How's that "War of Necessity" working out for you?

Remember that? (full bloviating text here)

Three years later -- boots still on the ground, explain just how wrong the "Nobel Peace Prize" doppelgänger really was {smdh}:




Related
- Karzai: U.S. fosters corruption in Afghanistan
-Battered NATO considering early Afghanistan withdrawal

NPR on Syria - "Through the looking glass darkly"

Had to run some errands today, but Son #1 was using my car. The husband was home early so I asked him to take me (Yes, I can drive myself, but er, uh -- long story). As we rode, NPR was on, broadcasting the above story and all I could do for the duration, was suck my damned teeth -- and seethe (Yes, I realize I have issues -- with people who lie, either by omission, or outrightly.  But I have a particular disdain for those whose job it is to provide taxpayer-funded, "fair and balanced reporting").

NPR's "pot, calling the kettle black" story was American sensationalism at its best.  Other than the infamous Abu Ghraib, whose story was only accidentally told as a result of a soldier with some conscience,  how much have they reported, in detail, about the goings on at either Bagram, or GITMO (which the Changeling vowed he'd close -- even as he crowed about Afghanistan being the "necessary war," -- if you'd just vote for "Change you can believe in."  And getting  a damned Nobel Peace Prize for it to boot!)?  Yes, the Fourth Estate certainly gives me the dry heaves.

But when I got home and checked my email, seeing Clara Gutteridge's, How the US Rendered, Tortured and Discarded One Innocent Man in The Nation, I heard my Gra'mama say, "Chile, you thought that right up!"  And it seemed I had:

At our first meetings in Stone Town, the crumbling capital of Zanzibar, Suleiman would turn up wild-eyed, refusing food because eating upset his stomach. We soon forged a routine of driving together into the bush, where, he said, he could find peace. On our first trip, Suleiman drove to a derelict underground prison that had once been used by Arab slave traders, a dungeon that presumably resembled the first place he was held in Afghanistan, a secret prison he called “The Darkness.”

When Suleiman arrived there, he thought he was back home in Zanzibar, so overwhelming was the distinctive smell of the coral reef. (A clinical psychologist would later explain that olfactory hallucinations are a common response to extremely stressful situations. They are the brain’s way of making one think there is something familiar to hold on to.) In fact, Suleiman was thousands of kilometers from his familiar Indian Ocean reefs, in an underground prison in central Afghanistan.

“It was pitch black, with constant noise and not enough food,” he recalled. His American interrogators would pour freezing cold water on him and beat him, saying, “We know you are a sea man, but here we have more water than out there in the sea. It never stops raining here.” Suleiman also describes being hung from the ceiling in the “strappado position,” slung in chains so that his toes just touched the floor. He also says American interrogators would take the ablution jug (used by Muslims for ritual cleansing before prayer), and stick its long spout up his rectum.

In mid-2003, Suleiman arrived at Bagram, where he was ordered to stand within the outline of a square drawn on the floor. “From today onward, your name is 1075,” the American guards told him. “You are in our box, and we have five basic rules: One: No talking. Two: Don’t look around. Keep your face down. Three: Don’t touch anything around the cage. Four: Don’t speak. Five: Don’t run.” Later, one of the guards looked at tall, skinny Suleiman and said, “You must be related to Snoop Dogg. Maybe he’s your father.” After this Suleiman’s name at Bagram was Snoop Dogg.

At Bagram, Suleiman never saw the sun, only the constant, blinding lights hanging just above his wire-mesh cage. He says he would look at the birds flying among the rafters, swooping down to peck around his cage. Bird droppings fell from the high ceiling through the mesh. Watching them, Suleiman would think, “Look at me today! I am on the side that the birds ought to be. I am in the cage, and they are free!”

Suleiman was finally released in July 2008. What prompted the decision is unclear. Authorities most likely realized that he had little intelligence to offer and posed no threat. So they let him go. (emphasis mine)

Syria's "war crimes" are no better, nor worse than those of my countrymen. I say to NPR, "Look in the mirror!  If you want to contribute to a better country, expend your energy on the schizophrenic, "American exceptionalism" in your own backyard (either before, or as, you point the finger at other folk)!" Anything else is simply taxpayer-funded hypocrisy playing handmaiden to imperialism.

