There's any number of things to say about this graphic, one of them being the fact that it is so large speaks to the difficulty of representing the horror we have unleashed in that country.
A steel beam under compression. Oh, and for you right wing dead enders, note the date of that post.
Click on the graphic for the full size version (warning - very large).
Why am I not surprised.
Report finds U.S. terrorism statistics inaccurate
Nearly all of the terrorism-related statistics reported by the U.S. Justice Department and the
FBI from the September 11 attacks until early 2005 had some inaccuracies, the department's inspector general said on Tuesday....
The report found that only two out of 26 statistics were accurate after reviewing the number of terrorism convictions in the 2003 and 2004 financial years, the number of convictions or guilty pleas from September 11, 2001, through February 3, 2005, and the number of terrorist threats tracked by the FBI in 2003 and 2004.
"We found many cases involving offenses such as immigration violations, marriage fraud, or drug trafficking where department officials provided no evidence to link the subject of the case to terrorist activity," the report said.
Iran reformists want U.S. to tone it down - Nuclear rhetoric helps a faltering Ahmadinejad stay popular, they say.
“He who lives by fighting with an enemy has an interest in the preservation of the enemy's life.”
- Friedrich Nietzsche
I know, I know. But really. One just has to bring this up. It's not like the term "Islamofascist" hasn't been a staple of the right wing blogosphere for the past half decade.
Martin Peretz is a dick. Of course, the same could be said for pretty much every neocon. But Martin Peretz is a particularly pathetic piece of trash.
William Arkin finds out just how arrogant and intolerant some of those in the military can be. It's really no surprise. In the same breath that someone will say that the chicken hawk meme is nonsense because we live in a democracy where the civilians rule the military (not the other way around) one will be constantly bombarded with the meme "let us fight the war, we know best" bullshit that Arkin has been collecting in his mail.
As the Major says, something is inculcated into the minds of military members from day one of duty. It is not just defense of the Constitution, it is also unanimity of thought and an unwavering regard for hierarchy. Without this, you can't have a military and you can't expect human beings to go against their instincts to put their lives on the line.
I'm not saying that this makes people in the military automatons, or that they are stupid. But this unanimity of thought and this absolute allegiance to a hierarchy of ideas is and should be foreign in the civilian world. That's what makes the two different.
Not to mention the worship of authority and the absolutist mentality. But that bizarro world uniformity of outlook seems to be shared by many of the non-military chicken hawks without being indoctrinated in boot camp - I guess there's something in the cheetos.
As per my previous post, one has to really wonder at the brilliant military strategy which is arming and training the very people who are trying to kill us and undermine the very things we're trying to accomplish. Yes, we simple minded civilians couldn't possibly understand the subtleness of this marvelously successful strategy y'all are pulling off. Of course, we all know that when it fails disastrously, that a new myth will be born whereby the civilians lost faith in the military and simply didn't clap loud enough and thereby caused their sure fire plans to founder on the rocks of lost American will. Morons.
Speaking of stupid strategies, Brad Pulmer (at Marty's TNR rag) asks a rather good question:
I'm also curious to know why it's always and everywhere considered "pro-Israel" to support military strikes that won't, in all likelihood, destroy Iran's nuclear program, but will, in all likelihood, destroy international support for sanctions on the country, entrench the more radical factions in Tehran, and make future conflicts in the Middle East more, rather than less, likely. As if opponents of such a thing are "anti-Israel."
I, for one, would really like to hear Brad's boss Martin "I'm more Jewish than Soros" Peretz answer that one. I mean, these guys are reporters, right?
Seriously, though, this is really the big issue here. The common thread over the past half decade has literally been: "If you are for war, death and destruction, you're serious. If you're not, then you're a wimp". So, even though we have a disaster of a war in Iraq, the people who were for it and who - despite the ship being a few meters under water now and sinking to the bottom fast - are still behind it 110% (I've always hated that phrase, which is quite in fashion amongst those who have merely a spinal column and little use for their fore brain) are the serious ones.
We've literally spent the better half of a trillion dollars and we're still going strong with no end in sight. We have yet to pay for the replacement costs and our army is stretched so thin as to be transparent. 3,000 lives later and 10,000 shattered lives later we still have accomplished nothing in Iraq. Sure, Saddam is dead but he was just a hair more relevant when he was alive. Today we face the certainty of an Islamic theocracy sitting on the world's oil reserves. A theocracy that will undoubtedly be really, really good friends with our arch enemy Iran. Of course, this will happen after a particularly nasty civil war which may drag in a few other countries and turn the entire middle east into the biggest shit hole on the planet.
How on earth this served any purpose for America, I fail to understand. Why the Israeli lobby thinks this is in their interest is beyond any rational explanation. Still, all war, all destruction, all the time. It's all "for the children."
Finally, how stupid is this? I mean, this is the person who was firmly in charge of Plan 9 From Outer Space. Otherwise known by its more Orwellian title "The Iraq Stabilization Group". I mean, really. How stupid are people? But I guess hope springs eternal and the draw of the eternal pony hunt is irresistible to those who think WAR IS THE ANSWER. Hell, it seems to be irresistible to those who even think war is mostly the answer and perhaps a little bit of diplomacy would be useful now and then. But anyone who thinks Ms. "I believe the title was 'Bin Laden determined to strike inside the United States'" Rice is capable of doing anything but fawning over her president is going to be sadly disappointed yet again. Whatever Rumsfeld was, Rice is less.
