more about “The Road Ahead in Afghanistan – Lara …“, posted with vodpod
Filed under: Humor and Satire, Politics, War , afghanistan, al qaeda, barack obama, dating, international affairs, interview, iraq, Lara Logan, taliban, terrorism, wars
September 4, 2009 • 2:06 pm 0
Death in Afghanistan!
This photo was taken by Judy Jacobson of the Associated Press. This is what happens when young men are sent off to fight old men’s wars. Maybe, seeing more images like these will hasten our withdrawal from both Iraq and Afghanistan. Full the full story, click here.
Filed under: War , afghanistan, Afghanistan War Photos, Ap, iraq war, Media, Media News, Photography, War Photos
August 23, 2009 • 5:31 pm 2
Special Comment! Afghanistan.
Can anyone please tell me why we are still in Afghanistan? I for one do not believe that it has anything to do with the Taliban or Al-Qaeda. Or the eradication of the poppy fields that are responsible for most the heroin that eventually finds its way into the United States. I am totally against nation building and the only thing that comes to mind is that quagmire that was once Vietnam! You know, that war that cost over 52,000 American lives and in my book counted as the second lost war that America fought. Korea being the first.
Now this blog is strictly opinion and I am not putting much research into it, nevertheless, it’s my observation of what is going on in that part of the world. Pakistan and India are mortal enemies and both are nuclear weapon states. Both of these countries require a destabilized Afghanistan to ensure an American presence in the region to keep the peace between the two countries. The Kashmir Conflict must be resolved in order to establish a resemblance of peace between the two neighbors. Adding to the complications is that Pakistan is in the midst of a civil war.
But what is really troubling is that we are in a country fighting for a government whose elections last week appear to be seriously flawed. Afghan President Hamid Karzai in an attempt to win favor with the voters in some parts of Afghanistan signed into law a provision that allows a certain sect of Muslims to starve their wives if they refuse to have sex with their husbands. This comes after a law allowing men to rape their wives if they refused to have sex with their husbands was repealed. Is this a nation we really want to be in fighting for democratic values that the natives don’t give a shit about? The best way to deal with Afghanistan I hate to say comes from a commentator I heard on television a few week ago. His suggestion was that we should airlift all of the women out of Afghanistan and let the current group of men unable to reproduce and therefore, die off. Then bring the women back and start over.
I have yet to hear about an exit strategy for getting out of Afghanistan. They say that Barack Obama’s war might have us in Afghanistan for up to a decade. That’s a lot of wasted money. Isn’t the estimated $3 trillion spent in Iraq a pretty obvious clue as to how much might be wasted in a country that should be left to itself? If we haven’t found Osama bin-Laden in eight years I say call off the search. Barack Obama can pay for health care by bringing the troops home. I advocate leaving behind a small highly specialized force for emergency flare ups. I for one am tired of being raped by a country whose leaders are more interested in receiving cash bribes and Viagra than making any meaningful changes for its citizens. Particulary, its women!
Filed under: Politics, War , Afghan Elections, afghanistan, Afghanistan Campaign, Afghanistan Election, Afghanistan Exit Strategy, Afghanistan Troop Increase, Afghanistan Vietnam, barack obama, Elections Afghanistan, Exit Strategy, india, More Us Troops, obama, Obama Afghanistan, Obama Afghanistan Plans, Obama And Afghanistan, Obama Speak About Afghanistan, Obama Vietnam, pakistan, President Obama, President Of The United States, US Afghanistan, US Exit Strategy, US President, US Troops, Vietnam, War In Afghanistan, War Wire, World News
May 22, 2009 • 8:08 pm 0
More Waterboarding!
Has anyone seen Sean Hannity?
http://rawstory.com/blog/2009/05/conservative-radio-hosts-waterboarded/
Filed under: Politics, War , conservative, conservative talk radio, erich muller, mancow, sean hannity, torture, waterboarding, wls radio
May 11, 2009 • 1:04 pm 2
Sleep Deprivation!
