What you didn't know about the war, except we do know..

[Vidya Moksha]

but it doesnt hurt to be reminded.
not nice viewing, but....

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=IsrMzfhdmkU

[SteveX]

A very powerful vid. If only the media would report the amount of civilian death in Iraq since Golf War II started. I have never heard a statistic yet. Although Iraq administration may have a problem tracking this I'm sure there are educated guestimates. EDIT slight old vid with some stats. https://youtube.com/watch?v=riKTBbTyqQM

It's futile to argue the cause (oil, sanctions, regime change, weapons of imagination etc) of the war now. It's been going on too long but educating to its effects and the need to withdraw is the primary objective.... before we're sucked into Iran.

[Vidya Moksha]

Blair made millions too...
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...ergy-Corp.html

Blair's fight to keep his oil cash secret: Former PM's deals are revealed as his earnings since 2007 reach £20million

[Gita]

Quote

‘Iraq War Vet: 'We Were Told To Just Shoot People, And The Officers Would Take Care of Us'
'I remember one woman walking by," said Jason Washburn, a corporal in the US Marines who served three tours in Iraq. He told the audience at the Winter Soldier hearings that took place March 13-16, 2008, in Silver Spring, Maryland, "She was carrying a huge bag, and she looked like she was heading toward us, so we lit her up with the Mark 19, which is an automatic grenade launcher, and when the dust settled, we realized that the bag was full of groceries. She had been trying to bring us food and we blew her to pieces.'

Unquote

http://www.politicaltheatrics.net/20...ke-care-of-us/

[Gita]

Iraq: US Troops Slaughter Defiant Elderly Man

Dogs surrounded the lion

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=2IML02MSEH0

[Etherios]

After all these and the US army doesnt see what is happening... they are not worth saving...

this is how suicide bombers are made.... imagine your self being that guys son...

[East Sun]

That is sick. What kind of brainwashing makes guys do that sort of thing. Crimes against humanity inc. our own.

[frank samuel]

The US soldiers most young naive men and women who have to follow orders commit atrocities which for the majority will bring many emotional problems for the rest of their lives . The suicide rate among US soldiers is very high, is a total nightmare. What is worse is that there's more mercenaries than soldiers with a license to kill civilians recruited from all around the world to protect the interest of the investors. The US is not the only country responsible for this nightmare. As a US veteran of war those memories have brought me a lot of pain and it took a long time to even try to forgive myself. I feel sorry for these young people on both sides of this war who have been deceive into thinking they are fighting for a just cause , murder is never a just cause. Our planet's history is full of this horrid stories and this has been going on for thousand of years. I pray night and day for peace and that the nightmare can end once and for all for all the inhabitants of this planet. My intuition tells me that there's also other planets and parallel universes who are going through this type of nightmarish experience. Is heartbreaking to say the least. It has been my purpose in life to find ways to create peace and harmony. Even in our streets there's a war where people are killing each other, here in Puerto Rico everyday there's 3 to 4 passion killings of mothers and fathers killing each other and their children . I know this is not normal, the root of the problem is where I have place my focus, for each one of us is capable of committing atrocities yet we are also capable of creating such beauty.

Blessings to all...

[Fredkc]

Was gonna post this last week, but amidst the "Oama is a light worker" crap, I felt it would just stir a smelly pot, that few people would admit to.

Link: http://www.lewrockwell.com/spl2/us-e...prisoners.html

At the Global Investigative Journalism Conference in Geneva, Hersh criticized President Barack Obama, and alleged that US forces are engaged in "battlefield executions."

"I'll tell you right now, one of the great tragedies of my country is that Mr. Obama is looking the other way, because equally horrible things are happening to prisoners, to those we capture in Afghanistan," Hersh said. "They're being executed on the battlefield. It's unbelievable stuff going on there that doesn't necessarily get reported." Things don't change:

"What they've done in the field now is, they tell the troops, you have to make a determination within a day or two or so whether or not the prisoners you have, the detainees, are Taliban," Hersh added. "You must extract whatever tactical intelligence you can get, as opposed to strategic, long-range intelligence, immediately. And if you cannot conclude they're Taliban, you must turn them free."

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=9Z8zAKweYcQ

"You must extract whatever tactical intelligence you can get, as opposed to strategic, long-range intelligence, immediately. And if you cannot conclude they're Taliban, you must turn them free."

Translation: Torture them FIRST and then, if they're innocent, set them free.

I keep trying to tell people, "Wake up! This is year 10 of the Bush/Obama administration!"

Fred

[Gita]

Quote

Mental disorders climb in US Army

New figures released by the Pentagon show a significant spike in the number of US soldiers diagnosed with and treated for serious mental disorders.

For the first time, more US soldiers are hospitalized for serious mental disorders from their military service than for injuries and battlefield wounds, according to new medical data released by the Pentagon.



In 2009, there were 17,538 US soldiers put into hospitals for mental health problems compared to 17,354 for battle wounds and injuries sustained during military service.

