Lest we forget

We must NEVER FORGET.

Clicking on DoD Confirmation under the Status column links to a brief description of where and how they died. For instance the link after any of the nine names below goes to the following:

I got a bit of a slap in the face with reality, or a horrifying possible one, when I checked the list the other day and saw that this nineteen (19) year old woman (I find it difficult not to say girl) was the most recent confirmed death.

With my niece who is about her age soon to visit, it makes this death even more relevant for me. Her mother was an army nurse who "loves" her current job as a part-time prison medical consultant or some such.

That this niece wants to become a nurse doesn't surprise me. But I have to admit a selfish relief that she does not feel financially compelled to do so through military service.

Does any one know of a web site that lists non-military American casualities in Iraq and Afghanistan?

I did the search using "civilian" rather than "non-military" and found this site.

It doesn't list coalition civilians in Afghanistan, which could be because they are more likely to be from other nations than the US, are more likely working "undercover" or the numbers are so small as to pale compared to the others.

There is also an interesting article on the subject on the ACLU's website. The data either are incomplete or sometimes can not be trusted, as is always the case with war, "truth" being, as they say, war's first casualty.

When I read this op-ed piece by seven soldiers who have served in Iraq today I felt a glimmer of hope that this march to immoral wars can be slowed if not halted.

These soldiers have shown as much political bravery in a media filled with pro-war propaganda as they or anyone else has displayed in military actions on the battlefield.

I wish a speedy recovery for staff sargeant Jeremy A. Murphy. And more importantly, I wish a speedy change in course for our current policy of conquest, subjugation and exploitation in the Middle East, for his sake and for all our sakes.

Bill Moyer does justice to the memory of two dead Iraq War soldiers and a currently recovering one.

Obese drug abuser and Viagra nabber Rush Limbaugh said the other day that these soldiers, out there "defending" his lousy, fat ass, are "phony." God bless them and all the other "phony" troops who have to fight this horrible, unnecessary debacle.

If Cheney gets his way, it's next stop IRAN!

Fatalities that will never be counted in the Iraq War or any other.

And the socially dysfunctional veterans living homeless on the streets or incapable of dealing with a peace-time homelife will not be counted as casualties.

Nope, these poor veterans just get used as props and then cast aside. It's disgusting, absolutely disgusting.

Also, don't forget that desertions from the Army are at their highest level in 27 years. DESERTIONS. How often do the reich-wing corporate media report on this or try to assess why this is occurring?

Just ask yourself why they don't and won't, and then consider what else they're also keeping from you.

Perhaps a hard-headed economic arguement will appeal to those who still think there is some justification for this war.

As the 4000 fatality mark passes with the usual media hype then dismissal that has accompanied every other anniversary of this death-march, there has to be something that triggers a reaction from those who believe they are not directly affected by this war.

It is obvious to me that this war is not increasing our security. But there are many voters in the general election who will still be tempted to believe otherwise.

I recall one of many stories in the media concerning the difficulty that Barack Obama will have with white male voters in Pennsylvania; one which will spill over to the race against John McCain should the two oppose each other. The real issue for them I think is one of economics, not race. If they can be convinced of the real economic consequences of continuing to spend so much money in an effort that has boiled down to defending the egos of a few misguided and disengenuos politicians, then who is really the patriot?

This hardly seems to be the time to be swiftboating an ex-marine and naval corpsman who has criticized his country, albeit with a minister's irrational exuberance.

As demeaning as DADT is to gay soldiers this story adds salt to the wound.

This policy cannot end soon enough.

Canadian military fatalities in Afghanistan have now reached 100. Interactive map of where our fallen soldiers are from.

Just reading the official Factsheet on PTSD and Suicide is enough to drive one crazy.

What do we expect when we send 19 year olds with little experience in life into a situation where they are repeatedly required to determine whether another human being should live or die without benefit of knowing that individual's history.

War by definition bypasses any civilized legal system of determing guilt or innocence. It would seem that the less the wisdom excercised in the decision to go to war, the more likely the long-term psychological repercussions among the warriors.

This may be masked by our tendency to glorify their efforts and minimize their frailties, but that price reverberates throughout any society that does not heed the lessons of history. One has to compensate for the fact that short-term history is often written by the victors and thus has an innate bias.

Long-term history written by those separated from a specific war, by either time or lack of direct interest, will be a better judge of any military conflict.

I hope we will one day be able to better assess our own wars from a perspective of all of their victims.

