Please Mr. President - Stop it Now!

[kpete]

The universality of war propaganda

A soldier with the Russian army in Afghanistan recounts what they believed about their mission
By Glenn Greenwald
.......................

It is hard to kill people without demonizing them. In 1988, my unit accidentally hit an Afghan wedding party. My friend, whose mortar shells had killed innocent people, was shocked when he learned of it. Some soldiers, however, were indifferent. "That village supports the resistance, anyway," they said. Like NATO now, we didn't count "their" casualties. As another friend, Alexander, would later write : "We thought that all of them - old and young - were insurgents." Alexander, to save his unit, had called in artillery that destroyed a village from which the mujahedeen were attacking. People of the villages hit by our air strikes became hostile and turned to the resistance. More attacks by insurgents led to more Soviet strikes.

After 10 years of such a tragic cycle, more than a million Afghans were dead and millions more had fled their devastated country. Also, ignored by many, a powerful religious force of militant Islamic movements grew under the pressure of foreign aggression. In 1989, during negotiations between my regiment and the most radical militants from the area, a mujahed told my friend : "We’ll take our revenge to your country." And they did. The backlash spilled out and hit not only the former Soviet Union and Afghans themselves in the 1990s, but also America on 9/11. The vicious cycle I witnessed in the 1980s - violence causing violence - is still continuing.
http://www.vigile.net/We-re-still-dying-in-Afghanistan

http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2009/10/28/propaganda/index.html

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Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi: "What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans, and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty and democracy?"

[BrklynLiberal]

1. A superb article...must read

[chimpymustgo]

2. What the hell are we fighting for - a gas pipeline? MIC greed? WHY are people dying??

[NYC_SKP]

4. That's the point. They aren't 'people', they're insurgents, different skin, different religion...

:sarcasm:

And, tragically, the longer we are there, the more insurgent they become.

And, yes, the pipeline and greed.

[SIMPLYB1980]

3. Not going to happen.

Everything points to he's sending more troops in.

[tekisui]

5. They hate us because we are there.

Out NOW!

[ChiciB1]

6. AP States Obama Will Send More Troops As Per Dylan Ratigan Show

this AM! I don't have a link, just wanted to reply!

I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS, but then I CAN'T BELIEVE so much of what this country is doing, anyway! I'm tired ot "pretty speeches" and "empty words" from people who are supposed to REPRESENT US!

If there were SOME WAY for a TRUE REVOLT, I would gladly sign on! I'm not rich, my budget declines each day, good costs go up, but SOMETHING MUST GET DONE!!

I'm SICK, SICK, SICK of writing letters, signing petitions, making phones calls and all the rest to the RATS in D.C. who don't give a RAT'S ASS about "WE THE PEOPLE!" I'm sick of all the RAH-RAH'S who keep hoping and wishing for something we just aren't getting!

Is there anyone out there who can get something organized?? I know if I tried something in my RUBY RED district I would be run out of town before I started! I just know that we are accepting the crumbs they throw us because they know we want SOMETHING! To me, CRUMBS just isn't enough and to say "it's a start" doesn't hold much water with me! It's A Start, is pretty much what I think we are going to get! From THE WAR TO HEALTH CARE!

And yes, I AM CYNICAL and won't apologize! I know 2 people living in cars, about 5 people who've lost they're homes and see so many other homes up for "short sale" around here because they NEED THE MONEY! My sister-in-law had to declare bankruptcy, one of my good friends has had her house up for sale, at a reduced a very reduced price and is about to lose it because it isn't selling and will probably also declare bankruptcy if it doesn't sell. This is JUST PLAIN WRONG!

And we SEND MILLIONS, OR BILLIONS to FIGHT WARS that will NEVER END!!

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

7. The politicians and generals don't have the guts to admit they lost another war and get out.

So, to avoid embarrassment, they will continue to fund and send more cannon-fodder to kill and die.