From cannon fodder to forever vegetables - courtesy of the good ole U.S. of A.

Congress to Investigate Pentagon Decision to Deny Coverage for Brain Injured Troops.  They need an investigation?  What the hell for?  So they can continue to cherry-pick the results?  And how long will this investigation take?  Until those returning - damaged within or without - die?  Until their families are destitute?  Or both?  Given what it's costing, and has cost, these returning injured and their families - does it matter what it costs the damned government, or Tricare?

A key congressional oversight committee announced today that it was opening an investigation into the basis of a decision by the Pentagon's health plan to deny a type of medical treatment to troops with brain injuries.

Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., the chairman of the subcommittee on contracting oversight, said she wanted to examine a contract issued by Tricare, an insurance-style program used by soldiers and many veterans, to a private company to study cognitive rehabilitation therapy for traumatic brain injury. Such injuries are considered among the signature wounds of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The study, by Pennsylvania-based ECRI Institute, found insufficient or weak evidence to support the therapy. Often lengthy and expensive, cognitive rehabilitation programs are designed to rewire soldiers' brains to conduct basic life tasks, such as reading books, remembering information and following instructions. ECRI's findings ran counter to several other studies, including ones sponsored by the Pentagon and the National Institutes of Health, which concluded that cognitive rehabilitation was beneficial.

In a letter to Defense Secretary Robert Gates, McCaskill cited an investigation by ProPublica and NPR in December, which found that top scientific experts had questioned the Tricare-funded study in confidential reviews, calling it "deeply flawed" and "unacceptable."

"If true, these reports raise significant questions regarding the Department's award and management of the contract with ECRI Institute, and may have profound implications for hundreds of thousands of injured service members and their families," McCaskill wrote. "We owe it to our brave service members to find the truth." (emphasis mine)

Ya think Claire??

Now, since I haven't read the entire Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act as all of you in Congress commencing this investigation surely have [insert eyeroll here], could somebody explain to me where exactly does traumatic brain injury fit into these pre-existing condition eligibility requirements?  Now it could just be me, but it seems that the active-duty, military person with a traumatic brain injury, now insured by Tricare - is stuck between a rock and a hard place in this master plan.

While the swooners continue to champion the Changeling's health INSURANCE reform bill (which only fattens the pockets of the health insurance industry by giving them a guaranteed pool of people to milk insure through his mandate), the number of  those needing real health "CARE" reform continues to mount.  Guess they'd rather spend up to $50,000/each for domestic use of aerial drones by law enforcement, than $50,000 per patient on cognitive rehabilitation therapy for traumatic brain injury for their wounded "warriors." {smdh}

UPDATE:  Per this Politico piece, "White House beefs up support for military families."

Along with career counseling for retiring service members and broader availability of services for spouses and dependants, the initiative includes enhanced mental health programs along with safeguards to protect military families from predatory lenders and financial scams, he said. (emphasis mine)

So why the "investigation" again?"

UPDATE II:  In Houston, Rep. Giffords Could Receive Brain Injury Treatment Thousands of Troops Do Not

"For whom the bells toll...

...it tolls for thee..." Petty Officer 2nd Class Justin McNeley and Petty Officer 3rd Class Jarod Newlove, (age 30 and 25 respectively).

As I read Second missing U.S. sailor in Afghanistan is found dead, I couldn't help but think of a Navy tradition that has always been near and dear to my sentimental, sap of a heart:  the Two Bell Ceremony - a solemn part of the annual commemoration of the Navy's Birthday.  It is a simple and silent (but for the bells and MC) tribute to our fallen shipmates.

And so, from the "Goat Locker" description of the ceremony to which I linked above, I borrow this:

"In days past, two bells (toll two bells here) marked the end of the routine day aboard a ship.  It was time for tattoo, and soon, taps would sound throughout the ship.  Certainly, this is a most appropriate time to honor our departed shipmates."

And it is.  Fair winds and following seas Petty Officers McNeley and Newlove...

He was, who I thought he was...

I only have three things to say about the Changeling's, long-awaited and absolutely expected (by me) - "MORE WAR SIR!" speech:

h/t to Cinie (I think) for this photo

And - seriously and reverently:

'Nite now!

