Iraq... and Iran
This article is from a couple weeks ago, but I found it illuminating. The soldier who blew the whistle on Abu Ghraib has gotten grief for what he did - from people here in the U.S. His colleagues in Iraq mostly supported him, but the backlash in his hometown has forced him and his family to move and change jobs.
Funny how it's always the yellow beribboned flag wavers safe in the U.S. who call servicepeople who tell the truth traitors. And this all happened because Donald Rumsfeld mentioned his name on tv. Raise your hand if you believe this was inadvertent? Yeah, me neither. Yet another person actually putting their ass on the line for this country thrown under a bus by the Bushies for political payback.
I wonder what they'll do to these guys: the Iraq War from the perspective of seven soldiers who just got home. Short version:
To believe that Americans, with an occupying force that long ago outlived its reluctant welcome, can win over a recalcitrant local population and win this counterinsurgency is far-fetched.
Back in the day, another soldier wrote another letter, about Vietnam... and not only does he expect payback for those soldiers, he's got a disturbing idea of how the Bush administration might calamitously sidestep us into Iran. I don't know enough about the dynamics involved to know how credible it is, but I do tend to trust Juan Cole. If he posted it as a guest editorial without rebuttal, I'm guessing he thinks it's at least plausible. *shudders*
ETA: a couple more Iran links for the strong of stomach: Former Ambassador Bolton is a warmongering lunatic, and Fox News has begun its drumbeat for another war, using the same lies and scare tactics they used for Iraq:
On a lighter note, if this actually happened, I might never stop laughing.
Funny how it's always the yellow beribboned flag wavers safe in the U.S. who call servicepeople who tell the truth traitors. And this all happened because Donald Rumsfeld mentioned his name on tv. Raise your hand if you believe this was inadvertent? Yeah, me neither. Yet another person actually putting their ass on the line for this country thrown under a bus by the Bushies for political payback.
I wonder what they'll do to these guys: the Iraq War from the perspective of seven soldiers who just got home. Short version:
To believe that Americans, with an occupying force that long ago outlived its reluctant welcome, can win over a recalcitrant local population and win this counterinsurgency is far-fetched.
Back in the day, another soldier wrote another letter, about Vietnam... and not only does he expect payback for those soldiers, he's got a disturbing idea of how the Bush administration might calamitously sidestep us into Iran. I don't know enough about the dynamics involved to know how credible it is, but I do tend to trust Juan Cole. If he posted it as a guest editorial without rebuttal, I'm guessing he thinks it's at least plausible. *shudders*
ETA: a couple more Iran links for the strong of stomach: Former Ambassador Bolton is a warmongering lunatic, and Fox News has begun its drumbeat for another war, using the same lies and scare tactics they used for Iraq:
Click to viewOn a lighter note, if this actually happened, I might never stop laughing.