Subscribe to this thread for my weekly email headline updates

[Reason]

I send out weekly emails to a large list of friends, teachers, professors, & family with my perceived headlines of the week.

Youtube video links, story links, etc...

I have been doing this for over a year now but I am going to use this thread to post them here too for anyone that doesn't have time to check this forum as much as they would like to.

I focus mostly on civil liberties and foreign policy.

:cool:

[Reason]

The Iranian Nuclear Program (Situation Being Completely Misrepresented?)
YouTube - Ron Paul On The Iranian Nuclear Program (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EX5Lm-1jBQE)


Marine who built Gitmo says: "US has lost the moral high ground"
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090925/ap_on_re_us/us_marine_guantanamo

UK Billboards Equipped with License Plate Spy Cameras
http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/29/2907.asp

New CCTV cameras assess and analyze everything you are doing to determine if you're a threat
http://blogs.mirror.co.uk/science/2009/09/new-smart-cctv-cameras-will-be.html
"If the security officer thinks there is a threat they could appear on a screen in a bus or train and tell you: "We've got our eye on you."

[Reason]

Why Has U.S. Media Coverage Of Fallen Troops Returning Caskets Disappeared?
http://www.youtube.com/watch? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4FM4-3llxU)v=q4FM4-3llxU

Police Tazer Kid On Bike, Then Run Him Over, Kid dies
http://www.youtube.com/watch? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsAKfcsF4do)v=zsAKfcsF4do

Evil Dog Murderer On The Loose!
http://www.youtube.com/watch? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nTykyjGxsY)v=2nTykyjGxsY

A weekly column
Bombs and Bribes
What if tomorrow morning you woke up to headlines that yet another Chinese drone bombing on US soil killed several dozen ranchers in a rural community while they were sleeping? That a drone aircraft had come across the Canadian border in the middle of the night and carried out the latest of many attacks? What if it was claimed that many of the victims harbored anti-Chinese sentiments, but most of the dead were innocent women and children? And what if the Chinese administration, in an effort to improve its public image in the US, had approved an aid package to send funds to help with American roads and schools and promote Chinese values here?

Most Americans would not stand for it. Yet the above hypothetical events are similar to what our government is doing in Pakistan. Last week, Congress did approve an aid package for Pakistan for the stated purposes of improving our image and promoting democracy. I again made the point on the floor of the House that still no one seems to hear: What if this happened on US soil? What if innocent Americans were being killed in repeated drone attacks carried out by some foreign force who was trying to fix our problems for us? Would sending money help their image? If another nation committed this type of violence and destruction on our homeland, would we be at all interested in adopting their values?
Sadly, one thing that has entirely escaped modern American foreign policy is empathy. Without much humility or regard for human life, our foreign policy has been reduced to alternately bribing and bombing other nations, all with the stated goal of “promoting democracy”. But if a country democratically elects a leader who is not sufficiently pro-American, our government will refuse to recognize them, will impose sanctions on them, and will possibly even support covert efforts to remove them. Democracy is obviously not what we are interested in. It is more likely that our government is interested in imposing its will on other governments. This policy of endless intervention in the affairs of others is very damaging to American liberty and security.

If we were really interested in democracy, peace, prosperity and safety, we would pursue more free trade with other countries. Free and abundant trade is much more conducive to peace because it is generally bad business to kill your customers. When one’s livelihood is on the line, and the business agreements are mutually beneficial, it is in everyone’s best interests to maintain cooperative and friendly relations and not kill each other. But instead, to force other countries to bend to our will, we impose trade barriers and sanctions. If our government really wanted to promote freedom, Americans would be free to travel and trade with whoever they wished. And, if we would simply look at our own policies around the world through the eyes of others, we would understand how these actions make us more targeted and therefore less safe from terrorism. The only answer is get back to free trade with all and entangling alliances with none. It is our bombs and sanctions and condescending aid packages that isolate us.

Posted by Ron Paul (10-05-2009, 12:13 PM) filed under Foreign Policy (http://www.house.gov/htbin/blog_inc?BLOG,tx14_paul,blog/Foreign%20Policy,999,All,No%20Category%20found,TEM PLATE=blog_bycat.shtml)

[Reason]

Police arresting people using Twitter and texting w/cellphones
http://www.youtube.com/watch? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFodRmf4HQM)v=jFodRmf4HQM

The Recent U.S. History You Won't Learn About In Your Govt. Run School
http://www.youtube.com/watch? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2OPCC3VVMw)v=o2OPCC3VVMw

Why Has U.S. Media Coverage Of Fallen Troops Returning Caskets Disappeared?
http://www.youtube.com/watch? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4FM4-3llxU)v=q4FM4-3llxU