Obama's "War of Necessity"

As everyone waits to see what spews forth from the Changeling regarding Afghanistan later today, let's be clear people - THIS is the site of Obama's "Necessary War"...

When I got these pictures from the husband in April (I think you can click on them to enlarge), all I could do was shake my damn head. I couldn't even begin to write everything I was feeling, particularly since "Hearts and Minds" (like so many other issues, hotly debated and often not agreed-upon during this 29-years-last-Saturday union) had also become another one of those double-edged swords, slicing my emotions into two distinctly different, yet equally important parts between which I ultimately find my idea of "right."

I read Eric Margolis's, Chasing Mirages in Afghanistan, a little while before the U.S. presidential "selection" redux  Afghan elections.  It was an interesting take on the no-win, win for which Obama & Co. keep constantly aiming. He makes the very good point:

Ravaged Afghanistan needs genuine, honest elections, and patient national reconciliation, free of foreign manipulation. That's the only true road to peace and stability.

And I was right there with him, but then, he had to go and say this:

America has a great deal to teach Afghanistan about how to run clean elections and build the essential institutions of democracy.

and this...democracy and good government are what America should be exporting to the Muslim World, not dictators, B-1 bombers, and Predators.

and this...Running phony elections is unworthy of the United States and demeans its values and traditions.

Really now. You know, just as well as I do, that America's already taught/exported enough of "US" to Afghanistan to nearly choke the life out of an entire people - especially if we were to really unpack those good ole American "values and traditions."  But I do get where he was trying to go with the whole "makes a mockery of everything we preach around the globe" thing.  And so do they:

Starting at the 6:18 click, the men say, "We're hoping that Obama would be much better than Bush." Then they go on - wearily it seems - to the ending 7:08 click, explaining what should be painfully clear, even to the most empathetically-challenged of us.

I tell you, if watching just that little snippet (never mind the other parts - to include that brand, spanking new SuperMax-looking prison they just built on Afghan soil - among other things) does not convince you of the absolute wrongness of this thing that the Changeling, et al are doing in our names, I don't know what will.  And, either this is some serious Undercover Brother maneuvering, or these fellas need not hold out any hope of him being better:

And he had the nerve to say, "This will not be quick nor easy." Well, all I have to say to that is, what Queen Gorgo from the movie, "300" said to the crooked, rapist-politician Theron, after she rammed that sword deep into his belly in the council chamber:  Mr. President - "This will not go quickly, YOU will not enjoy it!" 

Based on his consistent-from-the-beginning rhetoric and continued hawkish behavior on Afghanistan, coupled with his general's conveniently leaked report and "Karzai's tattered victory," nobody should have any questions about whether or not he's "better than Bush."  But of course, that's wishful thinking.   

Scott Ritter illustrates some historically inconvenient truths about Afghanistan in his, McChrystal Doesn’t Get It—Does Obama? - truths Obama & Co. don't seem to even care to get as they continue their feeble march toward imperialist nation-building.  I'm sure Hill wouldn't have been overseas a couple of weeks ago (looking for some reason to me - eerily Nixonesque), telling Der Spiegel - 'Our Goal Is to Defeat Al-Qaida and Its Extremist Allies' - if they did care.  Now, nearly deafened by his administration's increasingly louder drumbeats for more war, I felt that "quiet riot" beginning to rumble.  And with her Oscar-worthy performance in the "Patriarchy Category" - parroting the lies, and posturing, just like the man who'd brushed her off his lapel Jay-Z style during the campaign - the words that had eluded me since April finally came.  But not for the warmongers.  The words are for the Afghan brothers and sisters suffering the same foot-on-neck behavior upon which this country was founded:

"My enemy's enemy is my man remember?  I ain't tryin' to be endin' up in this Man's dilemma...'til we get there, I am on your side."

"13/30" - The Damaged within - Part 2

UPDATE:  Covering their ass is what Congress does best,  This just in:  S1963: Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2010 - a bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to provide assistance to caregivers of veterans, to improve the provision of health care to veterans, and for other purposes - was passed in the Senate 12 days after the Ft. Hood killings.  Would those 12 day have mad a difference for Mahor Hassan?

