Mike's Blog Round Up
By Nicole Belle Wednesday May 14, 2008 10:00amLeft in Alabama: More support for Jim Webb's GI Bill legislation. Are you listening, John McCain, and all you other Republicans in Congress?
PTSD: Given the underplayed, staggering numbers on veteran suicides, post-traumatic stress disorder, brain injuries and the like, it seems like awfully bad form to prosecute and imprison a veteran for pushing for PTSD benefits. While some innovative approaches for treating PTSD seem effective, replacing the VA's 'criminally negligent' leadership might also help.
The War Comes Home: Cutting to the heart of the war and Winter Soldier.
FranIAm: "Lest We Forget" — Revisiting Hiroshima.
Majikthise: Phylis Schlafly, rape denier.
The Satirical Political Report: A sneak peek behind the scenes of the Hamas superdelegates. (Horrors, has Joe Lieberman heard?)
Guest roundup by Batocchio. Please e-mail submissions and tips to Batocchio9 at yahoo dot com. Thanks!
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Soldiers who do anything other than what their republican masters tell them to do are thrown to the wayside.
Only in Bushworld, would a Vietnam Vet be prosecuted and jailed for requesting VA benefits. Unbelievable.
Alert!
The brilliant Marcy Wheeler(Emptywheel) will be conducting a Salon on "spying" and the use or mis-use of intelligence over at Firedoglake at 3.p.m today. Join Marcy and ask your relevant questions.
Will not be able to join your important Salon today,
Questions.
1. Col Karpinski has stated that there were foreign individuals at Abu Grarib directing to torture taking place at that prison. What can he tell us about Col. Karpinski’s claims?
http://www.democracynow.org/20…..ormer_head
2. Just after 9/11 Carl Cameron of Fox news reported in four parts on Fox News ( I do watch to see what other peoples perspectives are) that there were “allegedly” several hundred young Israeli spies operating in the U.S. before the attack on 9/11. The media coverage on this issue was quickly shut down and that four part report was quickly pulled from Fox News website. What can your guest tell us about this “alleged”investigation into Israeli spies?
http://www.informationclearing.....le7545.htm
3. Also in that four part report Cameron reported that Israeli based communication and data mining companies (Amdocs which supposedly has access to 95% of all U.S. phone companies billing records and Comverse Infosys) may have “mistakenly”? provided a back door in their systems to foreign spying which may have jeopardized U.S. National Security. What can he tell us about this?
4. What can he tell us about that meeting in Italy with Ledeen, Harold Rhode, larry Franklin, (now serving a prison sentence), Manucher Ghorbanifar which supposedly had to do with Iraq and Iran?
……I thought Colin Powell forbid these folks to meet after that meeting?
http://www.washingtonmonthly.c…..shall.html
5. Can he address why we are not hearing much about the U.S. Vs. Rosen investigation and trial in the MSM or the so called “progressive” blogosphere? Few Americans know about this investigation and trial which has to do with Aipac’s Rosen and Weissman “allegedly” handing over highly classified intelligence having to do with Iran to Israeli officials.
U.S. vs. Rosen indictment http://www.globalsecurity.org/…..ug2005.htm
I keep calling the Alexandria Division of the U.S. District Courts since this investigation and trial having to do with Aipac’s prior officials allegedly handing off classified intelligence about Iran to Israeli Officials seems to be “off limits” or territory too dangerous or intimidating for the MSM and “progressive” blogosphere to cover. The last update from one of the folks who answer the phone at that division is that there are on going private hearings reviewing the classified documents having to do with the case and that there are two motion hearing open to the public on May 20th and May 29th.
What can you tell us about this investigation and trial having to do with foreign spying and the mis-use of classified intelligence?
6. What can he tell us about the status of Phase II of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence which has to do with the investigation of the pre-war intelligence used to lie our nation into the invasion of Iraq? From my understanding Republican Senator Pat Roberts did everything he could do to divert, delay and dilute Phase I and Phase II
……..Has the Office of Special Plans been thoroughly investigated? Will Americans ever witness anyone held accountable for this false pre-war intelligence? Is Dem. Senator Rockefeller doing any better job than Rep. Senator Roberts at bringing those responsible for creating, cherry picking and dessiminating this false intelligence to JUSTICE?