Police Tazer Kid On Bike, Then Run Him Over, Kid dies
http://www.youtube.com/watch? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsAKfcsF4do)v=zsAKfcsF4do

Evil Dog Murderer On The Loose!
http://www.youtube.com/watch? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nTykyjGxsY)v=2nTykyjGxsY

[Reason]

Paul's insight re: Obama & Nobel Peace Prize
http://www.youtube.com/watch? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbcDk-bNoc8)v=FbcDk-bNoc8Cops pulling citizens over and stealing cash, threatening to take your kids...
http://www.youtube.com/watch? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7_f3gwFLV0)v=S7_f3gwFLV0

Cop Beats The Crap Out Of Kid At School For Not Tucking In Pants
http://www.youtube.com/watch? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGoF3h9iQ5Y)v=dGoF3h9iQ5Y

Man holds intruder at gunpoint, cops shoot homeowner 6 times... then talk about covering it up...
http://www.youtube.com/watch? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4ioL3B7qnU)v=l4ioL3B7qnU
http://www.courthousenews.com/ (http://www.courthousenews.com/2009/09/23/Family_Says_911_Tape_Caught_Cops_Planning_Cover-Up_After_Shooting.htm?=protectandserve)2009/09/23/Family_Says_911_Tape_Caught_Cops_Planning_Cover-Up_After_Shooting.htm?=protectandserve

[Reason]

Saving Face in Afghanistan (http://www.house.gov/htbin/blog_inc?BLOG,tx14_paul,blog,999,All,Item%20not%20 found,ID=091013_3560,TEMPLATE=postingdetail.shtml)


This past week there has been a lot of discussion and debate on the continuing war in Afghanistan. Lasting twice as long as World War II and with no end in sight, the war in Afghanistan has been one of the longest conflicts in which our country has ever been involved. The situation has only gotten worse with recent escalations.
The current debate is focused entirely on the question of troop levels. How many more troops should be sent over in order to pursue the war? The administration has already approved an additional 21,000 American service men and women to be deployed by November, which will increase our troop levels to 68,000. Will another 40,000 do the job? Or should we eventually build up the levels to 100,000 in addition to that? Why not 500,000 – just to be “safe”? And how will public support be brought back around to supporting this war again when 58 percent are now against it?
I get quite annoyed at this very narrow line of questioning. I have other questions. We overthrew the Taliban government in 2001 with less than 10,000 American troops. Why does it now seem that the more troops we send, the worse things get? If the Soviets bankrupted themselves in Afghanistan with troop levels of 100,000 and were eventually forced to leave in humiliating defeat, why are we determined to follow their example? Most importantly, what is there to be gained from all this? We’ve invested billions of dollars and thousands of precious lives – for what?
The truth is it is no coincidence that the more troops we send the worse things get. Things are getting worse precisely because we are sending more troops and escalating the violence. We are hoping that good leadership wins out in Afghanistan, but the pool of potential honest leaders from which to draw have been fleeing the violence, leaving a tremendous power vacuum behind. War does not quell bad leaders. It creates them. And the more war we visit on this country, the more bad leaders we will inadvertently create.
Another thing that war does is create anger with its indiscriminate violence and injustice. How many innocent civilians have been harmed from clumsy bombings and mistakes that end up costing lives? People die from simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time in a war zone, but the killers never face consequences. Imagine the resentment and anger survivors must feel when a family member is killed and nothing is done about it. When there are no other jobs available because all the businesses have fled, what else is there to do, but join ranks with the resistance where there is a paycheck and also an opportunity for revenge? This is no justification for our enemies over there, but we have to accept that when we push people, they will push back.
The real question is why are we there at all? What do our efforts now have to do with the original authorization of the use of force? We are no longer dealing with anything or anyone involved in the attacks of 9/11. At this point we are only strengthening the resolve and the ranks of our enemies. We have nothing left to win. We are only there to save face, and in the end we will not even be able to do that.

[Reason]

Lindsey Graham vs. Ron Paul
[/URL]http://www.youtube.com/watch? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gm2pH58KSc)v=1gm2pH58KSc

Fix the problem caused by spending and borrowing...
by spending and borrowing?
[url]http://freedomwatchonfox.com/ (http://freedomwatchonfox.com/2009/10/15/podcast-10152009-freedom-watch-46-w-peter-schiff-on-inflation-the-dollar-and-gold/10758/)2009/10/15/podcast-10152009-freedom-watch-46-w-peter-schiff-on-inflation-the-dollar-and-gold/10758/

~Headlines~

Pentagon Credits Recession for Recruiting Milestone (http://www.democracynow.org/2009/10/15/headlines#17)

The US military has announced it’s met all of its annual recruiting goals for the first time in thirty-five years.

