Afghanistan: The wheels are coming off
Atrocities, however regrettable, are always the fault of lone psychos and must never be allowed to interrupt the mission. It is certainly not the fault of the military if soldiers get pushed into derangement by too many tours in war zones and the homes being foreclosed because the pay is so crappy. (Maybe they should just be mercenaries and make $8,000 a month doing the same thing.)
Oh, by the way, what is the mission in Afghanistan anyway?
We need a new law. If the President and Congress want a war then their kids and relatives get sent to the front lines, no exceptions.
I bet we’d have far fewer wars then.
These fought in any case,
and some believing,
pro domo, in any case . . .
Some quick to arm,
some for adventure,
some from fear of weakness,
some from fear of censure,
some for love of slaughter, in imagination,
learning later . . .
some in fear, learning love of slaughter;
Died some, pro patria,
non “dulce” non “et decor” . . .
walked eye-deep in hell
believing in old men’s lies, then unbelieving
came home, home to a lie,
home to many deceits,
home to old lies and new infamy;
usury age-old and age-thick
and liars in public places.
(Excerpt from Hugh Selwyn Mauberly by Ezra Pound)
When it is one of ours that commits an atrocity, he/she is a poor deranged soul functioning under a tremendously stressful situation. When it is one of theirs, it is a blood thirsty, mindless, vicious terrorist, intent on killing innocent people. Works every time.
He was sane enough to make a choice, he could have, in his “deranged stateâ€, started pulling the trigger in the company of his own group, but no, he chose to set off quite a distance, went through a door and started shooting, and let’s not forget, setting the bodies on fire. Put a turban on him and repeat the act and then ask people’s opinion. I think they might come up with a different opinion.
Yeah, right, a lone gunman killed sixteen people, nine of them children, in the space of less than thirty minutes in two villages two kilometers (roughly a little more than a mile) apart.
I’ve got some ocean-front property for sale. Cheap!. Cash only, though, in small bills please. You’ll LOVE Idaho.