The revelation cast a harsh spotlight on the problems that have been simmering for years in Washington since the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan that have left numbers of soldiers frustrated. Many of them, who are now veterans of two wars, have found themselves incapable of even leading a normal life when they come home.

Numbers head back -- not only with physical injuries from Afghanistan and Iraq but also with psychological problems, including post-traumatic stress syndrome, drug abuse, depression, anxiety and difficulty readjusting to civilian life, Press TV reported.

Meanwhile , both the Pentagon and the US Department of Veterans' Affairs have voiced grave concerns over the operating costs of treating those suffering from mental disabilities. The treatment appears to have busted the Pentagon budget with Pentagon chief Robert Gates saying: "it is costing way too much."

The US Secretary of Defense also admits that the healthcare costs are 'eating the Defense Department alive,' and much of it involves expensive military psychiatrists and psychologists, who have had to be hired to deal with it.

Multiple deployments of the troops and heavy pressure upon the forces in places, in which the population is not very friendly, are all contributing to the spike in mental health disorders, according to the Pentagon medical report.

"People don't want to concentrate on the stress, this shows the logical result of that years-long policy", Carl Osgood of the Executive Intelligence Review told Press TV correspondent Mike Kellerman in Washington.

Pentagon figures also indicate that one out of every 10 US Marines is hospitalized for mental disorders with similar numbers in the Navy and Air Force.

Ten percent of those returning soldiers will end up in medical treatment centers for mental problems; those are the lucky ones that don't kill themselves.

"There will be more soldiers this year to commit suicide than did last year, and last year was the worst year since the Army started tracking the statistics, so that is just the most serious marker of the overall decline of the mental health situation." Carl Osgood added.

The US Army, which has undertaken the bulk of the ground missions in Afghanistan and now has nearly 140, 000 of its troops in Afghanistan and Iraq , had 10,222 mental health hospitalizations last year, which added up to 90 percent of all army hospitalizations.

The rising number of mentally unstable former soldiers is playing havoc with their social life when they come home.

Continued here.

[lindabaker]

Franksamuel: You are so right about the naive men and women. Most in the US sign up when they graduate from high school. Eighteen years old, for crap's sake! It's absurd. When an economy goes sour, it's the career of last resort for the lower classes. These children ARE deceived by the ones who deliberately use patriotism as an emotional hook. Being a pioneer/patriot is a thing of the past. They are using this emotional "catch" to spin the war propaganda. I'm from a family line of those who fought to begin our Revolution in the 1700's. Nowadays, the "service" has Absolutely Nothing to do with the origins of our country. Now, it's concocted wars. Thing is, few are discerning the difference: the young ones and their parents are proud of the past of the US, but not cognizant of the present situation. Here, you are made to be embarrassed if you don't support the war. The present war has nothing to do with patriotism. There's the lie. The media is bought up and the ads are quite powerful. The poor kids don't stand a chance unless someone dares to speak about the lies. We should all make better effort to let these children know. We cannot assume anyone even opens their minds to this info. After all, they are very young. They don't even remember the time before the internet!

[East Sun]

I agree with you Frank. Young people are conditioned from childhood thro. manipulation of a natural instinct for adventure especially males. Except what they get is not adventure but controlled robot-ization. We have heard, "things will get to be unbearable for us to endure, before they finally get better." Looks like it from any point of view we take. Maybe there is an effort to save the 'way it used to be' in the the western world, but the approach is not working and can't imo.

I give thanks for the good things that we have and search for answers but there are lots of 'maybe's or 'prophesies' but we'll have to wait and see.

[Gita]

US Soldier Speaks the Truth: War Crimes Exposed

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=uYQ0IiCyGds

[East Sun]

I feel like that Native American (Indian) portrayed looking at all the air, water, noise and mind pollution caused by combustion engines and a spiritual undisciplind mentality. What good is all the material things if all is destroyed by pollution and death. Other forms of energy could have been used and would have cut down on masses of conditioned individuals chasing like robots with no time to think of anything but what is thrown at them.
Keep Peace in mind always. There has to be a better way.

[Gita]

Quote

Afghans believe US is funding Taliban

It's near-impossible to find anyone in Afghanistan who doesn't believe the US are funding the Taliban: and it's the highly educated Afghan professionals, those employed by ISAF, USAID, international media organisations – and even advising US diplomats – who seem the most convinced.

One Afghan friend, who speaks flawless English and likes to quote Charles Dickens, Bertolt Brecht and Anton Chekhov, says the reason is clear. "The US has an interest in prolonging the conflict so as to stay in Afghanistan for the long term."

The continuing violence between coalition forces and the Taliban is simple proof in itself.

"We say in this country, you need two hands to clap," he says, slapping his hands together in demonstration. "One side can't do it on its own."

His arguments are reasoned, although he slightly ruins the effect by explaining to me that no Jews died in the Twin Towers. It's not just the natural assets of Afghanistan but its strategic position, the logic goes. Commanding this country would give the US power over India, Russia, Pakistan and China, not to mention all the central Asian states.

"The US uses Israel to threaten the Arab states, and they want to make Afghanistan into the same thing," he says. "Whoever controls Asia in the future, controls the world."