In announcing the milestone, the Pentagon said the nation’s worst economic crisis since the Great Depression played a key role in boosting enlistments.

Senior Pentagon official Curtis Gilroy said a ten percent increase in the national unemployment rate generally translates into a four to six percent improvement in recruiting goals.

Another top official, Bill Carr, called the recession “a force,” adding, “unemployment…allowed us to be for much of the year in a very favorable position.”

Military Piloting Middle School Recruitment Program (http://www.democracynow.org/2009/10/15/headlines#17)

The military meanwhile is looking into plans to bring recruiting to middle schools across the nation.

A Kansas school district has implemented a middle school program based on the Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps curriculum.

The program is being studied to see if it can be expanded nationwide.

The govt. has banned us from seeing the consequences of our actions overseas just in time for more men and woman to be sent over to die.

Pentagon Bans Photos of Afghan War Dead (http://www.democracynow.org/2009/10/15/headlines#3)

In other Afghan war news, the Pentagon has imposed a new policy barring media from photographing US soldiers killed in combat. The rule change was introduced last month after the Associated Press published a photo of a mortally wounded US marine.

[Reason]

U.S. official resigns over Afghan war
Foreign Service officer and former Marine captain says he no longer knows why his nation is fighting
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/26/AR2009102603394.html?hpid=topnews&sid=ST2009102603447)wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/26/AR2009102603394.html?hpid=topnews&sid=ST2009102603447

Orwellian "snitch" program setup by US Govt
http://www.youtube.com/watch? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkmRPJv5jZE)v=RkmRPJv5jZE

Fuck the bailouts
http://www.youtube.com/watch? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66KQ9XvgTLc)v=66KQ9XvgTLc

"The Warning"
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/ (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/warning/)frontline/warning/

Capitalism: A Love Story
http://www.youtube.com/watch? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHLvC1b4ZBk)v=EHLvC1b4ZBk

Posting your opinion on the internet = Jailtime if it is outside the status quo
http://www.illinoistimes.com/ (http://www.illinoistimes.com/Springfield/article-6480-blogger-busted.html)Springfield/article-6480-blogger-busted.html

[Reason]

http://www.truthdig.com/images/masthead.gif (http://www.truthdig.com/)

The Tortured Logic Continues

http://www.truthdig.com/ (http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20091103_the_tortured_logic_continues/)report/item/...gic_continues/

Posted on Nov 3, 2009

By Amy Goodman
“Extraordinary rendition” is White House-speak for kidnapping. Just ask Maher Arar. He’s a Canadian citizen who was “rendered” by the U.S. to Syria, where he was tortured for almost a year.

Just this week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, in New York City, dismissed Arar’s case against the government officials (including FBI Director Robert Mueller, former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge and former Attorney General John Ashcroft) who allegedly conspired to have him kidnapped and tortured. Arar is safe now, recovering in Canada with his family. But the decision sends a signal to the Obama administration that there will be no judicial intervention to halt the cruel excesses of the Bush-era “Global War on Terror,” including extraordinary rendition, torture and the use of the “state secrets privilege” to hide these crimes.

Arar’s life-altering odyssey is one of the best known and best investigated of those victimized by U.S. extraordinary rendition. After vacationing with his family in Tunisia, Arar attempted to fly home to Canada. On Sept. 26, 2002, while changing planes at JFK Airport, Arar was pulled aside for questioning. He was fingerprinted and searched by the FBI and the New York Police Department. He asked for a lawyer and was told he had no rights. He was then taken to another location and subjected to two days of aggressive interrogations, with no access to phone, food or a lawyer. He was asked about his membership with various terrorist groups, about Osama bin Laden, Iraq, Palestine and more. Shackled, he was then moved to a maximum-security federal detention center in Brooklyn, strip-searched and threatened with deportation to Syria.

Arar was born in Syria and told his captors that if he returned there, he would be tortured. As Arar’s lawyers would later argue, however, that is exactly what they hoped would happen. Arar was eventually allowed a call—he got through to his mother-in-law, who got him a lawyer—and a visit from a Canadian Consulate official. For nearly two weeks, the U.S. authorities held the Syria threat over his head. Still, he denied any involvement with terrorism. So in the middle of the night, over a weekend, without normal immigration proceedings—without telling his lawyer or the Canadian Consulate—he was dragged in chains to a private jet contracted by the CIA and flown to Jordan, where he was then handed over to the Syrians.

For 10 months and 10 days, Maher was held in a dark, damp, cold cell, measuring 6 feet by 3 feet by 7 feet high, the size of a grave. He was beaten repeatedly with a thick electrical cable all over his body, punched, made to listen to the torture of others, denied food and threatened with electrical shock and an array of more horrors. To stop the torture, he falsely confessed to attending terrorist training in Afghanistan. Then, after nearly a year, he was abruptly released to Canada, 40 pounds lighter and emotionally destroyed.

