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| An Afghani man cries for those he knew |
It's less than a week since I posted about six young English soldiers killed tragically and needlessly far away from home in Afghanistan. Four of them were Yorkshiremen. Now the latest chapter in that country's ongoing horror story involves an American soldier going berserk and killing sixteen innocent citizens - including women and children.
Though the full facts of this disturbing incident are not yet known, the BBC said this of the unnamed murderer: "he had apparently recently suffered a mental breakdown". Well if that is the case why the hell was he still able to pick up a weapon and walk out of his base on a Terminator-type spree of killing? Don't the US Army have procedures in place that make doubly sure that armed soldiers only leave their bases on bona fide missions? And didn't this blood-crazed fellow realise that allegedly the whole reason that western troops are in Afghanistan is to make life better for ordinary Afghans who are certainly not "the enemy"? As a local woman said of a murdered two year old child: "There are no two year old Taliban fighters as far as I know."
How many more people must die in this pointless and unwinnable military adventure? Lord knows how Afghani fighters and the ordinary populace will respond to this atrocity in the coming days. But have you noticed how normally we don't get to hear very much at all about civilian deaths or indeed the deaths of those alien creatures from outer space known as...The Taliban! Aaaarrggh! So, BRING OUR BROTHERS HOME! Please...
The madness is horrible.....yes Bring our Brothers home.
ReplyDeleteTotally agree, YP.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how many tours that young man had had in the Middle East? Over here, we are hearing little about the "tragic incident", except that it happened. We also are not allowed to see flag draped coffins or see any of the war on the TV as we eat our dinner or read in the paper about civilian deaths "over there" or watch interviews with grieving family's of young men slaughtered for no reason. Any war protests that have happened during the last ten years have never made the papers. And there have been a few. But, only a few. All these things were very much "in our face" during the Viet Nam debacle.
ReplyDeleteIn all the endless Republican debates of the last months, Afghanistan is barely mentioned. The sacrifice of young men and women barely mentioned. The fact that at least a million of our citizens will face life with devastating injury ... never mentioned. The horror of hundreds of our soldiers committing suicide when they return home after numerous "tours"....never mentioned. But wanting to bomb the hell out of Iran? Well, they are all for that!!
Our senses and our goodness have deserted us all.
Mountain Thyme, thank you for your thoughtful response. My thoughts about this are not nearly so civilized. One of our local (meaning rural) kids joined the army 4 years ago because he thought he'd be doing some good for our country. He barely got out with his life, another US soldier who had threatened him several times finally cornered him and beat him. He had reported the threats and was told to deal with it. This kid's stories about the military are frightening, not just about the loose screws who thrive on violence, but about how soldiers have to buy their own socks and other essentials, while Blackwater a--holes are put up in luxury hotels and make a pot load of money. The only thing that amazes me anymore is how the rest of us look the other way and put up with this stuff. The Republican "debates" are a debacle, and while they're out jawing about women's private business, our so-called liberal president is signing all our rights away, signing new laws that those of us who still have a conscience will feel obligated to break.
ReplyDeleteMOUNTAIN THYME and JAN BLAWAT Thanks for your intelligent and heartfelt responses. It is heartening for we non-Americans to be reminded that the the richest and most powerful country on the planet still harbours many independent voices of dissent and reason. Not everyone is media fodder.
ReplyDeleteIn order to fight and kill other human beings it is necessary to dehumanise, demonise and hate them. Whatever the rationalisation for this conflict, it is perpetuated by mindless hatred. It only takes a very slightly loose screw to take this to its obvious conclusions, as now.
ReplyDeleteUtterly futile, and has been right from the start. This slaughter is all supposedly in the name of keeping us safe from terrorism. Hundreds of soldiers, civilians must continue to die every year so that we can not 'give in' to terrorism and so that those who have already died did not do so in vain.
ReplyDelete"I want my children to be able to live without the fear of getting on a bus and having it blow up.'' says Australia's VC winning warrior who served there.
And Karzai has just agreed to give women second class/submissive status in Afghan law. Maybe Afghanisatn will get a reprieve when we launch air strikes on Iran.