War, Politics, and Life by Bruce Maulden
When President Obama spoke yesterday: “Regardless of reason, this truth cannot be ignored that today most Americans are not directly touched by war. As a consequence, not all Americans may always see or fully grasp the depths of sacrifice, the profound costs that are made in our name, right now, as we speak, everyday.†He…
War remembered by the dead. Today is the day before Memorial Day, which is tomorrow, Monday — a sober holiday in its intention, but nowadays more to the BBQ and cheap beer. America is fairly bloody place, started out that way, and now, with a shitload of neurotic, gun-toting civilians trying to keep more guns…
Just when you thought George Jr. was even close to being pretty, a couple of horror-shots of his legacy loom large. The first: The escalating violence has residents of Baghdad stocking up on rice, vegetables and other foods in case fighting or curfews prevent them from getting to shops. “It is wrong to say we…
Reportedly, at a little after 4 AMÂ out here on California’s north coast, the sun will cross directly over the Earth’s equator during a moment known as the vernal equinox when both day and night are about equal, or spring has sprung. The change of the seasons, however, seems to remain the same. War bones are…
(Illustration found here). Ten years along and the recipients of “shock and awe” know it as a wide-awake nightmare — from the NY Times: At the pet market, Karrar Habeeb, a 22-year-old carpenter, paused, surprised to be asked about what was surely the defining event of his youth. “I didn’t know about it,†Mr. Habeeb…
Overcast and still warm this way-early Tuesday morning on California’s north coast, and if the recent past is any indication, this day will either be foggy, sunny or a mixture of both — who’s to really say? Weather up here is almost the same year ’round, not like just about everywhere else. Beyond the noodle…
“I think things have gotten so bad inside Iraq from the standpoint of the Iraqi people, my belief is we will, in fact, be greeted as liberators.” — Dick Cheney, ‘Meet The Press,’ March 16, 2003 Nowadays, the Iraqi people really, really don’t like their shit of a life. Near absent from any USÂ news coverage,…
Even now after nearly half-a-century, one Vietnam vet still works to get a grip: Wright died in 1968 when he stepped on a land mine, Atwood said, and Wright’s mother always blamed him for her son’s death. He’s never been able to bring himself to visit his friend’s grave, he said. On Saturday he found…
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…
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…