By now, most have heard about the video of U.S. marine throwing puppy off a cliff in Iraq. This sort of behaviour isn't new to war. There was a Vietnam veteran in Cahill 3 with me. He told me a story that seems now eerily similar to this.

The guys in his unit called the orangutans "rock apes", because they would catch rocks you threw at them and then throw the rocks back. They had fun playing catch with the orangutans until one day one of the guys in the unit decided to pull a pin out of a grenade and throw it at an orangutan . Of course the orangutan caught the grenade and was blown to pieces. That ended the fun they had with the orangutans. The difference is that they didn't have camera phones then.

Should we be surprised by this sort of behaviour? These soldiers have been sent to kill people. Most humans view other animals as less than human. If they're killing people left and right, what's the odd puppy or orangutan ? Who is more evil then: the marine that killed the puppy or the politicians sent him over there to kill?

I've been on the side of the police in the recent bomb scare incidents in Boston. The police were unfairly blamed for doing their jobs and doing their jobs well in those instances. That does not mean, however, that I believe the police can do no wrong.

In fact, there are many recent incidents that show there are real and significant problems with the police, including (but far from limited to) the Jena Six, the tasering of the student at John Kerry's speech, campus police breaking a high school student's wrists over crumbs, racial profiling, overuse of heavily armed SWAT teams for what used to be considered relatively minor drug offences, and police outright threatening to make up crimes.

We have secret prisons and the right to habeas corpus has been revoked. The police believe they can behave with impunity, because much like the soldiers responsible for the massacre at Haditha or the Blackwater employees slaughtering civilians in Iraq, the police within the United States are generally allowed to act with impunity when dealing with those outside the power structure &mdash they know they will not be held accountable for their actions.

That is why I get so upset about the whining that occurs in Boston whenever the police do what they are actually supposed to be doing — it draws too much attention away from the real problems.

The addition $42 billion dollars in war funding requested by the Bush Administration is political move designed to allow both the Democrats and the Republicans to appeal to their bases. It smells of backroom dealing. The Democrats in congress will not approve this additional funding, but instead will fund the war at the originally requested levels. The Republicans can then appeal to their base by saying that the Democrats aren't giving the troops the funding they need, and the Democrats can appeal to their base by saying the actually did something by turning down the Bush Administration's additional request.

In the end, nothing changes.

I was just at the Fox News website. One of the story teasers (second story, directly below Falwell's death) read:

Hard Time at Gitmo Detainee cries 'torture,' says he was forced to use unscented deodorant and read newsletter full of 'crap'

If one clicks the link and reads the article, it does mention that the source for the story, a transcript of Majid Khan's military hearing, was "redacted" (in other words, parts that would not be in the best interest of the United States military were deleted). Buried deep into the article we also find this:

Ali Shoukat Khan said his son [Majid Khan] was kidnapped in Pakistan and that there, Americans tortured his son "for eight hours at a time, tying him tightly in stressful positions in a small chair until his hands, feet and mind went numb. ... He was often hooded and had difficulty breathing. They also beat him repeatedly, slapping him in the face, and deprived him of sleep."

"Fair and balanced™" is a joke. And a bad one, at that.

British sailors and marines were blindfolded and kept in isolation from each other during most of their 13-day detention in Iran, members of the naval crew said Friday in their first public comments since being released. Six of the 15 captured crew held a news conference at Royal Marine Base Chivenor a day after they arrived back in Britain. "The pressures we were subjected to were quite diverse. It was mainly psychological and emotional," said Lieut. Felix Carman. "We were blindfolded at all times and kept in isolation from each other." ... Carman said when they first arrived at the Tehran prison, they were blindfolded and ordered to stand against a wall with their hands bound as "people were cocking weapons in the background." That experience was "an extremely nerve-racking occasion," said Carman. "There were lots of tactics like that that were employed." At one point, the lone female sailor, Faye Turney, was told the other 14 sailors and marines had been sent back to Britain and that she was left alone, they said. full article

The British sailors were treated badly in Iranian hands. But, they are lucky the weren't captured by the Bush regime and sent to Guantanamo or Abu Ghraib. The ordeal these sailors endured was nothing compared to what the Bush administration has been promoting as standards of prisoner treatment and interrogation.