Just when you thought that the barbaric practice of water boarding was at the top of the torture list; along comes the Los Angeles Time with a headline grabbing story about sleep deprivation. Given the details of the story, I think that I would opt for water boarding everyday of the week and twice on Sundays rather than be deprived of sleep shackled and chained for up to eleven days at a time. Read the story here!
This story is part of a larger picture that is being painted by Jane Mayer in her book The Dark Side. The Holy Grail of presidential power does not reside inside of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue but rather in The Office of Legal Counsel within the Department of Justice. If you want to know more I suggest that you buy the book or borrow it from your local library. It really is a must read.
Through this office Dickless Cheney and his War Council manged to circumvent the United States Constitution, The Geneva Conventions, United State’s laws against torture, The Uniformed Code of Military Justice, and over 200 years of U.S. military etiquette. This group of rogues also broke long established protocols between inter-agency cooperation. There is a reason that Dickless Cheney is taking the point on this issue. All illegal roads taken, point back to him.
Filed under: Politics, War , c.i.a., department of justice, l.a. times, sleep deprivation, torture, torture memos
May 5, 2009 • 7:22 pm 9
After 9/11!
One of the most horrific events of our time occurred in the morning on September 11, 2001. It’s the day that America stood still. It’s one of those events that each and every American will remember where they were and what they were doing. The idea that we we were protected by two oceans was forever lost. What else that was lost in the proceeding days, by a handful of government lawyers and Dick Cheney, were the very ideals upon which this country was founded and operated on. In those days, were the days, when the gloves came off.
Our circle has been having a fascinating debate on the treatment of detainees in the aftermath of 9/11. You can follow the threads here on Fakename’s blogs The Torture Memos and Torture-Why Not? There’s more on my blog Dickless Cheney. Whichever side you come down on the torture issue, there is an incredible article by Christopher Hitchens on Slate concerning the British treatment of Nazi prisoners during World War II. I encourage everyone to read it. It will certainly give you perspective as to the merits of humane vs. inhumane treatment.
One of the main arguments against the inhumane treatment of prisoners is that it serves as a recruiting tool for the enemy. I have no way of confirming the veracity of this claim. However, I do know that it is not a good thing. When we result to using the tactics of those who would do us harm makes us no better than them. And when we become no better than the enemy that we are fighting we cease to live up to the American ideal and therefore, this experiment, this thing that we call America becomes a lie.
We cannot check our American identity at the door during a time of crisis. One of the things that we hold most dear is that we are the beacon of freedom for the rest of the world. This has been our identity since the country was founded. I volunteered and served my country even though I hated being subjugated to anyone or anything. But when I volunteered to serve it wasn’t because my father didn’t give me many options, but I truly wanted to participate and be a part of something that was larger than myself. That’s what America is…. a place that is larger than anyone of us. I love being an American, but right now, I am not really proud of being one. And for that, I blame Dick Cheney and a handful of misplaced government lawyers.
More to come later…
Filed under: Politics, War , 9/11, dick cheney, george w. bush, torture
April 27, 2009 • 4:20 pm 2
Torture Memos!
Let’s not be to harsh on President Obama and his releasing of the torture memos that has former members of the Bush Administration making plans to flee to Costa Rica. Had Obama not released the memos, he would have been compelled by a federal judge to do so anyway. This all stems from a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in 2003 under the Freedom of Information Act. It has taken six years for these memos to be released. Click the link to read the actual memos.
Every Republican talking head, Dickless Cheney in particular, are now running around like Chicken Little screaming that we are less safe for making information available to the public that was already widely known. Cheney is even calling for the C.I.A. to make available memos that confirm that Enhanced Interrogation Techniques (torture) actually provided us with actionable intelligence. According to the Washington Post:
When CIA officials subjected their first high-value captive, Abu Zubaida, to waterboarding and other harsh interrogation methods, they were convinced that they had in their custody an al-Qaeda leader who knew details of operations yet to be unleashed, and they were facing increasing pressure from the White House to get those secrets out of him.
The methods succeeded in breaking him, and the stories he told of al-Qaeda terrorism plots sent CIA officers around the globe chasing leads.