7. What can he tell us about the Niger Documents? Will anyone be held accountable for these documents that were immediately debunnked by the director of the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) Mr. El Baradei at the UN in early March of 2003 just before the invasion. (I will never forget that day and how the MSM basically ignored what El Baradei had to say about the validity of these documents as the Bush administration marched ahead with their illegal and immoral invasion.
8. What can he tell us about the “alleged” spying on Colin Powell by John Bolton? I will never forget the Senate hearings on John BOlton’s nomination to the UN where I thought Senators Biden, Boxer, Kennedy, Dodd, Kerry, and Republican Senator Lincoln Chaffee looked as if they might jump over the tables and strangle Bolton for being so arrogant while they were demanding that the Bush administration turn over those NSA intercepts that they have the right to and have been demanding for a very long time.
Sidney Blumenthal covers this topic in this article
The good soldier’s revenge
In Colin Powell’s battle to block Bush’s nominee to the UN, far more is at stake than John Bolton’s unsuitability
Sidney Blumenthal
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worl.....sa.comment
“And after Bolton attempted to coerce a state department intelligence officer to agree to an unfounded report about nonexistent Cuban WMD, Powell personally assembled the entire intelligence staff to instruct them to ignore Bolton. When the British foreign secretary Jack Straw complained to Powell that Bolton was obstructing negotiations with Iran on the development of nuclear weapons, Powell ordered Bolton to be cut out of the process, telling an aide: “Get a different view.” The British also objected to Bolton’s interference in talks with Libya, and again Powell removed Bolton. But as much as he may have wanted to, Powell could not dismiss him because of his powerful patron: Vice-President Cheney.
The Bolton confirmation hearings have revealed his constant efforts to undermine Powell on Iran and Iraq, Syria and North Korea. They have also exposed a most curious incident that has triggered the administration’s stonewall reflex. The foreign relations committee has discovered that Bolton made a highly unusual request and gained access to 10 intercepts by the National Security Agency, which monitors worldwide communications, of conversations involving past and present government officials. Whose conversations did Bolton secretly secure and why?
Staff members on the committee believe that Bolton was probably spying on Powell, his senior advisers and other officials reporting to him on diplomatic initiatives that Bolton opposed. If so, it is also possible that Bolton was sharing this top-secret information with his neoconservative allies within the Pentagon and the vice-president’s office, with whom he was in daily contact and who were known to be working in league against Powell.
If the intercepts are released they may disclose whether Bolton was a key figure in a counter-intelligence operation run inside the Bush administration against the secretary of state, who would resemble the hunted character played by Will Smith in Enemy of the State. Both Republican and Democratic senators have demanded that the state department, which holds the NSA intercepts, turn them over to the committee. But Rice so far has refused. What is she hiding by her cover-up?”
##### Have these intercepts ever been released?
Oops here i sthe link to Firedoglake
http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2008/05/15/preview-book-salon-on-spies...
Good news today is that Bush has started smearing Obama in earnest. He did so in front of his Israeli masters too. Time for Obama to take off the kidgloves and start fighting back. Obama can start bitchslapping Bush and MC Same in words neither of them will begin to understand. Just use over three syllables. Easy
Col Kilgore @ 5:
The "Tone" has now been set.
Why do we support the military that invades other countries under false pretexts?
why do we support the military that created 4 million refugees?
why do we support the military that caused upwards 1 million civilian casualties?
why do we support the military that looks the other way in Afghan poppy production?
why do we support the military that uses depleted uranium in the field?
why do we support a military that spies on its own citizens?
why do we support a military that didn't respond on 9-11?
why do we support the military?
for fear of being labeled unpatriotic.
Rebel Patriot @ 7:
Open ended questions aren't going to beat the Cons.
It's time to get down to the political equivalent of hand to hand combat from now till Nov.
L.A. Confidential @ 8:
the problem is that the Cons also infiltrated the Democratic party - and its two remaining candidates are either Cons themselves, or have numerous advisers that are Cons.
Rebel Patriot @ 9:
Excellent point. And they are going to continue to try to do so.
Almost forgot... CNN had story on site about Bush slamming Obama with his "appeasement" bullshit. I was gonna submit a comment but CNN turned off the comments after about 50 folks saying they wish Bush would just shut his fucking smarmy mouth and go away. In contrast.. CNN let a thread about Obama apologizing for some "sweetie" comment go on and on. See what the left is up against. Was a good time for Edwards to come out for Obama yesterday though. Got the knee pad media off the 24/7 story of the "crushing" defeat Hillary put on Obama in WV. Why is it a "surprise" or "slim victory" when Obama wins a primary but a "crushing defeat" or "resounding victory" when Shillary does ?