  Watching the early stages of CNN's coverage of the shooting at Ft. Hood with my son and husband, I asked aloud - already knowing the answer, "Why's it gotta be a terrorist attack, or possible gang activity before they even know what the hell is going on???"

And when the "lone" shooter was identified - with that "funny-sounding" Middle Eastern name and they began the "terrorist" speculation in earnest (still not knowing what the hell was going on!) - I asked, again already knowing the answer, "Why can't it be that this guy - a CARE-DAMN-GIVER for the legions of soldiers returning from war zones, suffering the effects of having seen some horrific shit - be suffering some PTSD of his own??"  Or, "Why can't it be that some people (military troops ARE people) are just damned tired of fighting, killing, dying, losing limbs and worse - for wars in which there are no rational explanations!!"

The answers to my first questions are pretty clear: - He is Muslim.  And the MSM puts more stock in "being first with a story" way more than they do in being first with facts.  Such is the current mindset of America's Fourth Estate.  And the answers to the second set of questions?  He is Muslim.  And the MSM has long been in bed with politicians who'd rather fan the persistent fears of the "other" upon which this country was founded.  But more importantly, this country is a patriarchy, immersed in the language of manliness - Real soldiers can't be broken.

Though we, as a country, are doing a little better (and that's VERY little!) with domestic violence, violence against women, child abuse and sexual abuse, we - and that includes some of the "experts" - are a terribly long way from understanding a simple, yet important fact - TRAUMA IS TRAUMA no matter its origins and if its effects are left untreated, it not only threatens those sharing the sphere with the perpetrators - but the perpetrators themselves.  As a country, we just can't seem to get that through our, I'm-okay-so-you-must-be-okay consciousness, even though the manifestations of that bass-ackward thinking have been swirling around us from 1619 to today.

We function as if our branches of government, our corporations, our banking industry, our churches and certainly our military services - all those seats of perceived power - are not all bastions of "manliness" and intolerance - still.  And if we're honest, that women have managed to break into them and/or advance up any of those chains-of-command has not made one bit of difference over all.  Conversely, the complicit female presence has pretty much maintained the status quo, or made it worse - all in the name of feeling powerful themselves.  So where do the "damaged within" go for real help?

Chris Hedges explains where, in Stop Begging Obama and Get Mad:

"The soldiers and Marines who return from Iraq and Afghanistan are often traumatized and then shipped back a few months later to be traumatized again. This was less frequent in Vietnam. Veterans, when they get out, search for the usual escape routes of alienation, addictions and medication. But there is also the escape route of violence. We risk creating a homegrown Freikorps, the demobilized German soldiers from World War I who violently tore down the edifice of the Weimar Republic and helped open the way to Nazism.

The Afghanistan and Iraq wars have unloaded hundreds of thousands of combat troops, suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder or major depression, back into society. According to joint Veterans Affairs Department - University of San Francisco study published in July, 418,000 of the roughly 1.9 million service members who have fought in or supported the wars suffer from PTSD.

 
As of August 2008, the latest data available, about a quarter-million military veterans were imprisoned on any given day-about 9.4 percent of the total daily imprisoned population, according to the National GAINS Center Forum on Combat Veterans, Trauma and the Justice System. There are 223,000 veterans in jail or prison cells on an average day, and an unknown number among the 4 million Americans on probation. They don't have much to look forward to upon release. And if any of these incarcerated vets do not have PTSD when they are arrested, our corrections system will probably rectify the deficiency. Throw in the cocktail of unemployment, powerlessness, depression, alienation, anger, alcohol and drugs and you create thousands, if not tens of thousands, who will seek out violence the way an addict seeks out a bag of heroin." (emphasis mine) All of you, screaming that Maj. Hasan had never been deployed so he couldn't possibly be suffering PTSD, need to re-read the highlighted portion above.  Are we so blinded by his Muslim-ness, or too caught up in that "Real soldiers can't be broken" manliness, or that, "I'm-okay-so-you-must-be-okay" craziness to put two and two together and come up with four?