The Canadian government, under conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper, investigated, found its own culpability in relaying unreliable information to the FBI and settled with Arar, giving him an apology and $10 million. The U.S. government has offered no apology and has kept Arar on a terrorist watch list. He is not allowed to enter the U.S. Two years ago, he had to testify before Congress via video conference.

He said: “These past few years have been a nightmare for me. Since my return to Canada, my physical pain has slowly healed, but the cognitive and psychological scars from my ordeal remain with me on a daily basis. I still have nightmares and recurring flashbacks. I am not the same person that I was. I also hope to convey how fragile our human rights have become and how easily they can be taken from us by the same governments that have sworn to protect them.”
Given the excesses of the Bush administration and Barack Obama’s promise of change, it has surprised many that these policies are continuing, and that Congress and the courts have not closed this chapter of U.S. history. President Obama has never once condemned extraordinary rendition. Arar’s lawyer, Maria LaHood of the Center for Constitutional Rights, calls the court decision against Arar “an outrage.” In his dissent, Judge Guido Calabresi wrote, “I believe that when the history of this distinguished court is written, today’s majority decision will be viewed with dismay.” Given the torture that Arar suffered, his response was remarkably measured: “If anything, this decision is a loss to all Americans and to the rule of law.”

Denis Moynihan contributed research to this column.

Amy Goodman is the host of “Democracy Now!,” a daily international TV/radio news hour airing on more than 800 stations in North America. She is the author of “Breaking the Sound Barrier,” recently released in paperback.
© 2009 Amy Goodman
Distributed by King Features Syndicate

Copyright © 2009 Truthdig, L.L.C. All rights reserved.

[Reason]

Italy convicts 23 Americans (CIA Operatives) ~ Now considered fugitives ~
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120088732&sc=nl&cc=nh-20091104

CIA Exposed to be recording social networking sites
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2009/10/exclusive-us-spies-buy-stake-in-twitter-blog-monitoring-firm/

Arizona courtroom cop caught on camera stealing documents from defense attorney in the middle of court...
YouTube - Maricopa County Sheriff's employee takes documents from defense attorney (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIoyJ-LyAaE)

Secret Copyright Treaty Leaked
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/11/leaked-acta-internet-provisions-three-strikes-and-

[Reason]

What If?
http://www.youtube.com/watch? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqAF-Alc7CM)v=FqAF-Alc7CM


Forgetting Armistice Day


by Anthony Gregory (anthony1791@yahoo.com)

I have a great deal of respect for those who fought in America’s wars, regardless of my disrespect for the wars themselves. I respect veterans for their sacrifice, the pain they went through, and the work they did for what they were told was the honorable goal of fighting for freedom.

I recognize that many of America’s veterans went through a hell on earth that I’ve been fortunate enough never to experience.

It is worth asking: What is the best way to honor them?

On November 11, 1918, the world finally had enough of the irrational killing spree known as World War I. Twenty million individual human beings had perished in what was the largest military conflict the world had yet seen.

World War I convinced much of the world of the insanity of war.

Thanks mostly to mutual defense treaties among nations that had no rational reason to fight other, what started out as a royal family feud and regional squabble exploded into a global bloodbath. Serbia was joined by Britain, France, Belgium, Greece, Romania, Italy, Russia, Portugal, Montenegro, Japan, Brazil and, eventually, the United States, to fight Austria-Hungary’s alliance, which included Germany, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria. This madness was triggered when a Bosnian Serb secessionist assassinated Archduke Ferdinand of Austria. One act of violence – over one localized territorial dispute – resulted in the loss of lives, property and liberty of tens of millions of human beings.

In one battle alone, the Battle of Verdun, the insanity of war was most apparent. From February to July in 1916, Germans and Frenchmen slaughtered each other relentlessly because their governments told them to. Germany "won" after losing 330,000 soldiers to France’s 350,000. It was all over a worthless piece of land, which, by the end of the battle, was littered with corpses and with about 1,000 rifle shells per square meter. Neither side gained any true strategic victory from the battle.

On November 11, 1918, the world had finally had enough on this insanity. About ten million soldiers and ten million civilians were dead. The war left behind about nineteen million refugees and nine million orphans. In recognition of the horrible war and the glorious peace, November 11 would be known internationally as Armistice Day, a day for remembering the veterans and war dead from around the world, a day to reflect on the moment that the killing ended and the two sides called a truce.

