What This Country Has Brought On Itself!

An Update to my post from last night, I also expect a Video report following a local TV Stations nightly news from the area, with the family press conferance.

Body identified as former Marine Hall

(Last updated: March 12, 2008 11:14 AM)  

The Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office has notified Eric Hall’s family this morning that the remains found in a culvert Sunday was the former Marine.

A detective from the agency notified the family at 10 a.m. and relayed the cause of death has not been determined.

Becky Hall, Eric’s mother, plans a press conference at noon.

The family scheduled a military memorial service at noon Thursday at the Faith Lutheran Church, 4005 Palm Drive, Punta Gorda.

I certainly hope this Country is out of it’s collective Denial, about Vietnam, and it’s Apathy as to this World we live in, much of it created by our past policies and now the present, for the Future is Here!

What is happening now, as to these Conflicts Of Choice, the Choice to invade Iraq, based on Lies and cherrypicked intelligence, and to walk away from Afganistan, once again, not fullfilling our promises, once again, not only as to bin Laden but putting the resources necessary to help this country that has long suffered the ravages of invasion and occupation, which after helping the Afgan’s, bin Laden included, in the Soviet Invasion we up and walked away from the promises made than!

No one knows what may be coming from the rise of Hatreds we have created, the tens of thousands of Iraqi’s killed and maimed, the country destroyed, the torturing of others {and don’t tell me we’ve only done it three times, That’s BullShit!}, the Millions Displaced…………………………………………………………………………….!!

But we also better be prepared, and Pay the Cost of, as well as have an Understanding, of what we have created in some who we’ve sent into another ‘Hell On Earth’, for all of them they have been changed for life, for some they will live the present over and over!

The following is no excuse but it is one of many tragic incidents that have already occurred with more to follow. How do I know, and I’m not the only one, because we’ve been living with the results of another conflict from not long ago and some of us know the reasons why, we’re a part of the ‘Focus Groups’, little georgie!

Mom of Auburn Slaying Suspect Apologizes

The mother of the man charged with killing an Auburn University student said her son was an Iraq war veteran who was changed after his service, and offered an apology to the freshman’s family.

Catherine Williams, the mother of suspect Courtney Lockhart, made the apology to Lauren Burk’s family in an interview with Columbus, Ga., television station WTVM.

Over at Police One we find part one, of a three part report Titled: Exclusive: Cops back from the war: What problems do they pose? By Chuck Remsberg, Senior PoliceOne Contributor

Thousands of American law enforcement officers have been called to military service in Iraq and Afghanistan, and authorities are increasingly focusing attention on how well some of those can reintegrate into domestic policing once they return home.

He adds a few instances of recent report:

• In Texas, an officer recently back from reservist deployment to Iraq, opened fire on a suspect who was running through a crowded shopping center. The rounds narrowly missed the officer’s partner and one lodged in a van occupied by two children. “Everyone believes he should not have fired,” the officer’s attorney told USA Today. “His assessment of the threat level was wrong. He was assessing as if he was back in the military, not [as] a police officer.”

• In Georgia, an officer who’d served in Iraq with the National Guard was sentenced to more than 12 years in prison after pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter. He was part of a misdirected drug raid in which an elderly woman was killed. His lawyer says he was undergoing treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, a condition afflicting a significant percentage of returning vets.

• In Nevada, a trooper who’d been in Iraq as an Army Guardsman, pleaded guilty to felony reckless driving and was sentenced to 2 to 12 years. According to the New York Times, he was driving 118 mph when he slammed into another car, killing four people and critically injuring another.

Adding the obvious, at least for some:

No one claims that all-or even a majority-of post-deployment veterans are menaces to society once they pin a badge back on and resume patrol duties. But by the same token, says Dr. Stephen Curran, a Maryland psychologist who counsels officers, “You can’t just put people back in [law enforcement] jobs, give them their guns and expect that things are going to be fine. Getting back into the flow of things is a challenge.”

A Symposium was put together where more than 200 police and mental health professionals representing 73 federal, state, county and city agencies in seven states attended.

Drawing on the panel’s presentations, Part 1 of this exclusive series examines the roots of post-deployment adjustment problems. Part 2 will explore the challenges these present to officers, their families and their departments when they come home. In part 3, we’ll look at measures knowledgeable observers believe are necessary to assure a successful transition back to the streets.

The subtitles of this report are WAR ZONE REALITIES. and CASUALTIES OF THE MIND.

You should go over and read the report, it isn’t that long and touches on a number of points you should start understanding better, not only as those who serve in Law Enforcement but as to many of the Returning Veterans, serving Multiple Tours thus Mutiple Years in Combat Theaters!

I, or anyone, could add so many reports of Tragic incidents that have occurred, in these last Five Years, past to recent, and I’m afraid for Many Years To Come!

Some may have already seen this report from our State Department  China’s human rights rating upgraded by U.S. State Dept.

It takes the country off the list of worst human rights offenders but still notes serious concerns.

Once upon a time others paid attention to these reports, even those who knew we weren’t as perfect as we believe we are.

Want to know what the rest of the World, most of which were Solidly Behind Us after 9/11, and felt our pain, many already having lived through their own tragedies of Criminal Terrorism or a better phrase long running Guerilla War on a Global Stage for many years, they will Laugh, not a Funny Laugh, but a Laugh of Sad Knowledge of our now Very Public Hypocrisy, not only as to ‘Human Rights’ but Total Disregard of the Human Life of Others as long as We Get What We Want and Need in our Arrogance and Materialistic Lives!!

Ever wonder the Why of No American POW’s in either raging conflict, hint: They Knew What We Were Doing Long Before We Got The News!

What we practice opens wide what others can and will do, with impunity, to our Soldiers and Civilians wherever they may be!

We can No Longer Condemn others, nor seek sympathy from allies or the marginal, we have joined the ranks of the once Condemned!

Better start the realization Now, your children, your granchildren, and if you live long enough, your great granchildren will want answers as to the World We Have Left Them!!

One Reality will be able to start for you Tomorrow, visit Iraq Veterans Against The War – Winter Soldier to find out where you can View or Listen to the Testimony of Iraq and Afganistan Veterans

Untill than you may want to listen to this:

For Former Combatants, A Plan for Peace

Fresh Air from WHYY, March 10, 2008 · Bassam Aramin and Zohar Shapira, the co-founders of Combatants for Peace, talk about their mission to end the cycle of violence in Israel and Palestine by bringing together individuals who previously fought against each other.

A former member of the Palestinian Fatah movement, Aramin began a seven-year sentence in an Israeli prison at age 17. He now works as a clerk at the Palestinian National Archives.

Shapira served as combatant and commander in an elite unit of the Israeli army for 15 years. He now is a teacher in a Waldorf school in Israel.

Currently around 450 Palestinians and Israelis are members of the group.

You can Listen with this Link

In the above one of the Combatants For Peace talks about his 10yr old Daughters Death.

You can listen to a previous 31/2 min. NPR report, from January 22, 2007, on that tragedy with this link.

Both bring up the NRP Player.

A few, I’m sure, will understand why I’ve added these to the above, a Few!!