Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Why are we constantly at war?

We are not innocent victims who are defending themselves against evil. We brought most of this on ourselves because of our own history of meddling in the affairs of others.

They didn't attack us on 9/11 because of our freedom. They attacked us because we set up bases in Saudi Arabia during the first Gulf War and then never left. Then after 9/11 Bush and his cronies thought it would be a great idea to invade and make Iraq a client state, so we could close most of our bases in Saudi Arabia and replace them with a bunch of fortified bases in Iraq. How's that working out so far? 

We do not have to be the world's policeman. We don't have to protect oil that goes mostly to Europe and Asia. We don't have to support 'everything' Israel does. We don't have to go to war against Iran to stop them from getting nukes. We don't have to over-dramatize everything that happens in the world in order to justify more military misadventures. We don't have to take up arms and go to war every time the chicken hawks say we should. We do need to be aware of how we are being manipulated by our leaders who do the bidding of the multinational corporations and rich folks, including foreign nationals, who finance their campaigns.

Monday, January 26, 2015

Chris Kyle and American Worship of the Military

"I spent 26 years in the military, made four combat tours, retired in 2011, never lost any of my men, which I'm most thankful for of all I accomplished, sometimes even when we come home we don't, Chris Kyle much as others are or were tortured by the things we had to do, but I gain my balance by knowing that there is help and that my service was valued. Less than 2% of the USA population serves in the military currently, so less than 2% protect the freedoms of the other 98+% of this country and still some are not happy, well than I suggest for those who don't like being protected by this country's 2%, don't worry about getting a passport and just leave, we don't want you back, if you don't want to leave than I suggest you enlist and become part of an elite group of individuals who put it on the line every day. If your not part of the solution, than your part of the problem."

"Dale" thinks we should never question ANYTHING the military does or we don't belong here.

Hey Dale, is that the "freedom" you fought for? The past 30 years has been one misadventure after another and a lot of good men and women have died, and for what? Our freedom? Are you really that clueless?

Dale, I appreciate your service, and guess what? I served too. You didn't make foreign policy and neither did I but our actions were in support of a foreign policy that was, at best, questionable, and at worst, war crimes. Maybe you don't care what was done in your name, but many folks do and they love America just as much as anyone else.
Stop acting like any criticism of the military is un-American.

It doesn't matter what percentage of Americans serve in the military. It matters what our military personnel are actually doing when they go to war in our name. Are they upholding the high standards we claim we believe in (like not torturing people, and not recklessly killing innocent civilians who just happen to be in the way) or are we telling them that anything goes because otherwise the terrorists will win. That's what you're telling them Dale. And that's wrong.

We can honor those who serve without ignoring the mistakes that have been made by our leaders and by individual soldiers. The best way to honor our veterans is to insist that Congress provide them with the services and support they need through taxpayer dollars, so that they don't have to rely on charities.