America had likewise had enough. After losing 112,000 of their fellow soldiers, the US troops came home, the US military shrunk, and Americans became utterly disillusioned with war. Americans, by and large, didn’t want to enter the war in the first place, and Woodrow Wilson had won in 1916 on a campaign slogan that he "kept us out of war." More than twenty years after World War I, Americans reelected Franklin Roosevelt for his third term after he promised not to send Americans to die in another global conflict.

In the period after World War I, Americans found themselves extremely disenchanted with war, and, like the rest of the world, they celebrated Armistice Day as a time to remember veterans and appreciate the blessings of peace.

The disastrous effects of World War I continued, however, and US entry had prolonged the conflict, most likely making the outcome worse. The property destruction eventually translated into global depression. The brutal treatment of Germany under the egregiously unfair Versailles Treaty and German suffering under crushing sanctions and debt made the country ripe for the rise of Adolph Hitler. The prolonged war had given Lenin what he needed to establish communism in Russia. As totalitarianism of different strains began to take root throughout Europe, Americans looked across the sea and saw the failures of foreign intervention. World War II would come far too soon, but at least, for the time being, there was armistice.

Well after World War II and at the end of the Korean War, President Eisenhower signed a bill in 1954 that changed the name of the national holiday to Veterans’ Day. There were good intentions: America’s veterans of wars other than World War I deserved some recognition. Interestingly enough, however, the United States had not retracted its military reach after World War II as it now was in a perpetual state of war against Communism. Whereas after World War I, the United States brought its armed forces home, the Cold War guaranteed that the United States would henceforth have little interest in armistice, in truce, in peace.

And our country’s been at war ever since, with more and more veterans to observe every November.

Of course, today we must remember the veterans. This was, after all, a major purpose behind Armistice Day. Ever since the name was changed to Veterans’ Day, however, America’s servicemen and women have not gotten more respect: they have only been sent to far off and increasingly numerous places, to fight battles not in defense of America, but to extend the US empire. They have become cogs of the permanent US war machine. Upon returning home from Vietnam, they were called "baby killers" by misguided protestors who blamed the soldiers for their participation – however unwillingly – in an unjust war. And as insulting as such disrespect was, it seems to me even worse to send people to kill and die for nothing.

We live in a time when war is revered and peace downplayed. To fight or even die for the government is now the greatest, most honorable achievement for an American.

Soldiers fight wars, we have been told, to secure peace. They fight them there so they don’t have to here; they fought then so they don’t have to fight now; they found World War I to "end all wars" in the future.

In the years since the renaming of Armistice Day, we have lost even the pretense that the United States engages in wars to stave off worse ones in the future. Although there is still some of this mythology floating around, those in charge make clear that we will be in an indefinite state of war. The War on Terrorism has only formalized the unwavering wartime stance of the US government since the beginning of the Cold War. In between the end of the epic Cold War and 9/11, our rulers could hardly go a moment without smashing Iraq with sanctions and bombings, funding foreign military adventures, propping up dictatorships, bombing Sudan, attacking Serbia, intervening in Haiti, or spraying chemical poisons on humans and other living things in Latin America.

The War on Terrorism has only made this perpetual war official. The War Party has its new glorious enterprise to keep us in constant conflict with other peoples of the world. Undoubtedly, America’s hawks will celebrate Veterans’ Day, but they will forget about the time when November 11 was a day to remember the warriors while observing the blessings of peace. Instead, they will use the day to lionize war. They will forget the lessons of 1918, and will use a day that was meant to reflect on peace to cheer on more killing and destruction.

We must indeed remember the millions of Americans who have been and continue to be sent to foreign lands to fight for dubious causes and imperial crusades. I don’t think the best way is by sending fresh faces into battle and adding fresh corpses to the graveyards of America’s war dead.

One day, I hope that the last war fought will seem like a distant memory, and that the veterans who pass away will not be replaced by new ones returning from battle.

One day, I hope most Americans will pay respect to the tragic sacrifices of America’s soldiers of the past by observing the beautiful bedrock of civilization that is peace.

One day, I hope we can rejoin the world in a celebration of truce.

One day, I hope we honor America’s veterans by restoring the original meaning of Armistice Day.