Col Kilgore @ 5:
At least, the chimp knows how to read and memorize some basic sentences. But he has no clue who Neville Chamberlain is.
Meanwhile his own Defense Secretary agrees with Obama.
http://tinyurl.com/3e98lh
Damn, the repugs are desperate.
Phyllis Schlafly - class act.
Rusty Shackleford @ 13:
Yep. Cave woman Phyllis also agrees that the man should hit his woman over the head with a giant wooden club.
StirFry @ 12:
How LIEberman must hate Gates.
On Wednesday evening on Chris Matthews Hardball I Thought Pat Buchanan made some solid points having to do with the arrogant tone and classism that I believe permeated the MSM's pundits in their coverage of the West Virginia primary. The persistent statements about the "less, un-der educated" of West Virginians was endless that night. There was clearly an air of classism you could hear it.
I have spent a great deal of time in southeastern Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky. While I am by no means an expert on this topic I have observed that many Appalachians are independent, salt of the earth hard working people. And as Pat Buchanan pointed out they are often the folks who readily serve in the military with their own bodies, minds and spirits.
I have also observed that many Appalachians are educated in ways that would leave many of the MSM talking heads in the dust. They are often highly competent hunters, can fix almost anything (cars, plumbing, electric etc) often know how to farm , garden, can, dry food etc. If the shit hits the fan in this country and our country completely implodes or breaks down. These are the people I want to be around. They may not be "formerly" educated, but they are educated in other ways. They are the survivors.
The unspoken classism that is taking place in the MSM in regard to West Virginians and otherly abled people needs to stop or be thoroughly examined.
Pat Buchanan was spot on on the issue of classism in our MSM towards Appalachians.
Can not find a link to this. This issue needs to be discussed
Senator McCain's speech today gives a timetable for when US troops will leave Iraq if he becomes President. McCain went after former GOP rival Mitt Romney during the Florida primary, claiming his mention of timetables was equivalent to putting defeat into the hands of terrorists. Now the Senator is changing his tune
See McCain blows whichever way the political wind is blowing. McCain Flip- flops . Now what will he really do once he is elected. No one knows! Do not trust McCain!
StirFry @ 14:
Good ol' Phyllis. A lifetime spent outside the home as a political activist.
"Submission for thee, but not for me."
Kathleen Anna @ 16:
I agree and yet I've observed that Buchanan is coming unglued with all this talk of the democratic nominees. But that could just be due to the fact that Tweety is such an ass.
Rebel Patriot @ 7:
Rebel Patriot @ 7:
Rebel Patriot
Extremely well said. As a Vietnam veteran, I find it bizarre that so many people who call themselves liberals still believe it is somehow unpatriotic to criticize the U.S. military for their actions abroad. I think that it would also be instructive to remember that the agent of hope and change wishes to leave close to 100,000 troops behind in Iraq or in the nearby region, even after his phased [as opposed to immediate] withdrawal would finally take place. This, it should be pointed out, is hardly going to win the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people. Nor will Obama's decision to shift more troops to Afghanistan win the hearts and minds of the Afghans, since they realize that that would mean more American bombs directed at their villages and homes and infrastructure.
Would it kill the Snorg t-shirt people to hose off those t-shirts?
Blue Lensman @ 19:
Buchanan has been doing a great deal of chuckling. He knows the Republicans are done for. He is just trying to stir the pot with his support of Hillary.
Buchanan was completely against the invasion. I knew the middle had shifted when I started agreeing with Buchanan on some issues. This guy is consistent. And he will not back down to the right wing radicals that make up part of the Israeli lobby. He will not back down to their endless claims that he is "anti semitic". Buchanan objects to the radicals in the lobby
Erroll @ 20:
Erroll, thank you for seeing one of the hardest truths. It is the culture that we have been indoctrinated with that causes us to worship or at least defer to authorities in uniforms. The police, the military, the political leadership and all their ceremonies and trappings of state. Now we see more and more the corruption of our police, the brutality and hyper-militarization of our police (actually - THEIR police.)
It's all too easy to see the corruption of the political class, but the hardest to see is the deep roots of corruption in the military. We - the civilians - cannot imagine that the profession that is supposed to protect us - and our so-called freedoms - is actually undermining them and participating in these wars of empire. We sooth our conscience when we claim that we are only blaming the leadership - that the ordinary soldier/sailor/airman/marine is inexplicably immune, after all, they are one of us. But I think most people who really consider what is going - know better. We rationalize an excuse.
