This ain't Hell, but you can see it from here

Category: Rethink Afghanistan

  • The real meaning of Veterans Day.

    In a matter of hours it will be Veterans Day. Festive grilling and parades will be the order of the day. But what is also on the schedule is the is the use of pandering veterans for political purposes, 4 day sales at 20% percent off and a day for dress up for the pretend heroes. All of these things have really have a impact on how Veterans Day is viewed as just another holiday. Veterans day should be a day were those who have served honorably should be recognized rather then just the one that we agree with politically. That it should be a day to dismantle every stereotype about Veterans that have endured various hardships, but also endured to live a happy and productive life after the guns go silent. To understand that a receptive ear with a helping hand have a more enduring effect then a free blooming onion. We are one of the few professions that has can provide such a strong and enduring connection with complete strangers. Also the task of making sure that the stories of those who have served before us are preserved for those yet to come. Also to protect them from those that would steal them for their own.

    The reason that I started with this post was after watching a video posted by Rethink Afghanistan. In the video it calls to honor the Veterans that oppose the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq on Veterans Day. I was insulted not because of the fact that they oppose the Wars, but in the sense that it was all but saying that we should only honor those Veterans with their point of view excluding many that have not be vocal about their views or have been on the opposite side of the fence. Veterans day should not be about scoring political points for your gain , but a overall reflection and respect to those that have served with honor and distinction, regardless their views. It is about the small token of respect that is offered to those who have come before, with and after us. Also in the respect that despite how may people would like to see us as shown by popular media or political organizations. That how highlight how we have lived our lives in and out of the Military in contrast to the unstable loner. Because if we are not willing to do this now then how can we expect others to do this for us in our Golden years?

    It should also be a day of family in that when we are deployed that may of us become close because of the hardships, separations and dangers. But that often disappears when we return home, a place were it could be said is needed the most. While family may want to help, it is the basic things like understood terms that help a difficult conversations to happen without having many intermissions to explain military jargon. If the military is to be considered a family then perhaps Veterans day should be looked more as a family reunion. To remember old times and learn of some new ones. We are certainly a dysfunctional family , but I think that is what keeps us coming back for more.

    Lastly is to use it to remember the past. That we must be open to new types of media and communications of the newer generations. In one of the past Veterans Day,before I joined the military I took part in a WW2 them table top tournament at a Army Museum in Austin. While we were there we got a chance to talk to those that served in previous wars. One of the stories was about several Shermans going down a hill and the fuel tank breaking open and flooding the the crew compartment. Also it was a lively exchange of stories from retired military , educators, and other history buffs alike. It is preservation of the character of these people that should remember in hopes that the next generation will emulate it.

    But lastly is the protection of the character from those that wish to steal it. Normally a medal is viewed a strand of fabric with a shiny signet. That it can infuse the wearer with respect and purpose just by wearing it, the more medals the larger the respect would be come. But it it not the undeserved praise that is greatest insult but in that many a times these medals come at cost, some more then others. The cost can be time, hardships, pain and longer natural life. If it were possible for these medals to allow these pretenders to relive what many had to do to earn these medals, then perhaps there would be less of a desire wear them.. But that will never happen, so it is up to us to keep a good look out and find these people. Because it is a crime not because of the honor taken from real honest to God Veterans, but because they are unwilling to endure the hardships to wear that strip of colored cloth.

    All in I hoped I would not get too wordy in this, though I believe I failed in that. I wanted to say with a detailed answer of what it means to observe Veterans Day and what we can do to make it have real meaning rather then just another four day weekend on the calendar.

  • Yea great idea. Why didn’t we think of that, oh yeah it is stupid.

    I have friends who are active in the group Rethink Afghanistan. Sometimes the post stories and comments that seem more like satire. But lately I am having a hard time telling the difference anymore. This one is a perfect example.

    Nicholas Kristof’s New York Times column shares a shocking statistic that shows the U.S.’s warped priorities in Afghanistan: if we brought home just 243 troops, we’d save enough money to pay for all higher education everywhere in Afghanistan this year.

    Yep cause the fact that Afghanistan’s illiteracy in that most people in Afghanistan cannot read and write. So the money that would be freed up would be used for post secondary education would not be abused for other things.