Veterans Day


by Laurence M. Vance (lmvance@juno.com)

http://adserve.lewrockwell.com/www/delivery/avw.php?zoneid=5&n=a39b1c5b (http://adserve.lewrockwell.com/www/delivery/ck.php?n=a39b1c5b&amp)
We have too many veterans. We have too many living veterans. We have too many dead veterans. We have too many wounded veterans. We have too many disabled veterans. We have too many veterans who have fought in wars. We have too many veterans who have never fired a shot. Any way you look at it, we have too many veterans.
Veterans Day began as Armistice Day – a day to commemorate the signing of the armistice on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month that ended fighting on the Western Front in World War I, "the war to end all wars." A few years after World War II, the holiday was changed to Veterans Day as a tribute to all soldiers who fought for their country. Veterans Day has now become a day to honor, not just those who have served in the military during wartime, but those who have served during peacetime or are serving now. It has also become a day – even though we have Armed Forces Day (http://www.lewrockwell.com/vance/vance79.html) – to recognize all things military.
Why?
Why do most Americans hold veterans and current members of the U.S. military in such high esteem? Why is there such a military mindset in the United States?
One reason people feel this way is because they falsely believe that those who serve in the military are somehow defending our freedoms (http://www.lewrockwell.com/hornberger/hornberger64.html). They are convinced that it is the military that stands between a free society and subjugation by some foreign power. They think that it is because of the military that we still have our First Amendment rights. It is inevitable that whenever I write about the military I receive an e-mail or two from a current or former member of the military who closes his rebuke (which usually argues that I have the freedom to write the "trash" that I write because of the U.S. military) with this simplistic cliché: "If you can read this e-mail, thank a teacher. If you can read it in English, thank a Marine." Has anyone ever thought this through? Are we are supposed to believe that the German army that couldn’t cross the English Channel to invade Great Britain and make its population speak German was going to cross the Atlantic Ocean to invade the United States and make us all speak German if it wasn’t for the Marines? Or was it Japanese that the Marines kept us from speaking? Or perhaps it was Spanish because of the tremendous threat we faced from Spain during the Spanish-American War? Were we in danger of having to speak Russian during the Cold War? Looking at the history of U.S. military interventions, there is one thing we can thank the Marines for: We can thank the Marines for helping to carry out an evil, interventionist U.S. foreign policy. Thanks a lot, jarheads. Semper Fi and all that jazz. Our freedoms, our liberties, and our Constitution that all Marines swear to uphold are under attack by our government. The state is a greater enemy than any foreign country or ruler. If the Marines are to really defend our freedoms, then they should be deployed to Washington D.C. After they oversee the closure of most federal agencies and expel the bureaucrats from the city, they can protect the Constitution (with fixed bayonets) from its daily assault by the members of Congress. In that case I would even say with you: "The few, the proud, the Marines."
Another reason the military is held in such high esteem is that most Americans wrongfully assume that the military is actually engaged in defending the country. They don’t know about the hundreds of U.S. military bases on foreign soil. They don’t realize that there are thousands of U.S. troops stationed abroad to defend other countries. They have no idea that the United States has troops in 150 different regions of the world. Instead, they think that it is because of the military fighting terrorists "over there" that we don’t have to fight them "over here." The threat of a conquest of America by foreign invasion is nonexistent. And if we were attacked with nuclear weapons, even the Marines would be helpless to defend us. Although the purpose of the U.S. military should only be to defend the United States from genuine attacks and credible enemies, it has primarily been used to intervene in the affairs of other countries. When all of the troops come home and start guarding our borders and patrolling our coasts then, and only then, can we say that the military is defending the country. Even the Coast Guard, which actually patrols our coasts, is tainted – thanks to another unconstitutional, unwinnable war that the government is engaged in that is more destructive than the "enemy" we are fighting: the war on drugs.
Still another reason for the military mindset is that members of the military are viewed as "public servants." Members of Congress like to brag about how they have been in public service their whole life. Some policemen and firemen have jumped on the "public service" bandwagon as well. But if you want to be a policeman or a fireman, fine, just don’t expect us get excited about the fact that you have a job. And plenty of jobs are just as dangerous. Veterans are looked upon as special because they "served" in the military. It didn’t take any special education, experience, or accomplishments to land a job in the military – they just signed on the dotted line. We don’t bestow any special honors on bricklayers, mechanics, and accountants; yet, we see plenty of bumper stickers that say things like: "My son is in the Air Force." We never see "My son is a plumber" or "My son is a garbage collector" or "My son is a waiter"? And why not? The people in those occupations don’t drop bombs on anyone. They "serve" some important needs of society. Shouldn’t we honor them as least as much as soldiers?
It is unfortunate that some of the most vocal defenders of today’s military are Christians. It is even worse that churches fawn over current and former members of the military on Veterans Day. In response to my recent article "Should Anyone Join the Military (http://www.lewrockwell.com/vance/vance124.html)," I was chastised by two detractors.
The first asked if I could read the Old Testament and still say that no one should serve in the military. I was also told that God instructed the Jews and others to destroy people. It is not hard for me to read the Old Testament and still say that no one should serve in the military. America is not Israel, and the U.S. military is not God’s army. And telling me that God instructed the Jews and others to destroy people is like telling George Bush that he is the decider. There is no denying that God instructed the Jews and others to destroy people. But George Bush is not God, America is not the nation of Israel, and God didn’t command the U.S. military to kill anyone.
http://www.lewrockwell.com/vance/war-fp-church.jpg (http://www.vancepublications.com/foreignpolicy.htm)My other detractor appealed to Alphonsus Liguori and maintained that as the sword maker has no control over the product, so "the soldier does not commit an actual sin unless he chooses to break a moral law while in the military." It is "the leaders or military officers who sin when they issue immoral orders." Military service is "morally neutral." But what kind of morality is this? It certainly isn’t Christian. What kind of morality says that it would be okay to kill someone in an unjust war in his own country who was no threat to you or your country because you are wearing a military uniform? Oh, I forgot: Just don’t break a moral law while you are killing him.
It is high time that Americans stop elevating members of the military to a position of honor. It is long past the time when veterans have done anything honorable. We should abolish Veterans Day. And because of our shameful foreign policy and militarism during the twentieth century, we should abolish any Armistice Day celebration as well.

