to tend their sheep or drive down a road.

Afhanistan is NOT "the good war"!

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 14:49:28 GMT

clipped by: papananook
clipper's remarks: This is going to be worse than Vietnam if Obama stays in a stupid war in Afghanistan.

Clip Source: www.alternet.org

Read between the lines of the Democrats' statements on Iraq and Afghanistan. Chances are, like me, you will realize with growing horror that they view Afghanistan as "the good war" and are eager to plunge in deeper with thousands more troops and billions more dollars. I'm a Vietnam vet, and that prospect is nauseating. The Democratic leaders obviously don't realize that Afghanistan is infinitely more difficult to fight in than Iraq and the prosects of "winning" -- whatever that might be -- are even slimmer.

I am not fond of the Taliban, but our continuing to fight them simply makes no sense. The Taliban are not really a serious enemy; Al Qaeda is our enemy, and AQ is

in many different countries.

Even if we killed all the Taliban,

it wouldn't make a significant dent in the global terrorist threat. So why fight there? Because it's easy -- not for the soldiers but for the politicians, who benefit from the "low-intensity" war, and their corporate pals who make billions in profits

Afghanistan: Graveyard of Empires

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 19:39:22 GMT

clipped by: papananook
clipper's remarks: Who wants this clown as Pres?...not me...and not McPain, either....we're screwed again!

Clip Source: www.commondreams.org

WASHINGTON - Barack Obama yesterday pledged to increase US troops in Afghanistan by a third if he becomes president, sending 10,000 more to reinforce the 33,000 already there.

He was speaking after the US lost nine soldiers at the weekend in the deadliest attack on its forces in the country since 2005.

Obama has promised, soon after becoming president in January, to begin scaling back the 156,000 US troops in Iraq and Kuwait, and to shift the focus to Afghanistan.

He is to fill out his plans in a foreign policy speech in Washington today ahead of his first visit to Iraq and Afghanistan since he launched his presidential bid early last year.

Obama, in the New York Times article, reiterated his promise to have all US combat troops out by the summer of 2010, with a “residual” force left in place to fight al-Qaida and train Iraqi forces.

Afghanistan: Graveyard of Empires

Believe it or not, a few clueless corporate media infotainwhores still characterize Obama as “anti-war”.

Moyers: Conservatives had their chance and Blew it!

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 18:16:03 GMT

clipped by: papananook
clipper's remarks: On top of such bungled calamities as Iraq and Katrina…

GEORGE W. BUSH: Again I want to thank you all for- and Brownie you're doing a heck of a job.

BILL MOYERS: The conservative regime sent spending into the stratosphere…borrowed trillions from the future to pay for their agenda, and rewarded their wealthy base with huge tax cuts. Earmarks and contracts fattened lobbyists on K Street, which Newt Gingrich and Tom DeLay honed into a ruthless shakedown machine exploited by conservative movement stars like Grover Norquist, Ralph Reed, and Jack Abramoff.

JACK ABRAMOFF: Senator, I respectfully invoke the privileges previously stated.

SEN. KENT CONRAD: And I'd say to you Mr. Abramoff, shame on you.

BILL MOYERS: And after crusading for the impeachment of Bill Clinton, conservatives pushing family values turned out to be their own worst enemies. Some of their foot soldiers in politics and the religious right were outed for adultery, stalking Capitol Hill pages, soliciting sex. Be

Clip Source: www.pbs.org

Edwards and Douthat, Part I

Edwards and Douthat, Part II

Clip Source: www.pbs.org

Thirty years ago, intrigued by the ascendancy of the new right in politics and of Ronald Reagan, I had many of the conservative leaders on this broadcast to argue and debate their philosophy of society and government. My hour with Ronald Reagan remains a favorite.

RONALD REAGAN: Government is attempting to do things today that properly belong either at a lower echelon of government or belong in the hands of the people. I believe that government exists to protect us from each other not to protect us from ourselves.

BILL MOYERS: I watched over the years as the movement increased its power, winning control of Congress in 1994 and then electing George W. Bush eight years ago.

BILL MOYERS: Now, controlling the party, the Presidency, and Congress, conservatives had what historian Rick Perlstein describes as their first chance in the modern era to govern on their own terms - to prove themselves. They were euphoric. And they blew it.