0 posts 7/31/2010 8:30 pm
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8/1/2011 2:59 pm
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The road to hell is paved with good intentions
This post is going to contain elements I had originally intended for several separate posts, but due to circumstances it is all coming together into one post. The U.S. constitution contains only one contingency for capital punishment and that is treason. A U.S. Army intelligence analyst named Bradley Manning is accused of leaking classified information to the government watchdog group Wikileaks. If found guilty of all he accused of Bradley Manning could face the ultimate penalty. In all honest I don�t expect things to come to that because it would make the Army look vindictive and brutal, or at least more vindictive and brutal than they already are.
This is not the first time that someone has betrayed classified information for moral reasons rather than personal enrichment. The Daniel Ellsberg case and Johnathan Pollard come to mind. In the case of Daniel Ellsberg secret documents were released to the public that gave insight into our motivations in the Vietnam War. In the Case of Johnathan Pollard his motivations included elements of personal gain that were mixed with patriot loyalty to our ally Israel. The point is that Bradley Manning is not the first person to defy convention based upon personal conviction. Just like in the Pollard case the U.S, is contending that the information released has endangered confidential sources and undermined intelligence gathering, but they always say that, so I�m going to take it with a grain of salt.
What have we learned from this leaked information? First of all we learn that our friends over in Pakistani intelligence are providing covert aid to our enemy the Taliban. One need only go back to my post titled Told you so on November 8th 2007 to know that this is not top secret information, you could just read my blog to learn that one. The other thing we learn is that there has been over 20,000 civilian casualties in Afghanistan that the Army has been working to cover up. It is a shame that they are not as good at killing Al-Qaeda as they are at killing innocent civilians the war would be over already if they were. In their rush to bomb Iraqi insurgents I have seen them take out an entire market place full of civilians who just got in the way. It is a dirty war we are fighting, and we shouldn�t be fooled into thinking that there are only good guys and bad.
The third thing we learn is that the Army has hit squads that carry out extra judicial assassinations. Somewhere out there is a Star Chamber that acts as judge, jury, and executioner. When the Israeli�s were engaging in targeted assassinations it was the bane of the PLO and top topic of discussion in any peace negotiations. What I am saying is that assassination is a very effective means of implementing policy, the only problem is that the international community cried out so loud that the Israeli�s were forced to stop. The shit has not stopped hitting the fan over this, and the patience of the world is being sorely tested.
In the end the whole thing will fade from public memory by some new breaking news and life will go on. Bradley Manning will end up in some deep dark hole far beyond any use in him being there just to satisfy the egos of the military brass and intelligence community. I am going to operate on the assumption that the information really came from him before the conclusion of a trial and say thank you Bradley Manning. I do not give a shit if it means a few snitches get killed in order for the truth about 20,000 innocent deaths are revealed in the process.There always needs to be some kind of penalty for treason, but I don�t feel that capital punishment or even a life sentence needs to be on the table when performing a public service. There will come a day when all that seems important today will fade away and Bradley Manning should be a free man on that day. All wars end eventually no matter how much money Halliburton is making off of it. The past is a mixed precedent with Daniel Ellsberg politically active to this day. Jonathan Pollard is still sitting in a prison cell in spite of determined diplomatic efforts. I would like to see Jonathan released on of these days, if Scotland can think up some pretense for releasing Pan Am Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi we can find room in our hearts for old Jonathan.
Before anyone goes thinking that I am just some kike lovin sissy I want you to know that I felt the same way about Rudolph Hess. There comes a time when the military secrets of yesterday are the encyclopedia articles of today and it all just don�t matter any more. It is time for our boys to come home, we are not fighting the good fight any more and we aren�t accomplishing a damned thing. The reason we are all as poor as church mice and the economy is in the tanks has nothing to do with liberal or conservative economic policies, it has to do with that piss hole we are throwing our money into called the middle east. If President Obama was the leader he claims to be he would see that it is time to bring our boys home.
Now before you go saying woo woo I was there and I think differently let me just tell you that I think you are a brain washed sheep who can only have an honest opinion when no longer subject to recall. Let me just close with the fourth thing that we learned from Bradley Manning is when President Bush said, �We will not differentiate between the terrorists and those who harbour them�, he was lying. We have men dying for a lie every day and we kill every day for a lie. The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
Illustration shows the of Reuters journalist Saeed Chmagh who was killed in one of our extra judicial assassinations, just to put a human face on it all. |
I Swami Johnny see's all, knows all, tells very little.
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791 posts 7/31/2010 9:47 pm |
FUCKING AGREED. Well written. Tens of thousands of civilian deaths is something US Americans alive today have never experienced... but we've contributed to more than once now as a country. What an atrocity.
"The greatest worth is self-mastery
..quality is seeking to serve others
..precept is continual awareness
..medicine is the emptiness of all
..action is not conforming with the world
..magic is transmuting passions
..wisdom is seeing deeply"
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32404 posts 8/6/2010 12:59 pm |
amen
You cannot conceive the many without the one.
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