November 12, 2007

Laurence M. Vance [send him mail (lmvance@juno.com)] writes from Pensacola, FL. He is the author of Christianity and War and Other Essays Against the Warfare State (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0976344807/lewrockwell/). His latest publication is War, Foreign Policy, and the Church (http://www.vancepublications.com/foreignpolicy.htm). Visit his website (http://www.vancepublications.com/).

Copyright © 2007 LewRockwell.com

Laurence M. Vance Archives (http://www.lewrockwell.com/vance/vance-arch.html)

[Reason]

Had Enough Yet? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xNMY74YOo4)

NY Times Coverage Of TSA Victory By The ACLU & Ron Paul (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/17/business/17road.html?_r=2)

GPS In Every Car Tracking By Govt. & Taxed For Every Mile You Drive... (http://www.wired.com/autopia/2009/11/dutch-road-tax/)

U.S. Army suicides set to hit new high in 2009 (http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN1752246)

Arkansas Police Use Taser on 10-Year-Old Girl (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,575494,00.html?test=latestnews)

[Reason]

NSA & Windows 7... (http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9141105/NSA_helped_with_Windows_7_developmenthttp://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9141105/NSA_helped_with_Windows_7_development)

Was 9/11 War or Terrorism? Are we doing the same thing? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftpLgFfE-Ss)

Israel Destroys More Palestinian Homes To Expand Illegal Settlements (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U39TiEXGlwM)

Cop driving 94mph with no lights/sirens hits car killing 2 kids, no emergency... (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DREC97JZSdo)

[Reason]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ARTICLE ~ In Afghanistan and at home, we're being driven off a cliff ~ (http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.smith27nov27,0,5153459.column)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Football fans have been quite taken by a recurring segment on ESPN's " NFL Countdown Show" called "C'mon man." Inspired by former wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson, botched plays from NFL action are highlighted, with the players involved being targeted for the "C'mon man" admonition.

It's funny stuff. But when President Barack Obama, after weeks of indecision, prepares to tell the nation in a prime time address that tens of thousands of more troops are going to be sent into the endless war in Afghanistan, it's not so funny. It's depressing. It's revealing. It's a decidedly serious "C'mon man" moment.

Perhaps as soon as Tuesday, the president will explain best he can why tens of thousands of additional American soldiers and Marines are needed to pursue a war soon to pass Vietnam as the longest in our history. Some of our war fighters will be in their fourth or fifth tour of duty in combat zones. The cost of the war there could top a trillion dollars over the next 10 years, yet virtually all the generals and admirals and think tank armchair warriors have concluded that a military solution isn't possible.

President Obama says this is a war we must win. Retired Army Col. Andrew J. Bacevich, a professor of international relations and history at Boston University, who has written widely on military power and its limitations, says it's a war we cannot win.

In a piece earlier this year in Commonweal, Mr. Bacevich wrote, "Liberals may have interpreted Obama's campaign pledge to ramp up the U.S. military commitment to Afghanistan as calculated to insulate himself from the charge of being a national-security wimp. Events have exposed that interpretation as incorrect. It turns out - apparently - that the president genuinely views this remote, landlocked, primitive Central Asian country as a vital U.S. security interest."

He suggests that if moral considerations are at the heart of our foreign policy, as many war proponents insist - if it's nation building that motivates us - we should fix, say, Mexico, which is of far greater importance to us than faraway Afghanistan.

So what can be expected to be achieved? There are murmurings about staying until a stable national government is in place in Kabul and the Afghans themselves are able to guarantee their own security. But we know there has never been a stable central government in that backward land. It's a tribal society, largely rural and famous for its ferocity and fearlessness, for a refusal to tolerate foreign occupation. Ask the Russians.

