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Soldier’s Brain Injuries a Good Thing – All 360,000 of Them

March 06th, 2009 | Author: akagaga

We all know the benefit of wearing shoes that are too small: it feels so good when you take them off.

Using this same logic in all apparent sincerity, Brig. Gen. Loree Sutton, the head of the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury, said that the research and other work being done by the military on brain injuries from Iraq will eventually benefit the civilian world. Whether the injuries occur while people ride bicycles, play football, skateboard or ski, “we know that this is an issue across the country.”

It must be a good thing, then, that they have so much research material. The latest estimate is that upwards of 360,000 Iraq veterans have suffered brain injuries. (That’s the entire population of Wichita, Kansas, folks.) Given the 10-20% incident rate, who knows how many more suitable subjects will come out of Afghanistan? Why, the research possibilities are breathtaking.

Maybe we should re-classify all our military spending as medical research. People wouldn’t be so apt to complain then.

Category: foreign aggression, Iraq, war | 2 Comments

High-Level Military Dissension: Political Maneuvering or Potential Coup?

February 03rd, 2009 | Author: akagaga

The US war machine doesn’t want to withdraw troops from Iraq according to Obama’s 16-month plan, so they’ve decided to undermine him in the media, already blaming him for the “collapse” that will surely follow.

It seems Obama didn’t like the deceptive plan dreamed up to get the Iraqi’s to sign the extension in November, whereby “combat troops” would be renamed “support troops” and no one would actually be withdrawn. In a Jan. 21st meeting with Gates and Petraeus, et al, Obama gave them marching orders to draft a real 16-month withdrawal plan, and they were not happy.

Go to Anti.war. com to read the rest of the political shenanigans, but it appears the commander-in-chief has exerted his authority. The question is: will anybody obey? Or is this the beginning of the first-ever military coup in the United States?

Stay tuned.

Category: Iraq, Obama, war | 2 Comments

But They Love Us in Iraq

December 14th, 2008 | Author: akagaga

Ya’think maybe they don’t appreciate our lies over there?

Category: Bush, Iraq, war | 2 Comments

The Word of America is Worthless

December 13th, 2008 | Author: akagaga

This from the Wall Street Journal [emphasis added]:

BALAD, IRAQ — The top American commander in Iraq said that U.S. forces will remain in dozens of small bases inside Iraq’s cities despite language in a recently-signed security pact which appears to require an American withdrawal from Iraqi urban areas by next summer.

Gen. Raymond Odierno told reporters here that the U.S. troops assigned to “joint security stations” inside Iraqi cities like Baghdad would remain in the outposts indefinitely. The bases, which are a key part of the U.S. counterinsurgency strategy, house thousands of American personnel across the country. There are well over a dozen such outposts in Baghdad alone.

Gen. Odierno, who assumed command in September, explained that the withdrawal provision in the security pact applied only to combat personnel. The U.S. forces assigned to the joint security stations mentor and fight alongside Iraqi troops, so American commanders classify them as training personnel and don’t consider them to be covered by the withdrawal language, he said.

Is there any point in even listening to the lies anymore? What would happen if, en masse, the media simply stopped being mouthpieces for the government, and just ignored them all? At least we wouldn’t get caught in so many blatant lies.

To be persuasive we must be believable; to be believable we must be credible; credible we must be truthful. Edward R. Murrow

The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake that, you’ve got it made. Groucho Marx

Category: abuse of power, Iraq, war | Leave a Comment

Who’s Killing our Soldiers?

December 01st, 2008 | Author: akagaga

An American interrogator, who refused to torture prisoners in Iraq to get information, has spoken out about the results of our policies.

It’s no exaggeration to say that at least half of our losses and casualties in that country have come at the hands of foreigners who joined the fray because of our program of detainee abuse. The number of U.S. soldiers who have died because of our torture policy will never be definitively known, but it is fair to say that it is close to the number of lives lost on Sept. 11, 2001. How anyone can say that torture keeps Americans safe is beyond me — unless you don’t count American soldiers as Americans.

This man is bearding the lion in his den and paying the price. If others in our military showed his courage in speaking out to end the atrocities committed in our name, we might, once again, be proud to be Americans. I’ll end with his thoughts on the real war.

The war after the war is a fight about who we are as Americans. Murderers like Zarqawi can kill us, but they can’t force us to change who we are. We can only do that to ourselves. One day, when my grandkids sit on my knee and ask me about the war, I’ll say to them, “Which one?” Americans, including officers like myself, must fight to protect our values not only from al-Qaeda but also from those within our own country who would erode them.

Category: Iraq, war | 4 Comments