As a Vietnam veteran I imagine you can understand the phoniness of this war - started as a lie, similar to the lies regarding Tonkin that started the Vietnam war and led to the needless deaths of 58,000 Americans and 1.5-3 million Vietnamese deaths/casualties. This is the same government that sprayed its own troops with AO, and other chemical industry cocktails and then denied them for decades, the same government that marched its own best-brightest under the clouds of nuclear detonations and then denied them benefits, the same government that denied the Gulf War syndrome, and soon the Depleted Uranium cancers that will become manifest after their wider usage. Its the same government/military that has needlessly extended this war for 4050+deaths and yet we are too scared to consider that they might be capable of wiping out 3000 civilians in one day to further their strategic ambitions.
I'll bet this chart of non-borrowed reserves history will show up on any of the corporate financial channels.
Great Depression #2
Bush: Appease Porridge Cold
Rebel Patriot and Erroll, I think the crucial distinction is between troops on one side, and the brass and Bush administration appointees on the other. The group Winter Soldier is actually on Capitol Hill today, meeting with members of Congress. These are troops who oppose the war (some of them did not initially), object to the dehumanization of Iraqis, object to the mission and often how things are run on the ground. Rebel Patriot, you're right that not every troop is a saint, and the Winter Soldier crowd speaks out against war crimes and officer attitudes that turn a blind eye to crimes or even encourage them. That's not to mention the Bush administration's policies of abuse with Abu Ghraib and elsewhere. War crimes should be investigated and prosecuted, most of all with the Bushies. However, there are also plenty of troops just trying to do their jobs, and in some cases stay alive. There are also issues of conscience, and medical issues such as PTSD. This morning on the radio, I heard one of the Winter Soldier vets talk about how he attempted suicide rather than go back to Iraq for another tour, and how that action led to a general discharge and a loss of his G.I. Bill benefits. The guy needed/needs help, not punishment. And bad vet care helps no one. The Pentagon badly needs reform (Chuck Spinney's been one of its sharpest critics), and Congress is scared to do it right now. That's disappointing although not surprising, but one thing that would help is hammering home the idea that one can support the troops without supporting the mission. Given the number of MSM types who should know better but still insist, however implicitly, that war opposition or criticism is unpatriotic (which is an asinine attitude), it's a big problem with serious political consequences. That's a key, first step, especially since political realities in America aren't going to change overnight. Although yeah, I'd love to see a crackdown on waste at the Pentagon, elimination of their domestic spying, or the MSM actually covering the story of how they themselves eagerly played along with an illegal, domestic propaganda campaign using all that retired brass. It's also pretty sad and astounding that members of a generation who lived through Vietnam decided to lie us into another unnecessary war. But they actually believe all that stab-in-the-back crap - which as you may know, John McCain firmly believes as well.
And Erroll, when are you going to start your own blog? They're free at Blogspot and some other places...
Rebel Patriot @ 23:
"It is the culture that we have been indoctrinated with..." I, like yourself, also believed that to be true. But I am now reading a book that I would enthusiastically recommend to you that demonstrates how much more ubiquitous the influence of the military is upon the lives of its citizens than was previously know or thought. That book is entitled the Complex, subtitled How The Military Invades Our Everyday Lives by Nick Turse. In it, Turse describes how the military and the Pentagon have spread its tentacles into the fabric of American society, through foods that are contracted out by the military [Aquifina water, Bumble Bee Tuna, Balance Bars, Del Monte, Cream of Wheat, Dole, Lipton Iced Tea, Quaker Oatmeal, Special K cereal, along with about 80 more corporations], the military-academic complex, the oil industry, and in particular the entertainment industry, involving the cinema and video games, etc.
The video games chapter, for example ["A Virtual World of War"], describes how the military tries, often successfully, to indoctrinate its youthful targets with these video games. By turning war into an adventure, it then desensitizes them when they become soldiers to feel very little empathy for those people whom they shoot, who are usually civilians. But to the military brass, this means that they have accomplished their mission of turning naive civilians into robotic soldiers, whose goal is to shoot and kill as many people that they are told to, without question, by their superiors.
Erroll @ 27:
thanks for that the book recommendation. I just ordered it. I am pretty deep into the rabbit hole already, I can't imagine it can be much worse.