This sore of psychological and emotional abuse of prisoners is not acceptable, but Bush's long term unapologetic abuse of prisoners have made it virtually impossible for any United States ally to effectively speak out against this kind of mistreatment, and that goes doubly for the Bush's closest friend and enabler: Tony Blair.

Bush and his cronies like to claim Reagan's legacy. Bush is no Reagan. Bush sent 10,000 troops to Afghanistan (gradually increased to a now 25,000) to fight Al Qaeda and the Taliban. A year and a half later, he sent 100,000 troops to Iraq (gradually increased to a now 150,000) to fight a tin-pot dictator who was neither a tangible military threat to the United States nor involved in the September 11^th attacks at all.

If Ronald Reagan were in office, after September 11^th he would have sent those 175,000 troops to Afghanistan and Osama Bin Laden's head would have been sitting on a pike in front of the White House by the end 2001. He would have rhetorically asked "Anyone else?" and brought the troops home. The war in Afghanistan would be long over and the war in Iraq would never have started.

Yesterday, President Bush told Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, "This business about graceful exit just simply has no realism to it at all."

While I don't generally make a habit of trusting Bush, I'm fully confident that the exit from Iraq will be clumsy and messy.

Forgiveness is a powerful thing. So powerful that it can truly startle people. The bombings and attacks on Afghanistan and Iraq were expected. While they may have scared some into submission and angered others to fight, they did not surprise anyone. If instead of attacking, the Christians in charge of the United States instead followed Jesus's advice and said "We forgive you.", it would have utterly shocked supporters of Al-Qaeda and other like-minded groups. Forgiveness would have completely baffled them, and made it very difficult for them to motivate others to kill themselves in a similar attack. September 11^th was intended to motivate the wrath of the United States, and was only made successful by the providing of that wrath.

This does not mean that if persons who aided the act are caught in the course of law enforcement that they should not be brought to justice. Rule of law must still exist, but invasion of other countries is not in the course of law enforcement. Forgiveness of the transgressions upon us by those outside our laws would keep us far safer than all the weapons in the United States arsenal.

If you want to see the true face of war, go to the amateur porn Web site NowThatsFuckedUp.com. For almost a year, American soldiers stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan have been taking photographs of dead bodies, many of them horribly mutilated or blown to pieces, and sending them to Web site administrator Chris Wilson. In return for permission to post these images, Wilson gives the soldiers free access to his site. American soldiers have been using the pictures of disfigured Iraqi corpses as currency to buy pornography. At Wilson's Web site, you can see an Arab man's face sliced off and placed in a bowl filled with blood. Another man's head, his face crusted with dried blood and powder burns, lies on a bed of gravel. A man in a leather coat who apparently tried to run a military checkpoint lies slumped in the driver's seat of a car, his head obliterated by gunfire, the flaps of skin from his neck blooming open like rose petals. Six men in beige fatigues, identified as US Marines, laugh and smile for the camera while pointing at a burned, charcoal-black corpse lying at their feet. The captions that accompany these images, which were apparently written by soldiers who posted them, laugh and gloat over the bodies. The person who posted a picture of a corpse lying in a pool of his own brains and entrails wrote, "What every Iraqi should look like." The photograph of a corpse whose jaw has apparently rotted away, leaving a gaping set of upper teeth, bears the caption "bad day for this dude." One person posted three photographs of corpses lying in the street and titled his collection "DIE HAJI DIE." This could become a public-relations catastrophe. The Bush administration claims such sympathy for American war dead that officials banned the media from photographing flag-draped coffins being carried off cargo planes. Government officials and American media pundits have repeatedly denounced the al-Jazeera network for airing grisly footage of Iraqi war casualties and American prisoners of war. The legal fight over whether to release the remaining photographs of atrocities at Abu Ghraib has dragged on for months, with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Richard Meyers arguing that the release of such images will inflame the Muslim world and drive untold numbers to join al-Qaeda. But none of these can compare with the prospect of American troops casually bartering pictures of suffering and death for porn. full story

I've heard too many smarmy Americans calling the Muslim people barbarians. Um, yeah. Exactly who are the barbarians here?

from chaoticerotic

The Great San Francisco Earthquake struck 99 years ago, Teddy Roosevelt was president. Unlike Hurricane Katrina, there was no warning of the impending events.

