The Cursed Platoon
A long, but VERY well-researched article… a prime example of an on-the spot definition/interpretation problem of “a legal order,” as stated in every enlistee’s contract. See “Enlistment Contract, DD Form 4” this website, but in a battlefield environment! Blind acceptance by the troops of an officer’s order and the fallout, including an illegal/unjustified intercession/pardon by Cadet Bone Spurs.
USA Pretend Unmasked
With the perception and honesty of another Howard Zinn, in this piece, Willson addresses US actions on an international scale as a result of personal experiences.
Endemic Impunity
“Five years into the conflict, violations against Yemeni civilians continue unabated, with total disregard for the plight of the people and a lack of international action to hold parties to the conflict accountable.”
Whitewashing War Crimes Has Become The American Way
It seems that whitewashing, excusing and apologizing for criminal military behavior is as American as apple pie
Atrocities & War Crimes
…in the back of my mind was the observed general attitude, behavior and stories of those combat pilots entering the college campus from tours in Vietnam… I wasn’t sure I wanted to be exhibiting such egos and laughing about chasing black-clad farmers out of their fields with an F-4 aircraft cannon simply out of boredom because there were no more North Vietnamese aircraft to engage. ~Don Chapin
War Zone Killing – Vets Feel Alone in their Guilt
Repost of article by PAULINE JELINEK | February 22, 2013 12:32 PM EST | http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20130222/us-military-moral- injury/
WASHINGTON — A veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, former Marine Capt. Timothy Kudo thinks of himself as a killer – and he carries the guilt every day.
“I can’t forgive myself,” he says. “And the people who can forgive me are dead.” With American troops at war for more than a decade, there’s been an unprecedented number of studies into war zone psychology and an evolving understanding of post-traumatic stress disorder. Clinicians suspect some troops are suffering from what they call “moral injuries” – wounds from having done something, or failed to stop something, that violates their moral code.
Hearing Begins For Five GIs In Rape-Slaying Case
Repost: Hearing Begins For Five GIs In Rape-Slaying Case – An Iraqi army medic told a U.S. military hearing Sunday he was sick for weeks after finding the naked and burned body of a 14-year-old girl allegedly raped and murdered by American soldiers south of Baghdad. It is among the worst in a series of cases of alleged abuse of Iraqis by American soldiers.
Verified Civilian Slayings
Repost: Verified Civilian Slayings by Nick Turse, Deborah Nelson and Janet Lundblad
LA Times, August 6, 2006 – Decades-old Pentagon records show that Army criminal investigators substantiated seven massacres of Vietnamese and Cambodian civilians by U.S. soldiers — in addition to the notorious 1968 My Lai massacre… And this is only what was officially reported and investigated
American War and Military Operations Casualties
American War and Military Operations Casualties: Think of all these combat casualties just on OUR side of the conflicts… how many collateral damage? How many unrecorded lives on the other” side? As far as I’m concerned, this situation is also an atrocity.
Violence in the Bible and Bhagavad-Gita
Repost: Violence In The Bible And The Bhagavad-Glta (.pdf) by Hector Avalos, Iowa State University
“Violence is a primary fact of life for biblical figures in the Hebrew Bible, and the biblical deity is often portrayed as the prime mover for this violence.” AND “If interpreted literally, at least some portions of the Bible are quite explicit in advocating violence as the proper means to settle conflicts that ultimately derive from unequal access to scarce resources, including land, God’s revelation, and human authority.
“Such directives reach back to God himself. If interpreted literally, the BG can also be seen as supporting violence. Krishna directs Arjuna to participate in war. Krishna supports the caste system that in itself may be a sort of violence to those that are in the lower echelons. Krishna devalues bodily suffering and death, which can logically lead to devaluing violence as well.
“If we extend the logic of Schwartz, it might be that all religions, not just monotheistic ones, are ultimately violent. All religions ultimately depend on creating, rather than just addressing, scarce resources. And more importantly, the scarce resources created by religion are generally accepted as unverifiable, which itself leads to violence.”
New Study of Prehistoric Skeletons Undermines Claim That War Has Deep Evolutionary Roots
Repost: New Study of Prehistoric Skeletons Undermines Claim That War Has Deep Evolutionary Roots by John Horgan – When did war begin? Does war have deep roots, or is it a modern invention? A new analysis of ancient human remains by anthropologists Jonathan Haas and Matthew Piscitelli of Chicago’s Field Museum provides strong evidence for the latter view.
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