Category: War

I caught this report over at Huffington:

US Vets Return to Middle East to Help Iraqi Refugees

I’m on the first day of a rapid-fire visit to Jordan, the kingdom in the Middle East which has provided a safe haven for an estimated 750,000 refugees from Iraq who have traveled the shorter but more dangerous route to get here.

I’m traveling with a small delegation from the newly founded Iraq Veterans Refugee Aid Association (IVRAA) — co-founders of the organization, Luis Montalvan, a former US Army captain, and former US Marine captain Tyler Boudreau, plus photographer Paul Park — on a mission to try to assess the situation faced by Iraqi refugees, and the burden that hosting those refugees has placed on the Hashemite kingdom.

We also hope to work out what, if anything, we can do to help provide relief to either or both.

Staff Sgt. Alex Jimenez comes home for funeral

A hearse bearing the remains of 25-year-old Staff Sgt. Alex Jimenez came to a halt in front of his father’s house in Lawrence, the scene of a 14-month vigil as the family awaited word of his fate. A memorial shrine with floral arrangements and half-burned votive candles was on the sidewalk. (7-25-08)

Alone among the developed nations of the West, the US still glorifies war and the “warrior.” This serves as an object lesson to the rest of the world about what happens when a nation obtains the means to wage war at will anywhere around the globe without also maturing into the wisdom to abhor the idea of war. I have come to believe that the love and glorification of war is something that a nation outgrows, and the US has a very long way to go before it is mature enough to turn its back on war. Indeed, I doubt that there can ever again be conditions dire enough to pull the US kicking and screaming out of its warlike childhood.

Join me below the fold, won’t you?

`When _I_ use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, `it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.’

`The question is,’ said Alice, `whether you CAN make words mean so many different things.’

`The question is,’ said Humpty Dumpty, `which is to be master – – that’s all.’

(From Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass)

Yeah, this is a diary about abrupt climate change.  Crossposted at Big Orange.

On the 29th of July an extremely important think tank report, paid for by the government, came forth from the Rand Corporation, a favorite of the Pentagon on National Security matters.

I heard the report early that morning on a news blip on NPR and went over to the Rand Site and found the report. I than posted about it on a number of sites as well as sent it out, all with back links.

There was also a link for a Congressional Briefing to be held on that day on the report.

At first I was shocked that very few picked up on the importance of this report, that day and the next, as well as the hearing. Than thinking about it later maybe I shouldn’t have been surprised that few political boards saw the need to report and most certainly fewer MSM outlets as well. There’s an Awful Lot of sheepish guilty consciouses that supported this criminal administration, and criminal it is, in the direction it started selling this ‘War on Terrorism’, and the MSM, purely for commercial profit, would love to see what their advertisers were paying for ads than, happily went along, War Sells Big Time! Hell these political people, the boards, the MSM, the majority of the voters even fear bringing charges and accountability, fear of what that may mean on the political front, to hell with the Constitution the Politics are more important!

“Have those people who support this war ever been at the receiving end of a bomb? Do they know what war is?  War is: your house is gone, no water, no electricity, your roads are blown up and….your family is dead.”

The conversation started not about war, but about Peace.

We had just come from a planning meeting to discuss planning the plans for a “Peace Event.”

I am usually restless, squirming in my chair, at peace meetings.

This night was a particular challenge, as a decision needed to be made as to whether this event was going to be about ‘Creating peace within ourselves, as a way to greater peace’ or ‘peacefully demonstrating against our military culture’.  

It was a lively discussion, no decision was reached.

It was the conversation afterwards during dinner that resonated.

D.F., my 87y/o WWII veteran friend, knows struggle; WWII, the Labor Movement, Civil Rights, he has been around.  

Over dinner he puzzled, “Have those who support this war ever been at the receiving end of a bomb? Do they know what war is?  War is: your house is gone, no water, no electricity, your roads are blown up and….your family is dead.”

He wasn’t looking for an answer more stating reality for those of us who did not truly know war….which was everyone at the table besides him.    After a complicated meeting about Peace I think he didn’t want us to lose sight of why we were doing it.

“Sometimes people use the call to inner peace as a reason not to take action against injustice, let’s not do that,” he added.  

Later he suggested, “We don’t really know how to act together as a society. The Cold War scared people, taught them to shut up, not question or challenge government, and look where it has gotten us.”

Then he went on to ask/state, “How do you hold your candidate accountable when he falters in a way that improves his candidacy and does not give ammunition to his opponent?”

We did not come up with a concrete answer to this question over chopped steak (his) and a veggie reuben (mine).

As we left he smiled at me, wonderful lines of wisdom creasing his face.  “Call tomorrow and we’ll work on the unanswered question,” he said with a wink.

What is the point of this diary?  I am not sure, it is my first on this site.  I am just happy to share some insights from a wise old friend with anyone willing to listen.  

TWO JOURNEYS, TWO GENERATIONS, BRINGING EACH OTHER HOME

“Leave No Soldier”

A feature length documentary directed, produced and co-written by Donna Bassin,

an official selection of the 2008 Rhode Island International Film Festival.

“LEAVE NO SOLDIER,” Tells the story of two impassioned journeys by two communities of American War Veterans who have carried a Military Oath from the Battlefield

to the home front. The two groups are divided by their politics, but united in their devotion to dead comrades and their compassionate commitment

to “Leave No Fallen Soldier Behind”.

The title above comes from a new Rand Corporation Report

After 7 years of conflict and occupations, with 893 coalition deaths — 556 Americans, in Afghanistan and increasing, and 4,438 coalition deaths — 4,124 Americans in Iraq and increasing, with tens of thousands of injured and maimed, physically and mentally, and millions of innocents in both countries killed, maimed, living as refugee’s, fighting each other in sectarian civil wars, living in ethnically cleansed neighborhoods and area’s in Iraq behind huge concrete blast walls, this “Think Tank?” comes out and says:

U.S. Should Rethink “War On Terrorism” Strategy to Deal with Resurgent Al Qaida

Current U.S. strategy against terrorist organization al Qaida has not been successful at limiting the group’s capabilities. Since Sept. 11, 2001, al Qaida has been involved in more terrorist attacks than ever before and over an increasingly broader range of targets.

PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder): An anxiety disorder that can develop after exposure to a terrifying event or ordeal in which grave physical harm occurred or was threatened. People with PTSD have persistent frightening thoughts and memories of their ordeal. They may experience sleep problems, feel detached or numb, or be easily startled.

TBI (traumatic brain injury): Also called a concussion.

ASR (acute stress reaction): The immediate aftermath of a traumatic incident in a combat zone. The military describes it as normal reactions among troops confronted by abnormal situations.

CID (critical incident debrief): The Army’s term for a mandatory session that takes place 24 to 72 hours after an event that may be sapping a soldier’s will to fight.

National Institute Of Mental Health

I wasn’t planning on posting anything today, have too much to do and other thoughts on my mind.

But yesterday I watched, as many have seen by now, someone who should have a much better understanding, above that of its citizens, what this country’s policies are and their implementation.

McClatchy  has a couple of reports  that hit on a couple of the Points of the ‘surge’:

Gareth Porter: There is no leader yet in site who can lead a movement for basic change

In the second part of his interview to Pepe Escobar, investigative historian and military policy analyst Gareth Porter expands on what awaits Senator Barack Obama when he deals with the power of the national security state. Porter also examines what kind of movement and leader would it take to really try to change a very rigid system, and the proposition of Obama as a new Bobby Kennedy.

Stars and Stripes

Sgt. Jacob Walker and Spc. Tyler Stafford talk about the attack