According to Hedges (and I concur), the answer is a resounding Yes!:

"There is a yawning indifference at home about what is happening in Iraq and Afghanistan. The hollow language of heroism and glory, used by the war makers and often aped by those in the media, allows the nation to feel good about war, about "service." But it is also a way of muzzling the voices that attempt to tell us the truth about war. And when these men and women do find the moral courage to speak, they often find that many fellow Americans turn away in disgust or attack them for shattering the myth. The myth of war is too enjoyable, and too profitable, to be punctured by reality. And so these veterans nurse their fantasies of power. They begin to hate those who sent them as much as they hate those they fought. Some cannot distinguish one from the other."  (emphasis mine)

In what little the media did get right about the major, it seems the Army, through the use of a "bad performance review," could have been doing some "muzzling" of it's own while he was stationed at Walter Reed, the facility about which the lack of real treatment and, in some instances, abusive treatment have been copiously reported.  But of course, that's not how it's being spun.

Without even knowing what was in the review, I challenge - any of you - to make some damn sense of what was just said in that video!  If the review was so bad, why didn't it affect Maj. Hasan's promotion and subsequent transfer to Ft. Hood?  Was it a toe-the-line-and-shut-the-hell-up-you-ungrateful-bastard-or-you'll-lose-everything warning (muzzling) to the major?  What was it's purpose??

If he was unable or unwilling to continue to provide poor, or no treatment to his patients after hearing, for the last six or so years, what they had been, and continued to go through, why was he still there?  Even Greta seemed to be sidling up to that question!  Call me stupid, but that twisted logic, along with that pesky Stop-loss policy Congress created, is nothing but a recipe for the disaster that happened at Ft. Hood.

Fort Hood, written on the body,  by Mary Elizabeth Williams at Salon, is an interesting and prescient piece about the soon to be aired documentary about our "fighting men" - at Ft. Hood, set to begin airing on PBS starting November 8 at 9:30 p.m.:

"Much will be written in the days to come of the mind-set of the alleged Fort Hood shooter Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, a psychiatrist who counseled military personnel and was reportedly distressed over his own imminent deployment. Though Schiesari's film predates the horrifying violence at the fort yesterday, it reveals a military culture rarely seen. By following both returning and deployment-bound young soldiers and the stories told on their bodies, she gets under their skin." (emphasis mine)

The trailer alone is, or should be, enlightening:

This is something with which I am intimately familiar.  My youngest was deployed to Iraq for a year as soon as he went into the Army in search of a better life - in his own control - at 21 years old.  Yeah, as young kids increasingly do these days, he had a couple tattoos already (my husband's and my name among a couple others).  But he got this rosary tattoed around his neck during his MOS training before deploying overseas.----->

Because I try, everyday, to live in the light of truth,  I had to ask his permission to tell this part of his story - I thought it only fair.  He gave it.

Since stop-loss was catching so much flack during the time he was in, the Army instead convinced many kids to reenlist while in-country with the lure of "the bonus."  The  son certainly could already see the new car he planned to buy.  But, as soon as they set foot back on U.S.terra firma., he and some of his buddies in his platoon sought out some of that "medication" Hedges talked about above, not realizing that they'd be tested the next day.  The "sting" (for lack of a better word) netted quite a few of them.  But he wanted to stay, and I resolved to help him because the choice was his, not mine.  After a lot of back and forth between me, his female commander and his First Sergeant, in writing and by telephone, it was decided he could. 

But his commander went on maternity leave before he got the official all-clear, replaced by yet another female.  And  he was caught "disobeying a lawful order from a Superior Commissioned Officer" (I shit you not, that is the exact wording in the letter she sent in response to our bullshit congressman's inquiry).  His crime?  He was caught operating a motor vehicle on post after his on-post driving privileges had been suspended - pending determination of a disputed charge levied by the Ft. Bragg police department who had jurisdiction over open roadways leading into, and out of the post.  He was sent home with a General Under Honorable Conditions discharge, and a bill to repay the Army for the bonus he'd received - both of which continue to wreak havoc on his life as he tries to move forward.

Trust me, he understands how he got here from there and beats himself up about it way more than he needs to.

Am I excusing what he did?  Nope.  I'm understanding how he got there.  That being said however, it all changed him - though he continues to swear up-and-down that it didn't.  He's gone from being the sweetest, most compassionate, helpful, loving, grateful kid (I save everything!  He was in middle and high school respectively when he wrote and left these notes for me) - to this angry, often hostile and short with me (and many others), young man, that I rarely recognize a lot of the time.  And it  hurts - deep in my heart.