In the end, though, not a single significant plot was foiled as a result of Abu Zubaida’s tortured confessions, according to former senior government officials who closely followed the interrogations. Nearly all of the leads attained through the harsh measures quickly evaporated, while most of the useful information from Abu Zubaida — chiefly names of al-Qaeda members and associates — was obtained before waterboarding was introduced, they said.
What is equally disturbing is that the C.I.A. has destroyed over 90 video tapes, some of which included the use of torture that were also requested by the ACLU. You can bet your ass that shit rolls downhill and by the time this stinking ball comes to a stop there are going to be quite a few people with new numbers. Prison numbers that is. Torture must never be a tool of the United States Government. It undermines the moral authority of the United States. Not to mention it flies in the face of Christian sensibilities.
Unfortunately, Americans are almost equally split on the use of torture. See the latest poll numbers here! For another interesting take on the torture issue, check out the lastest blog by Fakename.
Filed under: Politics, War , aclu, cia, dick cheney, enhanced interrogation techniques, new york times, torture, torture memos, washington post, waterboarding
February 3, 2009 • 2:19 pm 8
The Letter of Last Resort!
Royal Navy nuclear submarine
The Letter of Last Resort was originally a radio broadcast on BBC’s Radio 4. Try as I may, I have not been able to catch a replay of the program. However, Ron Rosenbaum wrote a fascinating article on Slate.com regarding the issue. The gist of the article is that at the bottom of the ocean, there is a nuclear Royal Navy submarine with a letter from the British Prime Minister with instructions on what should be done in the event that Great Britian is obliterated by a nuclear attack.
It gets into the morality and horrors of nuclear weapons. It also points out something you may not know about Jewish law and their use and ownership of said weapons. Anyway, I’d love to hear your comments on the issue. I’ll be back tomorrow, hopefully with some original thoughts.
Filed under: Politics, War , great britian, israel, letter of last resort, nuclear war
January 23, 2009 • 8:04 pm 23
Lines in the Sand!
It never ceases to amaze me why America has such a vested interest in the state of Israel. Maybe it is because America’s and Israel’s history have familiar parallels. In America, white Europeans slaughtered and displaced millions of indigenous peoples on the basis of white superiority and the Christian notion of Manifest Destiny. In Israel, hundreds of thousands of white European Jews immigrated to Palestine, under British rule, to escape the clutches of Adolph Hitler. That, in and of itself, was a pretty smart thing to do. But the Zionist’s were under the impression that they had a legal right to the land based on a promise from God. And you know the rest of the story…
I could rail on about the oppressive Israeli government and I could equally rail on about the stupidity of Hamas and its delusional leaders. For Hamas to claim a victory over Israel is akin to John McCain claiming victory Over Barack Obama. So today, I heed the words of our newly elected president and will put away childish sentiments and thoughts. I’ve tried to reduce the Israeli/Palestinian conflict to its lowest denominator.
These things are all ingredients to a successful peace between the two parties. First and foremost, the equitable distribution of land must be returned to the original 1948 United Nation’s partition plan. The Palestinian’s must accept the refusal of the right to return and that Israel has a right to exist. A viable Jewish state must include a sizeable Jewish majority. In return, the Jews must agree that Jerusalem is not its Capitol city and belongs to Palestine. And lastly, the United States must end all military aid to Israel.
It’s a bitter pill that both sides have to swallow. If not, the Palestinians will continue to live in poverty and misery. On the Israeli side, they will always have to be their toes. Human existence can be so simple. Far too often we make shit harder than it has to be. For two groups that are so intertwined and similar, they both better wake up and smell the coffee. I shudder at the words of the late great Albert Einstein.
He said that “I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.” Please! Let’s not make him a prophet! The conflict between fourteen million people is not worth the lives of close to five billion…
Filed under: Politics, War , anti semetic, gaza strip, israel, palestine, the british, two nation state, united nations, War
January 1, 2009 • 1:35 pm 0
Filed under: Politics, War , gaza strip, hamas, israel, palestine, war crimes