    “Remember Afghanistan has been at war for 30 years, and neither the Soviets who were here before the Taliban nor the Taliban put people through school. So education was not prized. As a matter of fact, the Taliban shut down the schools.”

    But with the time proven statement of “Nothing is impossible to those that do not have to do it” have people over at Rethink Afghanistan is a great idea.

    Mr. [Greg] Mortenson says that $243 million is needed to fund all higher education in Afghanistan this year. He suggests that America hold a press conference here in Kabul and put just 243 of our 100,000 soldiers (each costing $1 million per year) on planes home. Then the U.S. could take the savings and hand over a check to pay for Afghanistan’s universities.

    The war in Afghanistan isn’t making us safer, and it’s not worth the cost. The fact that bringing home 243 troops could pay for all higher education in Afghanistan this year shows that there are much, much better ways of stabilizing Afghanistan and improving the lives of Afghans if we’re willing to let go of military force as the answer.

    Yea with so in review how does passing around this little gem that would not only not work but no one that thought of it will be willing to make it work. But it sounds nice, which is more important then anything else.

  • Latest message from the land of Rainbows and Unicorns.

    I really have a strong love/hate relationship with this group. On one hand I respect that while other people talk about what is going on in Afghanistan they are there and have been for quite a while. They are trying to help by talking to the population to give a connection to the people outside of Afghanistan. But that is where the respect ends.

    On the other side they have managed to do nothing productive besides making feel good videos with such generic like “Why not love”. Think Bobby Whittenberg without the anger management issues. Todays videos are no exceptions.

    To make matters worse and more insulting is that JTC has been working with people that have not only not using him as a way of finding out how to have a direct impact on Afghanistan with needed supplies and other items, but actively ignored it. Preferring to make stories about how nothing we are doing is working and indirectly giving press to the Taliban. Yes DC am talking to you on this one.

    Stop making the risk that these people are taking in vain and get a program started to see that they are not just wasting their time and health.

    Like now, yes you Rethink Afghanistan, get off your computer and do something about this.

  • A Department of Peace?

    This all started a few days ago on Facebook. I posted in reply to this video about General Petraeus. It got started with this comment.

    “The general wants more war. Gee whiz.” …which underlines the need for civilian CONTROL of the military, not handing control over to those who want more war, the way the previous, corrupt, criminal mis-administration did (and this administration is doing now)!

    Civilian control? You mean like it is now with the President in charge? What more were you really expecting? In which I got my answer.

    …When there is a Secretary of Peace advising the President at NSA briefings, I would think the civilian control is adequate to balance a Department that funnels billions of dollars to the war industry, which funnels enough of it to Congress to keep it in the war business.

    You mean the department of the Federal Government and Congress? The ones that approve all of the military’s budget? Also before you just view this as a joke there have been several attempts for a bill that would create such a position. It has been submitted in 2005, 2007 and 2009. All as of this posting date have not gotten past Committee. The sponsor of the bill, Rep. Dennis Kucinich has not made any noticeable changes to the bill each time he has submitted it.

    Here is the full Bill, and from what I have read so far most of it if not all is based on the assumption that this will be enforceable outside of conventional methods. But that is not stopping people from trying to raise support for this bill once again.

  • Think of the Children/Afghanistan version.

    It seems that Rethink Afghanistan is claiming that it has a exclusive story that prove that NATO forces were responsible 50 civilian deaths to include women and children. But given that the first images of the area are from Al Jazeera is enough to give pause considering their past actions. DC wrote a post about it that talks about it in more detail.

    The video goes into several interviews from people that claim that say what exactly happened/ But considering what the Taliban does to people that oppose them I find that these are suspect. Like the video of Al Jazeera recording the Taliban arresting people who voted in the 2009 Afghanistan election. In this case the fate of the people is not good. Also considering the Taliban is threatening to behead anyone who it considers a “informer”

    The Taliban in Afghanistan has threatened to behead informers who have been revealed following the explosive disclosure by WikiLeaks. WikiLeaks has put out over 90,000 uncensored intelligence documents, causing a security scare.