But like many of us, considered "collateral damage" by the government and the military, we "soldier on" (no pun intented), hoping that eventually, we'll get it right.  We're still soldiering.

Like everybody else, I'm waiting to see what the major has to say about the whys and wherefores.  But unlike most who wait, I wait with discernment.

"13/30" - The Damaged within - Part 1

Major Nidal Malik Hasan, a 39 year-old Army psychiatry resident  - tasked with helping soldiers suffering the debilitating psychiatric effects of having been deployed to a war zone, at both Walter Reed Army Hospital in DC and later at Ft. Hood -  has been identified as the alleged lone perpetrator of the latest incident of violence against U.S. military troops - on U.S. soil.

Will this Democratic POTUS, with his Democratic Congress in the majority, finally take a stand against War?

According to the Army Times piece, "Major named as Fort Hood shooter:" 

Greg Schannep, an aide to Rep. John Carter, R-Texas, told the Austin American-Statesman that he was on the Army post to attend a graduation service. He said that as he neared the entrance of a building where the service was being held, a soldier with blood on his uniform ran past him and said a man was shooting.

Per news reports, this could have been a whole lot worse than it was - seeing as the building directly adjacent to the the graduation service is where the "killing fields" were.

*******************

I've pretty much sworn off watching the "celebrity news" on television - especially CNN!  Once I get caught up in all their s'posed-to-be news, my blood pressure tends to shoot right through the damn roof!  But, raised blood pressure notwithstanding, I watched the coverage of the shooting pretty much non-stop and what I saw unfolding was tragic in more ways than one.

Why is the fact that this happened on U.S. soil so amazing to everyone.  Because Ft. Hood is a closed military post?  Because this was an act of "terrorism," on American soil as CNN and others first tried to imply? Because there has been, according to CNN, a lot of reported "gang activity" on Ft. Hood?  I don't think it's amazing at all, given we've been involved in two wars - of our own making- for the last eight years on someone else's soil.  Anyway you slice it, this has brought the war home in a way that pictures of flag-draped caskets arriving at Dover never could.

I was watching this exchange on Larry King live and thought, "What the Hell!!" This is clearly illustrative of the dichotomy in this country surrounding the discussion of what are now, Obama's wars, that makes this so decidedly "un-amazing" to me:



I know Dr. Phil was the purported "expert" on the panel, but there was no better expert among them than sister, Shoshana Johnson, former Army Specialist and POW (tried to upload a photo of her when she was released from captivity but apparently, due to the upcoming release of her book, all the photos I could find have been copyrighted and I couldn't). 

And yes, I'm so very proud of her for calling former JAG Officer, Tom Kenniff out on his racism, elitism and sheer ignorance (did this guy learn to pronounce terror and terrorism from Shrub or something?).  Props to Dr. Phil for his two cents, but he's never been to war, never been shot in both ankles, never been captured and held for some 22 days.  This sister of Panamanian descent did what has heretofore been taboo in both Black and white society - she stood up, speaking her truth - out loud (and yeah, there was some neck-workin' going on) - to one who can definitely be considered a poster boy for the White Supremacist Capitalist Patriarchy.  Good for her, and Blacks/Browns (had to add the "Browns" here.  I don't want any of my people in the diaspora to think I intentionally forgot them.)  in general - but for sisters in particular.

Other military members have died ON POST in this country - at the hands of fellow military members:

- From a July 2009 cbsnews.com piece, Was Navy Sailor Killed For Being Gay?

The 29-year-old Houston native was found dead Tuesday at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, north of San Diego. Roy said the family was told that Provost was shot three times, had his hands and feet bound, his mouth gagged, and body burned.

- From an October 2009 hamptonroads.com piece, Family of sailor slain in Newport News seeks court-martial:

In February, in a new apartment complex for Navy sailors, Mackie, a sailor on the amphibious assault ship, Kearsarge, put a gun to the back of Trask's head and pulled the trigger.

- From an October 2008 NY Daily News piece, Army to probe five slayings linked to Colorado Brigade:

Three other members of the unit were accused in the slaying of two soldiers.