It's always a mistake to presume certain knowledge of the future. We can only guess at how events play out over time. Think, however, of what the ancient Chinese sage Sun Tzu said about how "no nation has ever benefited from a long war."

A few weeks ago, I mentioned that longtime American diplomat and former Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger said on television that the Afghanistan experience is shaping up as startlingly similar to what happened to us in Vietnam; that it looks like a quagmire, yet he sees the way to avoid being mired yet again.

Trying to understand this determination to stay the course no matter how unlikely the prospect of success, it might help to turn to a quip from one expert on Afghanistan, Rory Stewart, who heads the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at Harvard and has been consulted by several members of the Obama administration on what to do there. He has testified before Congress on Afghan policies, but wonders how much affect he's having.

As quoted in Matthew Yglesias' blog, Mr. Stewart says, "It's like they're coming in and saying to you, 'I'm going to drive my car off a cliff. Should I or should I not wear a seat belt?' And you say, 'I don't think you should drive your car off the cliff.' And they say, 'No, no, that bit's already been decided - the question is whether to wear a seat belt.' And you say, 'Well, you might as well wear a seat belt.' And then they say, 'We've consulted with policy expert Rory Stewart and he says …'"

It seems insane, doesn't it? We're deep in a debt pit and digging ourselves in ever deeper, soothed by the conceit that America is too big to fail, even though all previous world hegemons have in the end failed. We think of ourselves as an exception to that historical record, but chances are we're not.

President Obama made the war in Afghanistan his war. The anti-war people are silent because he's their man. Leading Democrats in the House are proposing a "surtax" on income to be used for paying the mounting costs of battling insurgents on the other side of the world. And we're reduced to shouting "C'mon man" as we are driven over that cliff.

Ron Smith can be heard weekdays, 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., on 1090 WBAL-AM and WBAL .com. His column appears Fridays in The Baltimore Sun. His e-mail is rsmith@wbal.com.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My Email To The Author
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I want to thank you for your article,

In Afghanistan and at home, we're being driven off a cliff
http://www.baltimoresun.com/ (http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.smith27nov27,0,5153459.column)news/opinion/oped/bal-op.smith27nov27,0,5153459.column

Please do not ever feel pressured to regurgitate the status quo as a journalist for any reason, for while we might be the minority at the moment, the logical people of this country are aware of the disgusting consequences of our current statist & imperialist policies.

You should know that hundreds of thousands of Ron Paul supporters share in your view that we are indeed being driven off a cliff by both parties.

You might be interested in the following video and article regarding Afghanistan.

Russia & Afghanistan
http://www.youtube.com/watch? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxU8lc7GoSQ)v=jxU8lc7GoSQ

Afghanistan Is an Unjust, Unwinnable War
http://www.campaignforliberty (http://www.campaignforliberty.com/article.php?view=365).com/article.php?view=365

Once again,

Thank You.

[Reason]

Obama: "We Did Not Ask for This Fight" (http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/12/01/transcript-president-obamas-afghanistan-speech/) |
Bush: "We Did Not Seek This Conflict" (http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0109/29/se.02.html)
Obama: "New Attacks are Being Plotted as I Speak" (http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/12/01/transcript-president-obamas-afghanistan-speech/) |
Bush: "At This Moment ... Terrorists are Planning New Attacks" (http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2008/02/20080213.html)
Obama: "Our Cause is Just, Our Resolve Unwavering" (http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/12/01/transcript-president-obamas-afghanistan-speech/) |
Bush: "Our Cause is Just, Our Coalition [is] Determined" (http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2008/12/images/20081215-1_d-0137-5-515h.html)
Obama: "This Is No Idle Danger, No Hypothetical Threat" (http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/12/01/transcript-president-obamas-afghanistan-speech/) |
Bush: "The Enemies of Freedom Are Not Idle" (http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2003/05/20030517.html)
Obama: "We Have No Interest in Occupying Your Country" (http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/12/01/transcript-president-obamas-afghanistan-speech/) |
Bush: "I Wouldn't Be Happy if I Were Occupied Either" (http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2004/04/20040413-20.html)



Why was it that the Taliban didn't hand over Osama? Oh yeah...
http://www.dailypress.com/ (http://www.dailypress.com/news/national/sns-worldtrade-taliban-chi,0,2325274.story)news/national/sns-worldtrade-taliban-chi,0,2325274.story


Canada's Authoritarianism
http://www.youtube.com/watch? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obfM0O6NbYw)v=obfM0O6NbYw


True News: Melting Watergate - Skepticism and Global Warming
http://www.youtube.com/watch? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNRW5qMRnIU)v=UNRW5qMRnIU