For "the first time since the Vietnam War" the Army suicide rate has "surpassed the civilian suicide rate" and if confirmed the total in January "would exceed those killed in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan during the same period.

Along side the deaths and injuries in this war have to be listed those who lost their sense of discipline and morality.

The specter of US soldiers shooting unarmed, bound and blindfolded captives in the back of the head is so reminiscent of the executions carried out by terrorists and WWII war criminals that it should make any truly patriotic USA citizen cringe.

One can not expect every army recruit, even one who reaches the rank of sargeant, to excercise the kind of discipline that was shown by the three Navy SEAL snipers who took out the Somali pirates recently.

But the acts of these men were such that none of us should endorse or abide.

Edit to add: It is abominable that soldiers in the field should be punished for crimes committed if it can be shown that they thought they were following orders, if their superiors are not also held to account.

Likewise torturers - and perhaps murderers - in our intelligence agencies should be held to account for crime.

Anyone who has the courage to be a ballet dancer in Idaho does not lack for chutzpah, but Pfc. Bowe R. Bergdahl will need much more than that to survive this ordeal.

Some excellent translators, not only of the language but the culture, would be useful for establishing intelligence about his exact location and other details of his captivity, and hopefully prevent him from becoming a particularly poignant addition to this gruesome list.

Pakghanistan is not Iraq. Nor is it Vietnam or any of the other wars we've faught. And to treat it as such is only going to lead to more deaths without achieving any goal that is definable.

President Obama has set some a more or less clear general goal "to protect the American people"; and more specifically "to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat al Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and to prevent their return to either country in the future."

But there are also political goals. And not having the support of the "American people" will make any goal very difficult even for a popular president. And nation building at home amidst the problems here - which we have plenty of still - are going to be on the minds of all of us more than nation-building overseas.

My greater concern is the troops. Suicides are rising under an administration lead by a man who severely criticized his predecesor for similar statistics. Barack Obama has to consider all of the options in his futures strategy. And hawks within his administration and without will have to put the troops first on this one.

The deaths of thirteen soldiers (so far) must be one of the worst, if not the largest, domestic mass murders of serving military by one of their own since the Civil War.

Though there will be a great deal of spin concerning this event, it seems certain now that the cause was political ideology rather than garden-variety insanity.

No doubt there will be more spin to come, perhaps even extending into the DADT debate; a policy which forces many gay soldiers to self-censor the kind of free speech that this muslim soldier apparently practiced.

But of more immediate importance is the safety of other USA soldiers around the world. The suicide rate continues to rise under president Barack Obama. Iraq is not being closed down nearly as quickly as his liberal allies - both domestic and foreign - would like. Afghanistan is becoming more of an openly puppet regime surviving only under the auspices of the deaths of foreign soldiers that are mostly from the USA.

Spin, like other talk, is cheap.

The least that we as a nation and Obama as president must decide is how to prevent unnecessary casualties.

I weep for the young people who have to decide whether to serve in our military in the current world climate.

Those dudes rock!

I don't know if you've ever seen any videos of the training involved to become a Navy SEAL on the Military/Discovery Channel but it is pretty mindblowing. They certainly have gained my respect. Here's one video that shows/talks about what I mean.

Here is a gallery of videos.

Channel-hopping while watching a Steelers-Bengals game that was stunningly boring even for the Steelers, I saw Israeli journalist Amira Hass interviewed about the situation in Israel/Palestine.

Though she is apparently well-known for her sympathetic arguments for the conditions of the Palestinians, I was surprised to hear her say that Israel and Palestine essentially "are one state" due to the effective control Israel exercises over their common territories.

To my knowledge it is the first time any credible figure from Israel has said anything of the sort on a major news network in the USA.

It may represent the best hope yet that she has managed to survive - and even live - in both Israel and Palestine. It is not surprising that such a person could only maintain such a position of influence in the more powerful of the two entities.

But it is this kind of empathy and persistence that will prevent an eventual military solution in the middle eastern conflict between the international combatants using both Israel and Palestine as proxies. That solution would lead to far more death and destruction among our soldiers than what we have seen up to now.

I saw the original Danish movie Brødre (2004) about the time it came out and was floored. As much as I like Toby McGuire and Jake Gyllenhaal, I strongly recommend seeing the original before seeing the remake Brothers.

It's a shame our current president picked up where out last president left off with this senseless killing of America's troops.