Man, I just gotta say. If you're entire identity is tied up in your login name on Flickr, then you simply have to spend more effort to get a life. I was one of the early users on Flickr and I just recently migrated my login to my Yahoo identity. What did it change? Absolutely nothing.
Really. If this is what the online social networks are all about - i.e. a login page - then I just have to laugh with pity about all who are squealing like stuck pigs.
Get
A
Frickin'
Life
It's a login, not your soul.
So I guess we have the next headlong rush to war well in place. Pretty much everywhere I look lately I see not just the drunken lurch of an administration desperate for a distraction from Iraq, but the mindless zombies that make up the media chattering like a murder of crows rooting through a fresh pile of rubbish. The man and woman on the street is blissfully unaware of this slouching towards Bethlehem, as their information sources - poor as the are - have yet to bring them the glad tidings of great joy describing the very serious affair of that evil, evil man - what's his face of Iran - and his unstoppable robot army of uranium hexafluoride centrifuges.
I wonder if we'll be forced to use nuclear bunker busters to "dig" out the nuclear facilities cleverly buried under hospitals, schools and child care centers? I wonder how many hundreds of thousands - if not millions - will be scared for life by the ravages of radiation as their punishment for having the poor luck of standing in the glorious imperial destiny that is the divine right of the boy king. I shudder to think of the children maimed, left parentless and bound to a fresh new cycle of hatred towards my country, searching for repayment for the carnage done to them in the name of imperial destiny.
What I do know beyond any doubt that the people who populate our media are blithering idiots. They don't really seem to have any bias other than the bias one has from having the IQ of your average cucumber. Also, I'm pretty darn sure that we have the new war graphics all queued up and ready to split screen into action. Contracts are already in place for the vast gaggle of hawks that the media exclusively relies upon for coverage of these ghastly events - vultures preening and flopping about the dead carcass of our once proud republic as they pick it clean of all the honor and dignity we once could at least pretend we had.
And I must say that I really have started to have it up to here (I'm pointing to somewhere north of the top of my head) with the military. Now that McCain, himself, has blamed the military for the fuck up in Iraq (you can watch and listen to the whole despicable event here) I guess it is finally okay for us to start holding the military - itself - culpable for their part in this kabuki play we've been subjected to for the last half decade. Certainly, I don't hold any of the grunts, themselves, responsible for anything in particular other than having the bad luck to be serving in a time where honor will be hard to find and death and injury all too easy. But watching Casey - who will surely be granted the high position in the military he's been seeking - reveal himself to be more more of a wimpy pussy than a manly man of action and leadership is quite hard to take.
Clearly the man is more than willing to be beaten across the backside and humiliated as if he was participating in a Fraternity rush by the likes of McCain in order to reach his reward of chief of staff. He's shifted his position on the "surge" so many times that I'm no longer wondering what his position is: it's the same position a leaf takes as it falls gently to the ground, and that is which ever way the wind is blowing.
And what's particularly galling about all of this is the defenders of this indefensible series of mind boggling daft decisions is that they point to the civilian leadership and say they were "just following orders". After all, the military leadership takes its orders from our President. To which I say, naturally, bullocks. Regardless of whether it is a military or civilian chain of authority, those taking the orders have a duty to tell it like it is and to send their issues with the orders back up the chain of command. This is not to say that the generals have the luxury of disobeying an order. But this is to say that they have the duty to resign if they believe the orders are a pile of rubbish - especially if the leadership isn't listening to what you're saying.
Instead, what we have is a military leadership which clearly understood that the war and more importantly, the occupation was incompetently managed and prosecuted. Not to mention, illegal. And this was not a subtle issue about which respectable men may differ. Rather, it was blatant, obvious and clear to anyone with eyes to see it. So, rather than resigning and speaking up, they dutifully swallowed their pride, tucked their tail firmly between their legs and led our troops down the path of wanton destruction, dragging our country along with them.
For what? Because George Bush said so? I think not. I think it was because they wanted to keep their jobs. They wanted to advance. They wanted that plush contractor job when then retire. It's an excuse. It's a way to evade responsibility. It's a way to allow the inevitable without hurting your chances of advancement.
So, perhaps it is time to let the criticism of the military begin. McCain and the right wing have already opened the flood gates. They are, after all, the ones who are currently stirring the pot in this witches brew of chaos with Iran. Yes, it's dangerous and career ending move to stand up to your chain of command and say, respectfully, "Not just no, but Fuck No" and that they will have to find another person to carry out their stupidity. But if you're willing to die in the service of your country, surely you should be willing to lose your job and be subject to a dishonorable discharge in doing your duty as well. No? I guess the only thing the military mind understands is death - something final and not something that they will have to live with for a very long time and may well never see vindication. They clearly don't appreciate the subtlety of falling on one's sword except when protecting the sycophants they long to be.
Perhaps I'm being to harsh. But then I look into my young daughter's eyes and wonder what future these people are quickly ushering in for her and I'm pretty sure that there's not enough disgust in the world for what's currently happening.
One thing I do know is that I can't stop this insanity. However, I do know that these people have a pretty good shot. Pity that they have their own cushy jobs and retirement packages placed higher than the honor, dignity and future of the country they have sworn to protect against all enemies: foreign and domestic.
Update: Spell Military correctly - my custom dictionary has a misspelling in it. Yes, I cannot spell at all without mechanical aid.