Here is what happened.

from kyrene and chaoticerotic

FEMA will not accept Amtrak's help with evacuations FEMA turns away experienced firefighters FEMA turns away supply trucks from Walmart FEMA will not let the Red Cross deliver food FEMA prevents morticians from entering New Orleans FEMA blocks 500 boat citizen flotilla from rescues and delivery of aid FEMA fails to utilize 600 bed US Navy hospital ship Chicago offers massive assistance. FEMA to Chicago: "Send one Truck" FEMA turns away generators FEMA: First responders urged NOT to respond Local officials criticize FEMA's failures This is how Michael Brown got this job that he is totally unqualified for

There can be no excuse for this. None.

From unseelie, found through chaoticerotic

How a President Should React In September 1999, Hurricane Floyd -- a category 3 -- was bearing down the Carolinas and Virginia. President Clinton was in Christchurch, New Zealand - meeting with President Jiang of China (you know, actually working). He made the proclamation that only Presidents can make and declared the areas affected by Floyd "Federal Disaster Areas" so the National Guard and Military can begin to mobilize. Then he cut short his meetings overseas and flew home to coordinate the rescue efforts. This all one day BEFORE a Cat-3 hit the coast. That is how you do it. How about this dope's own father during Hurricane Andrew? Once again, President Bush (41) -- August, 1992 -- was in the midst of a brutal campaign for re-election. Yet, he cut off his campaigning the day before and went to Washington where he martialed the largest military operation on US soil in history. He sent in 7,000 National Guard and 22,000 regular military personnel, and all the gear to begin the clean up within hours after Andrew passed through Florida. 'Cause, you know, those people and their stuff was actually where it belonged, rather than being used for insurgent target-practice halfway around the world in a vain effort to make Iraq safe for Iranian takeover. In August of 1969 when Cat-5 Hurricane Camille hit roughly the same area as Katrina, President Nixon had already readied the National Guard and ordered all Gulf rescue vessels and equipment from Tampa and Houston to follow the Hurricane in. There were over 1,000 regular military with two dozen helicopters to assist the Coast Guard and National Guard within hours after the skies cleared. Bush 43 - August 2005 - Cat-5 Hurricane Katrina bears down on New Orleans and the Mississippi gulf. Both states are down nearly 8,000 National Guard troops because they are in Iraq -- with most of the rescue gear needed. Bush is on vacation. The day before Katrina makes landfall, Bush rides his bike for two hours. The day she hits, he goes to Johnnie McCain's birthday party; and lies to old people about the multi-billion-dollar pharmaceutical company welfare boondoggle. People are dying, the largest port of entry in the United States (and fifth largest in the World) is under attack. Troops and supplies are desperately needed. The levees are cracking and the emergency 1-1/2 ton sandbags are ready, but there aren't enough helicopters or pilots to set them before the levees fail. The mayor of New Orleans begs for Federal coordination, but there is none, and the sandbagging never gets done. So Bush -- naturally -- goes to San Diego to play guitar with country singer and lie to the military about how Iraq is just exactly like WWII. The levees give way, filling New Orleans with water, sewage, oil and chemicals. Ten percent of all US exports, and 50% of all agricultural exports ordinarly go through this port. It is totally destroyed. Bush decides he'll end his vacation a couple of days early --BECAUSE HE HAS TICKETS TO A PADRES GAME! He goes back to the Fake Farm in Crawford, with every intention of doing something on WEDNESDAY about this disaster that happened starting last Sunday night.

The media is such fucking bullshit. They have been completely obsessed with the "looting" of grocery stores and drug stores at the same time mostly overlooking widespread profiteering at the expense of refugees. Hotels, gas stations and even markets in some areas are gouging prices as people flow from the effected cities and towns looking for basic needs. When the profiteering is mentioned, there is no talk about cracking down on the people doing it. I guess people stealing from businesses for survival purposes is a "complete breakdown of moral order", but businesses stealing from refugees of a natural disaster is just good olde fashioned capitalism.

It's amazing how the current regime in Washington goes about this crisis so blithely. They should be dropping amphibious vehicles and soldiers into the city. They should be dropping humanitarian rations. They have the capability, they are just choosing not to do it. I guess it would put too much of a strain on resources already devoted to two wars.

The entire scene has descended into chaos, and the victim blaming has begun in ernest. I'm astounded and angered at what's going on and feel powerless to do anything about it.