War, Politics, and Life by Bruce Maulden
“The other day I was listening to the radio. The Afghan minister was assassinated. I’m thinking, What threat did he pose to the Taliban? Who even wants to go to Afghanistan? His phone rings once a month.” — Bob Newhart, quoted in Esquire, January 2009 The continuing wonderland Afghan war caught another shit-storm this weekend…
Doc: I don’t give a shit if he’s from Johannesburg. I don’t want to hear dune koon or sand nigger from him or anybody. Vig: Captain uses those terms. Troy: The point is, Conrad, ‘towel head’ and ‘camel jockey’ are perfectly good substitutes. — Three Kings US Army Sgt. Bob Bales is to be charged…
Although the name of the supposedly “lone service member” who killed 16 Afghan civilians a week ago has finally emerged — Sgt. Bob Bales — the names of the victims of the rampage haven’t seen the light of day. As Paul Woodward wrote at War In Context, the reason: Because they are not Americans. These…
Mitt Romney gave his most-rich thoughts yesterday on the massacre of Afghan civilians over the weekend: Asked whether he agrees with conservative commentators who say the U.S. should accelerate the pullout, Romney said Monday that he “wouldn’t jump to a new policy” because of a “deranged, crazy person.” Crazed, of course. The US Army staff…
Understatement on the crazed shootings yesterday in Afghanistan: It is believed that, some time before the killings, the soldier suffered a nervous breakdown. In a bad situation getting worse, the incident only makes it near-imperative the US and NATO get the shit out of that country, and like way-now. US peoples know, but the powers-that-be…
We can all sleep better now that Mitt Romney is once again the top GOP dog — slipping past the field in Arizona, and especially in the land of his birth, Michigan: ” … We didn’t win by a lot, but we won by enough and that’s all that counts.” Yes, winning is all that…
Irony is today’s word. Just as ‘The Artist,’ an ode to silence, won Best Picture at last night’s Oscars, the organization known for anti-silence, WikiLeaks, dumped another load of classified files onto the public — this batch emails from US-based intelligence firm Stratfor, supposedly depicting the company’s “web of informers, pay-off structure, payment-laundering techniques and…
In all the bullshit noise this past week — even from yesterday’s ‘secular high holy day‘ along with the Three-Ring-Three-Stooges GOP political antics — there’s still folks dying in Afghanistan. A war now beyond the decade limit, and from all indications, going really, really bad. An example of the dumb-ass futility of it all: An American…
Some of the righteous posturing: “…utterly deplorable…” — U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta “…wholly inconsistent with the high standards of conduct and warrior ethos that we have demonstrated throughout our history…” — Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Amos “…deplorable, reprehensible and unacceptable…” — White House spokesman Jay Carney “…absolutely inconsistent with American values…” — Secretary…
As the new year grinds on, politics has taken the edge off the nearly unnoticed pullout of US troops from Iraq, ending a segment in one of the most-horrible of episodes. And the most lied about military adventure in US history. “In making the case for war, the Administration repeatedly presented intelligence as fact when…