I swear sometimes I feel like Lamont on Sanford and Son when talking to my father about the subject of foreign wars. The guys only answer to every criticism of US policy overseas is "Well we have to go over there to get them before they come over here."

But then he still has doubts about whether they actually walked on the moon and refused to take his medicine because they're "just drugs" until he went to the hospital recently and they had to give him the same medication intravenously. Now that he's become accustomed to it he's taking it - albeit at a lower dose since the doctors are now convinced, I think, that he really was experiencing side effects from the excessively higher dose.

Now I have to make sure he checks whether some "Divine Botanical" that he's ordered does not interfere with the drugs. Fortunately I think he's learned a lesson from not taking the medication before and may at least be careful enough to note how he feels taking the supplement along with his prescribed meds.

I also promised him I'd take him to see the Korean War Memorial in DC as soon as I can afford it - not soon in the current economy - but at least I hope it gives him the motivation to want to take care of himself well enough to be able to enjoy the trip. Alternatively I may use credit cards.

Addressing the issue of DADT forcefully in his state of the union speech tonight may be an opportunity for Obama to look a little more like Truman than Hoover.

But his actions so far have not bespoken boldness.

Still it will be interesting.

There may now be two and possibly three US soldiers in captivity in Pakganistan.

One of the two missing soldiers has apparently been identified, leaving two believed to be in captivity.

Spot the difference in the...

...coffin of a dead straight USA soldier:


...coffin of a dead gay USA soldier:


...coffin of a dead female USA soldier:


...coffin of a dead male USA soldier:


...coffin of a dead muslim USA soldier:


And if you do see a difference please contact your USA senator to ask why one should be treated differently.

SALUTE!!!

...and this is exactly why I voted for this man and am very proud to call him President of the United States. Rock on, Barack!

I think that DADT is just one of the "hostages" being held by the Republican party. As long as the kidnappers feel that the hostage has value the hostage will be kept alive. I keeping the hostage healthy gets the kidnapper a reward then the hostage will be kept to appear healthy. If torturing the hostage seems to work better the hostage will be tortured. Killing the hostage loses all leverage. Only desperate ideologues who do not see any value in retaining the hostage and great harm in allowing the hostage to go free will kill the hostage.

It is only a matter of time before the Republican ideologues, like Paul Ryan in the House and Rand Paul in the Senate, convince their fellow Republicans to start torturing the hostages without appearing to be evil.

A poem for my father, a Korean War veteran, who died recently:

The Colored Soldiers, by Paul Laurence Dunbar

If the muse were mine to tempt it
And my feeble voice were strong,
If my tongue were trained to measures,
I would sing a stirring song.
I would sing a song heroic
Of those noble sons of Ham,
Of the gallant colored soldiers
Who fought for Uncle Sam!

In the early days you scorned them,
And with many a flip and flout
Said “These battles are the white man’s,
And the whites will fight them out.”
Up the hills you fought and faltered,
In the vales you strove and bled,
While your ears still heard the thunder
Of the foes’ advancing tread.

Then distress fell on the nation,
And the flag was drooping low;
Should the dust pollute your banner?
No! the nation shouted, No!
So when War, in savage triumph,
Spread abroad his funeral pall–
Then you called the colored soldiers,
And they answered to your call.

And like hounds unleashed and eager
For the life blood of the prey,
Sprung they forth and bore them bravely
In the thickest of the fray.
And where’er the fight was hottest,
Where the bullets fastest fell,
There they pressed unblanched and fearless
At the very mouth of hell.

Ah, they rallied to the standard
To uphold it by their might;
None were stronger in the labors,
None were braver in the fight.
From the blazing breach of Wagner
To the plains of Olustee,
They were foremost in the fight
Of the battles of the free.

And at Pillow! God have mercy
On the deeds committed there,
And the souls of those poor victims
Sent to Thee without a prayer.
Let the fulness of Thy pity
O’er the hot wrought spirits sway
Of the gallant colored soldiers
Who fell fighting on that day!

Yes, the Blacks enjoy their freedom,
And they won it dearly, too;
For the life blood of their thousands
Did the southern fields bedew.
In the darkness of their bondage,
In the depths of slavery’s night,
Their muskets flashed the dawning,
And they fought their way to light.

They were comrades then and brothers,
Are they more or less to-day?
They were good to stop a bullet
And to front the fearful fray.
They were citizens and soldiers,
When rebellion raised its head;
And the traits that made them worthy,–
Ah! those virtues are not dead.