How the GOP plans to win:
4. Burn the Bush: There is something honorable about loyalty. But taken too far, it can start to look downright loony to voters. President Bush is as unpopular as Richard Nixon was in the days before his resignation. Cut him loose — quick, says Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.). “We can go our own way with our own programs, and even disassociate ourselves from President Bush,” Davis said in a memo to fellow Republicans.
In some cases, say GOP leaders, Republicans should cozy up to presumptive presidential nominee John McCain, who remains popular with many swing voters. In others, they should simply run on their own merits and promise to pay attention to local concerns. But under no circumstances should they stand by their man in the White House. It won’t be easy, because so many marched obediently to the Bush tune for so long. But voters have short memories — exploit that.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0508/10370_Page2.html
Well, that's certainly one way to deal with vets bringing heat to bear on pols over PTSD and vet bennies... throw em in jail!!.... Great move there ASSHOLES!!! And the RNC sits around wringing its hands over 'branding issues' and losing their asses at the grass roots level political positions in what has been previously regarded as districts thought to be republican locks..... Ninnies!!!! Clueless, incompetent, greed driven ninnies....You peckerwoods are branding yourselves quite nicely as far as I'm concerned..... And I couldn't be happier to watch you fuckheads shoot yourself in the foot. As for how you repubs actually treat vets? As opposed to your lying p.r. bullshit??? FUCK YOU!!! Fuck you and horses you rode in on.......JD
Batocchio @ 26:
Batocchio
I do honestly appreciate your comments as they are among the more intelligently written that are on this site. I certainly agree that helping veterans is essential. I can relate to those veterans who have PTSD as I am always trying to come to terms with what I went through and did while in Vietnam. Your sentence "And bad vet care helps no one" is especially insightful since the session that I had with a VA counselor less than a year ago seemed designed to exacerbate more than aid my condition.
But I am extremely ambivalent about the phrase "support the troops." I have a button which shows a soldier kneeling down and another soldier placing his hand on his shoulder to comfort him. Above the image it says Support the Troops. Below the image it states Bring Them Home Now. That, to me, is the best way to support them. I got into a nasty argument with my conservative next door neighbor last August. She told me that even though she allows me to have my anti-war position [I thought, how magnanimous of her to say that], I still must support the troops. I gave her the example of a tank which would be situated on the street and a foreign soldier walking down that street wearing battle fatigues and especially carrying an assault rifle. I asked her how she would feel if she saw this outside her house. She just kept plowing ahead by saying that I must support the troops.
Let me attempt to offer another example. Back in the 60s and early 70s, the great fear among young American males was to receive that dreaded letter which began with the word Greetings and then informed the reader when and where to report to the Selective Service physical induction center. They knew, of course, that to pass that physical greatly improved one's odds of ending up in Vietnam. Nowadays, not only is there not a draft, but Americans today are joining the military, on their own, knowing full well that they will probably end up in Iraq and Afghanistan! Why in the world should anyone [especially those who consider themselves to be liberal] have more sympathy for those who join the military on their own than for the Iraqis and the Afghanis who will end up on the receiving end of American boots, bullets, and bombs? This type of thinking makes absolutely no sense to me at all.
The true heroes of this country are the ones that you mentioned, the members of the IVAW and those who testified at the Winter Soldiers hearings. Those people have received almost no attention in comparison to the soldiers who end up fighting Iraqis and Afghanis for allegedly patriotic reasons. I really wish that each soldier who is in Iraq and Afghanistan would be able to get their hands on the documentary Sir! No Sir!, which told the story of the GI resistance during the Vietnam War, or the classic work by David Cortright, Soldier in Revolt, which told the same story in even greater depth in print. By having this happen, then the hope is that more of them will realize that they are assisting in the illegal occupation and brutalization of the Iraqi and Afghani people and that their consciences will tell them that they cannot continue to do this any longer.
As former Green Beret Donald Duncan said in Sir! No Sir!, "I was doing it right but I wasn't doing right." Also the words of former soldier David Klein, who was severely wounded in Vietnam, when he said in the film "Your silence [referring to the soldiers] is keeping that lie going."
Erroll @ 31:
If we had more soldiers of the type that is personified by Warrant Officer Hugh Thompson Jr., then I could support the troops.