"Even a child of five knows this," one Kabuli radio journalist tells me, holding his hand a couple of feet from the ground in illustration. Look at Helmand, he says; how could 15,000 international and Afghan troops fail to crush a couple of thousand of badly equipped Taliban?

And as for the British, apparently they want to stay in Afghanistan even more than the Americans. The reason they want to talk to the Taliban is to bring them into the government, thus consolidating UK influence.

This isn't just some vague prejudice or the wildly conspiratorial theories so prevalent in the Middle East. There is a highly structured if convoluted analysis behind this. If the US really wanted to defeat the Taliban, person after person asks me, why don't they tackle them in Pakistan? The reason is simple, one friend tells me. "As long as you don't get rid of the nest, the problem will continue. If they eliminate the Taliban, the US will have no reason to stay here."

The proof is manifold, they say (although it does tend to include the phrase guaranteed to dismay every journalist: "everybody knows that …").

Unquote

Continued here.

[Gita]

Quote

Kagan Helped Shield Saudis From 9/11 Lawsuits

Elena Kagan, President Barack Obama’s latest nominee to the Supreme Court, helped protect the Saudi royal family from lawsuits that sought to hold al Qaeda financiers responsible in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

The suits were filed by thousands of family members and others affected by the Sept. 11 attacks. In court papers, they provided evidence that members of the Saudi royal family had channeled millions to al Qaeda prior to the bombings, often in contravention of direct guidance from the United States.

But Kagan, acting as President Obama’s Solicitor General, argued that the case should not be heard even if evidence proved that the Saudis helped underwrite al Qaeda, because it would interfere with US foreign policy with the oil-rich nation. She posited “that the princes are immune from petitioners’ claims” because of “the potentially significant foreign relations consequences of subjecting another sovereign state to suit.”

In an interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer published Tuesday, the mother of a man who was killed on United Flight 93 in Pennsylvania said he didn’t know why Kagan argued that the case not even be heard. By keeping the case off the dockets, the Saudis were spared scrutiny of their finances.

“We had hoped she would be with us so that we could have our day in court,” Beverly Burnett said.

“I find this reprehensible,” said Kristen Breitweiser, another family member whose husband was killed in the 9/11 attacks, said at the time. “One would have hoped that the Obama administration would have taken a different stance than the Bush administration, and you wonder what message this sends to victims of terrorism around the world.”

The Obama Administration’s decision to intervene in the Saudi-al Qaeda case so irritated two Republican senators that they introduced legislation aiming to ensure that Americans have the ability to sue foreign governments.

Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) offered a proposal to amend the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, which Kagan cited as one reason the Saudi case should not be heard. Both senators said that US citizens should be able to sue foreign governments if they are found to be supporting terrorist activity.

Specter, who has since become a Democrat, was unusually blunt.
“She wants to coddle the Saudis,” he said.

Unquote

http://www.bushstole04.com/911/kagan_911.htm

[Gita]

Double post!!

[Gita]

Quote

Britain to Change International War Criminals Arrest Rule

Britain's new Foreign Secretary William Hague promises to "act speedily" to change the way arrests are ordered under international law in Britain.

"The current situation is as unsatisfactory as it is indefensible. We cannot have a position where Israeli politicians feel they cannot visit this country... and indeed this would apply to many other nations as well," said Hague on Thursday.

Currently in Britain under the Geneva Convention Act 1957, Judges can issue arrest warrants for war crimes suspects around the world without consulting public prosecutors.

It was because of this law that Tzipi Livni, the former Israeli foreign minister, reportedly cancelled her trip to Britain in December.

Following an application by Palestinian activists, a court had issued a warrant for her arrest over her involvement in Israel's 22-day war against Gaza Strip.

"We find it completely unacceptable that someone such as Mrs. Livni feels she cannot visit the United Kingdom," Hague said, adding: "Be in no doubt that we will take action on it," AFP reported.

He stated that the new coalition government would consider different options for changing the rule including the one that Labor government had proposed while in power.

Unquote

http://presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=128...onid=351020606

[frank samuel]

You know for a lot of these soldiers coming home, the harsh reality they have to face is that they have been deceived by their own government into committing horrible atrocities for which they will have a hard time ever forgiving themselves, my cousin who was war veteran from the Vietnam War fought to get treatment and benefits for agent orange, this decease finally kill him and at the end he refuse to receive any benefits.
As a lean green fighting machine war veteran your choices are limited , you can work as a civilian adviser for DOD, or mercenary for these now legitimate security companies operating in Afghanistan and Iraq, become a law enforcement officer. With most of these veteran suffering from post traumatic disorders they become walking time bombs unable to cope.Yeah is funny to think how one of most poorest country in the world Afghanistan is one of the majors drugs producing nations in the world making billions every year. Well I am sure companies like Black Water are guarding the interest of investors for all around the world who want a piece of this huge money making pie...

[greybeard]

I havet read much on this thread but the thought I have is.
If the west really went to war in part to stop the drug trade why dont they obliterate the heroin fields and help the farmers to grow different crops.
The whole world is crazy.
Chris