They have shared your nightly vigils,
They have shared your daily toil;
And their blood with yours commingling
Has enriched the Southern soil.

They have slept and marched and suffered
‘Neath the same dark skies as you,
They have met as fierce a foeman,
And have been as brave and true.

And their deeds shall find a record
In the registry of Fame;
For their blood has cleansed completely
Every blot of Slavery’s shame.
So all honor and all glory
To those noble sons of Ham–
The gallant colored soldiers
Who fought for Uncle Sam!

There is no official record of my fathers service, though he fortunately retained his certificate of Honorable Discharge. There is only his word and that of those with whom he may have served, all of whom are dead as far as I know. I tried to correct that during his lifetime, but have yet to gain acknowledgement.

I intend to continue that effort as long as I have breath.

I feel the same sentiment for all the gay soldiers in USA history who have died in the closet but would have preferred to be honest about who they are.

Mentioned in the poem:

The Battle at Fort Wagner

The Battle at Olustee

Tomorrow, June 23, 2011, Secretary of Defense Leon Paneta will announce and sign the authority to end DADT in the USA military.

Two months after the president signs the bill apartheid in our military will end. They no longer have to live or die a lie.

Not mentioned is that the Association of Gay Fashion Queens has decreed that gays in the military will be permitted to wear military dress whites, as appropriate, even after Labor Day...



...just as they always have.

If anything could argue for the strong consideration of leaving Afghanistan as quickly as possible, it is the death of 22 members of Seal Team Six which was the force responsible for the death of Osama bin Laden.

Regardless of whether these did not include any of the members of that mission, as alleged by a source in the article, it is beginning to look like we are wasting the lives of our best, and most expensively trained, soldiers in completing a job that has questionable value in improving our future security.

I hope - and pray - that the Obama administration is not falling prey to the hubris of the right as it teeters toward succumbing to the blackmail of the right by conceding to their every demand.

Soldiers should not be political pawns.

Our masters believe in a permanent war economy, and permanent war.

To change this, we need a quasi-revolution.

Good luck.

US embassador to New Zealand "David Huebner, paid tribute to US rugby players Mark Bingham and Jeremy Glick, who battled hijackers on doomed United Airlines flight 93.

In eight days it will no longer be illegal to be openly gay in the US military.

The death of official homphobia will be a welcome casualty.

Milestones. One at a time.

Despite the best efforts of homophobes like Addison Graves "Joe" Wilson (aka "YOU LIE!") and devout Mormon Howard Philip "Buck" McKeon (aka the co-sponsor of a bill intended to allow homophobia based on "religious freedom"), DADT is officially dead.

Ding, dong the bitch is dead. So click your bootheels girls and gals and go back home to truth and honesty.

I lost sleep last night to watch the premier of the HBO documentary The Strange History of Don't Ask, Don't Tell purely by accident, since my partner's away and I never sleep as well when he is. Once again I was impressed with the courage of the soldiers who have served and suffered under this policy, especially the one who wondered if the flag placed on his coffin if he died at war would be given to his partner, as my father's flag was given to my mother upon his recent death. It was one of the few times during the film that I felt tears well up, just as they did for the only time at his funeral.

But I felt immense gratitude to two former Pennsylvania representatives, Patrick Murphy and Joe Sestak, whose commitment to ending this homophobic policy likely contributed to their losing re-election campaigns.

However reluctantly, the Obama administration has announced that all USA troops will be out of Iraq by the end of this year, 2011.

More important than keeping of a promise made to USA voters, is keping the implicit promise made to the muslim world in his June, 2009 speech A New Beginning in the Major Reception Hall of Cairo University in Egypt.

Even though the word "right" appears in the text of that speech some 17 times (by my count), no one on the Right (and a few Left) will give him credit for, at the very least, allowing, and at most, instigating, the Arab Awakening that recently lead to the overthrow of Libya's Muammar Gaddafi without a single USA casualty, that we know of to date.

Still small-minded people like Florida Senator Marco Rubio trips over his own words trying to exclude Obama's role in this unexpected turn of events in Libya, much less in the Islamic world. His macho bravado obviously prevents him from being man enough to admit when a political opponent has gotten anything "right". History will have to determine to what extent Obama's impact on the Arab Awakening will be recognized. But there is no doubt about the fact that fewer lives were lost in Libya than in the Iraq attack.

Well it shows that the right's only purpose is to oppose the President. It's further shown by the fact that they don't have any ideas of their own.