Kathleen Anna @ 16:
I agree, Kathleen, Pat buchanan, West Virginians and you, have a lot of common sense. Common sense tells you the world is flat In my six years in the Army, I encountered a lot of West Virginians. All of them made a conscious show of resentment toward anyone more educated, (as do you) or, people from non-confederate states and anyone who does not hate, or at least show resentment to African Americans.
We are not going to get out of this mess by using faith or common sense, to pick a President who uses common sense and the Bible. We have that now.
Rebel Patriot @ 7:
I guess THAT I'M UNPATRIOTIC! I don't support any of that.
Erroll @ 31: I appreciate your perspective, and sorry for any VA woes. You're absolutely right that "support the troops" is often deployed in a way that prevents questioning the mission, strategy and tactics, or specific incidents. As in police abuse cases, there's often a closing of the ranks, or on the domestic side a shutting down of questions. I would just say the political reality is that one must make a distinction between the mission and the troops, and sometimes that distinction does matter a great deal. I agree the best support is bringing them home, especially at this point. It's long overdue.
On the volunteer military front - well, there's the stop-loss program. I also have a high-school classmate who re-upped, and I believe is due for his third tour in Iraq soon. His feeling is that there are a lot of young kids in the military who really need guidance and leadership. In his case, it's more about concern for his fellow troops than the mission. For new recruits, some are desperate financially, some are conned (you may have seen the autistic recruit story), and all the usual BS, while some really do believe they're helping. I think they're mistaken, but some do believe that. In any case, the bigger problem to my mind is the folks high up. A soldier's a small cog. The Pentagon brass, and all the neocons and other imperialists in the Bush administration, either knew or should have known how disastrous this venture was, and even if they were "sincere," they didn't care about lying, and smearing others, to get their way (as they've done on almost every issue). It's sadly a social norm in D.C. to feel that military action is "wise" and "serious" when it often isn't. Anything to change that would be good, especially since Congress hardly represents the will of the people on Iraq at this point, and they're set to approve another goddam spending bill.
You're reminding me I still need to see Sir! No, Sir!, but I did re-watch Paths of Glory not long ago. Apparently, it's actually shown on some military base TV stations - but evidently, not enough.
Batocchio @ 35:
Batocchio
I would like to raise a couple of points. You mentioned the stop-loss program. That is one of the reasons listed in the important and relevant work Desertion and the American Soldier-1776-2006 written by Robert Fantina for those in the military deserting from their units. The other reasons are:
1) Disagreement with the war
2) The horrors of war
A couple of weeks ago, one of the other blogs [perhaps the Raw Story] mentioned that a soldier had been stop lossed for an incredible seventh time. Besides having to raise the maximum age limit, allowing convicted felons into the military, and relaxing the educational requirements, the military is now issuing a type of reverse draft, by keeping those soldiers in the military beyond their due date, even though they fulfilled their part of the bargain by completing their allotted time of duty. That would have been clearly illegal if it had been done in the private sector. The soldier has to realize that he, to use the words of Lt. Watada, is being used for ill-gain.
You believe that the bigger concern is with "... the folks high up" and that "the soldier's a small cog." I think that you would have an extremely difficult time attempting to convince the average Afghan or Iraqi of that statement. As I inferred earlier, those in the military have to realize that they have a brain and that what they are doing is illegal, immoral, unjust. As I mentioned at comment #31, Americans should attempt to imagine what it would be like if foreign soldiers were on their road or to see a tank at their workplace. If they would admit that, then I do not see how they in good conscience could agree that American soldiers should continue in subjugating Iraqis and Afghanis. I think that the film Sir! No Sir! brings this point across quite well. Again, would you think that if foreign soldiers were occupying towns across America, that those soldiers should be considered "small cogs"? I certainly would not, as the Iraqis and the Afghanis do not consider the Americans their liberators.
Erroll, thanks for the tip. I hadn't heard of being stop-lossed a seventh time. I used to follow conscientious objection more closely, but that bears more research.
In my experience, most foreigners in peace time can distinguish between American citizens and American foreign policy, but I agree that the average Afghan and Iraqi doesn't much care, and if they're been mistreated by American troops, as many of them sadly have, it's moot anyway. I agree that Americans lack awareness of how they are perceived abroad, and how our presence in Iraqi especially is seen as imperialism (accurately, to my mind). As you note, the Iraqis especially view Americans as occupiers, not liberators, particularly this late in the game.
Feel free to pass on any links here or to e-mail them to me, but I'll say it once again, hehe, you may want to consider starting a blog or asking to contribute to an existing group one if you don't already.
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