    So is this still a victimless crime now?

  • Wikileaks leaks part 2.

    Since it worked out so well the last time, they decided to try it again.

    A huge cache of secret US military files today provides a devastating portrait of the failing war in Afghanistan, revealing how coalition forces have killed hundreds of civilians in unreported incidents, Taliban attacks have soared and Nato commanders fear neighbouring Pakistan and Iran are fuelling the insurgency.

    But given how many things were ignored out of the 2007 video from Iraq, just think of all the possible discrepancies that could be present with 90,000 records? Some of the claims have been as such:

    • How a secret “black” unit of special forces hunts down Taliban leaders for “kill or capture” without trial.

    • How the US covered up evidence that the Taliban have acquired deadly surface-to-air missiles.

    • How the coalition is increasingly using deadly Reaper drones to hunt and kill Taliban targets by remote control from a base in Nevada.

    • How the Taliban have caused growing carnage with a massive escalation of its roadside bombing campaign, which has killed more than 2,000 civilians to date.

    Yea except that if you look at each one there is not much there to see? We uses our troop to capture/kill any enemy leaders that we can. It is not the troops job to take that person to trial. Second the Taliban had Singer Missile launchers for awhile now paired with what weapons were left over during the fight with the Soviet Russia. Third we used them to provide air support and can stay in the air longer then any manned aircraft. Finally do you really think that the Taliban will reduce this if we were to leave?

    Oh this one is a keeper.

    2007 Polish troops mortared a village, killing a wedding party including a pregnant woman, in an apparent revenge attack.

    Apparent? Yea and that almost got three SEALs jail time, Apparent my ass,

    But don’t worry about double checking, Rethink Afghanistan is already running this and it is doing it’s paces around the net. Of course there is no one is even thinking about how this will effect those that are fighting in Afghanistan.

    ADDED Sporkmaster

    The White House has condemned the release stating what we already know.

    “The United States strongly condemns the disclosure of classified information by individuals and organisations which could put the lives of Americans and our partners at risk and threaten our national security,” he said in a statement.

  • What’s in a name (or a report)

    Well one of the newest thing going around thanks to the group Rethink Afghanistan. The report is this one by a independent group titled The Effect of Civilian Casualties in Afghanistan and Iraq. So of course Rethink Afghanistan jumps all over it with this follow up story.

    Yea like we are not trying to do this already.

    Also the photo is worth a look.

    A few things come to mind. The first is a absolute desire from the person taking the photo to cause the viewer to become distanced from the Solider. Following that it is trying to do the opposite with the children in the photo. Lastly, does it not look like there is a cap on that M16?

    It is just frustrating I mean that people do not see things like this. I mean how would it change the story if they used a photo like this instead?

    Oh if that was not enough, Russia media is now claiming that the US military sent “Hardcore Neo-Nazi’s” to Iraq and Afghanistan.

  • History repeating itself.

    So, once again the group “Rethink Afghanistan” is doing it best to display that nothing has gone right in Afghanistan since 2001 has put out a video showing the comments from the General McCrystal’s aides.

    Some of the better quotes so far.

    The problem is it is an unjust war.Taliban stopped poppy growth. NATO protects the poppy.Bush never proved Bin Laden guilty. Taliban asked for proof he did 911. Democracy demands proof of a crime. The war is plain terrorism.

    Or this one that suggested that the General was thinking about killing the President.

    I actually read the Rolling Stones story today, do you know when McCrystal was at West Point and wrote for the newspaper there he wrote a fictional story on assassinating a US President in the Oval office. Now, tell me how the Obama Administration missed that one. Let’s not forget the Pat Tillman (hero) mess where the General wrote that … See MoreTillman died at the hands of the Taliban when it was friendly fire that killed him. Oh, and talk about torturing prisoners in Iraqi. He would actually visit the prisons and oversaw the illegal acts against war prisoners. Yes, he is an effective military first strike man who knows how to kill better than any of the rest, but he needed to go. You don’t out TOP SECRETS just to embarrass the President’s Administration. GET OUT of all wars in other countries unless we are attacked or an attack is being planned on the US and its interest.

    But for the most part it can be summed up in this cartoon.