- From a July 19 ABC News piece, Reports Clears Army in Gay Soldier's Death:

At Glover’s trial, soldiers testified that Winchell had been relentlessly taunted with anti-gay slurs in the months leading up to his slaying.

- From the 1956 St. Petersburg Times piece Sailor Killed in Race Fight at Naval Base:

A Navy spokesman said the riot broke out Friday night outside the recreation hall at Ford Island, the naval air station in the middle of Pearl Harbor.

And I would certainly be remiss, particularly as a Black Navy veteran, if I didn't list the 1944 Port Chicago Mutiny:

...many black divisions were being bet upon by the whites commanding them.  White officers were wagering whose division could load the most ammunition in the least amount of time. This atmosphere of speed-above-safety put the loaders in further peril.

 Probably the best source I've seen on the type of killing that happened at Ft. Hood,  is Salon's excellent and  in-depth, Coming Home series.  Check it out.  It's definitely worth the read.  Also, here's a short list of Some other military slayings from the Austin-American Statesman.

It just boggles the mind the way people are acting like Ft. Hood is some kind of anomaly, initially blaming it on terrorism, or some possible gang activity.  This is totally irresponsible on the part of what passes for media in this country, particularly because it allows the military, Obama & Co. and the rest of the country to continue burying their heads in the sand regarding what war does to people - deployed or not.

Sen. Clinton hoodwinked and bamboozled?

I didn't think Sen. Clinton should have taken the Secretary of State position when the Changeling offered it. It just didn't feel right. It still doesn't.

Unless she did some serious wheeling and dealing during that "private meeting"in Washington last June (all those ex-Clintonistas in the Changeling's cabinet maybe?) - complete with Obama signing his name in blood - I just don't understand why she accepted the Changeling's offer.

The sexism and misogyny of the Obama campaign was palpable and it didn't just disappear because their guy won. Remember Obama speechwriter, Jon Favreau and this little grown-up display of manhood (pic courtesy of Kitty at AROO)? Do you think this kind of thing just goes away? It doesn't. Especially when their guy wins.

Personally, I think the Boys Club played her. Signs of the patriarchy are all over this move, "Senator Biden's trip raises concerns."

And not unexpectedly (since patriarchy is patriarchy no matter the race or party), the Bush Administration knew about this before it happened. The article states:

Biden first ran the South Asia trip idea by Bush administration officials several weeks ago, said Bush spokesman Gordon Johndroe. “We discussed the trip and reviewed it in advance with them,” Johndroe said. “We are facilitating the trip administratively where necessary.”

Wonder if they gave the presumptive Secretary of State a heads-up?

This is the reason he took so long to resign his seat - so his trip could seem "legitimate" as the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. This swill insults the intelligence of both the people and Sen. Clinton - not that I believe they care about that. With this act, "the guys" have signaled to the cadre of other testosterone-filled world leaders, who the "bosses" really are and sets Sen. Clinton up for an inevitable fall.

In hindsight, this exchange, from the Democratic debate in Philadelphia last April, is very telling:

MR. STEPHANOPOULOS: So you would extend our deterrent to Israel? SENATOR OBAMA: As I've said before, I think it is very important that Iran understands that an attack on Israel is an attack on our strongest ally in the region, one that we -- one whose security we consider paramount, and that -- that would be an act of aggression that we -- that I would -- that I would consider an attack that is unacceptable, and the United States would take appropriate action. MR. STEPHANOPOULOS: Senator Clinton, would you? SENATOR CLINTON: Well, in fact, George, I think that we should be looking to create an umbrella of deterrence that goes much further than just Israel. Of course I would make it clear to the Iranians that an attack on Israel would incur massive retaliation from the United States, but I would do the same with other countries in the region.

His stuttering blather about defending Israel notwithstanding, I believe he means to go the diplomacy route (why else send Biden?). And should she get confirmed, I'm sure these words, so forcefully spoken by a woman jockeying to be America's first female president, will be used against her as Secretary of State when they advise her she will no longer be serving - at the pleasure of the President.

"Obama 2 + 2 = 5 " - Gotta Love it!

Courtesy of Flineo. Pretty interesting don't you think?

Iraq - 5 Years Later...

Lest we forget... The Washington Post - "Faces of the Fallen"